Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son, who attended the Saifai Mahotsav with Bollywood celebrities, were accused of ignoring the welfare of the state amidst the celebrations.
Organized in a lavish style in Saifai, Etwarh in UP which is the ancestral village of Mulayam Singh, the Mahotsav saw an array of Bollywood celebrities like Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Ranveer Singh and others give some rocking performances. However, the UP government faced criticism for spending a whopping amount on the actors' remuneration while the state was facing an increase in the death rate of children suffering from cold wave and lack of facilities at the Muzzafarnagar relief camp of the riot victims. The rumours of their high fee left some of the actors miffed and they took on to social networking sites to express the same.
Salman posted his explanation on Facebook as he wrote, "Whenever I visit a place for a performance or a promotion, I see it as an opportunity to help the locals in the areas of healthcare or education. In Nagpur, on Sunday, Being Human pledged to fund 100 paediatric cardiac cases in Maharashtra State.
And in Etawah, Being Human, on behalf of all artists who performed yesterday, has committed to fund 200 paediatric heart surgeries in UP (there is already a wait list of 81 children we have received who are being moved to Fortis Hospital Gurgaon and their surgeries will get done by month end and Being Human is in touch with local NGOs and hospitals for their lists also).
We have also contributed Rs. 25 lakh to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College & Hospital for the purchase of an Echo Machine, Pediatric & neo natal ventilator and a portable X-ray machine for their paediatric cardiac ICU."
Madhuri too took to Twitter to talk about the event, "For UP, on behalf of the artists who performed at Safai, Being Human is donating Rs. 25 lakhs to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College."
While the actors were blamed for using the occasion as an opportunity to earn, the actress defended her stand as she wrote, "As artists and celebrities, we believe in using our reach to help others through drawing attention to the needs of the day."
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