New Delhi, Mar 9 (PTI) Prominent Hindi writer-poet Vinod Kumar Shukla, whose poems, stories and novels have been a part of Hindi curriculum for years, on Wednesday accused his publishers of paying him pittance for years.
A video of the 86-year-old Raipur-based writer, taken by a local channel, has gone viral on social media where Shukla is seen talking about the royalties he has received from Hindi publishing houses like Vani Prakashan and Rajkamal Prakashan for his most popular books including novels “Naukar Ki Kameez” and “Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi”.
Shukla alleged that while Vani has paid him only Rs 1.35 lakh in the past 25 years, Rajkamal pays him around Rs 14,000 annually for six books.
In a statement, Ashok Kumar Maheshwari, managing director of Rajkamal Prakashan, said the publication promised to sort out the issues through a meeting with Shukla.
“Vinod ji is a respected and elder in our writers family. Respecting his wishes is paramount to us. His wish is our command. Why did he start feeling restricted and uncomfortable with us suddenly, to know that we will meet and talk to him and in future, we will follow what he says. ” When reached out for a comment, there was no immediate response from Vani.
Writer-actor Manav Kaul, one of the many admirers of Shukla’s writings, had met the poet recently in Raipur while shooting for a documentary and was the first to highlight the issue.
Speaking to PTI on behalf of his father, Shukla’s son Shashwat Gopal Shukla said they came to know about poor royalties only after the writer met Kaul. And after Kaul’s post on Instagram, many of his students and young writers have confirmed their suspicions.
“About a week ago, Manav Kaul ji had come to meet father in Raipur and spent some time here. During their conversation, he asked about the royalties. Father said that on an average, he receives about Rs 6,000 from Vani Prakashan for three of his books. If you average the royalty received in the last 25 years, it comes to around Rs 5,500 a year. Rajkamal, on an average, has paid Rs 14,000 a year for six books, “Shashwat told PTI over phone.
“My father has been requesting them for four-five years not to publish some of his books as there were proof mistakes but there were no replies. They even keep bringing out new editions.” According to Shashwat, the contracts for “Naukar Ki Kameez”, which was also turned into a film by the late Mani Kaul, and “Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi” were made at a time when there were no e-books or Kindle.
He claimed they got to know that Vani has put out a Kindle edition of the novel and the poetry book “Atirikt Nahi” without any statement of royalty to the writer.
“We don’t use Kindle and e-books so we had no knowledge about it and we just got to know about this now. Young writers, my father’s students and admirers have told us that even a new writer receives around Rs 3 to 4 lakh a year for two-three books and here my father is paid only Rs 5,500. When my father got to know about this, he said, ‘Main thaga gaya hoon’ (I have been cheated).
“He feels like his trust was broken and that’s what he has said in the video that was put out by a local station,” Shashwat added.
Asked whether any of the publishers reached out to his father after the controversy broke, Shashwat said they had not received any word from Vani but Ashok Maheshwari had messaged him saying that he would meet the veteran writer in Raipur by the end of this month.
In his Instagram post, while highlighting the issue, Kaul had also posted pictures with the writer.
“In the last year, he has received only Rs 6,000 for three books published from Vani Prakashan. And only Rs 8,000 for the whole year from Rajkamal Prakashan, almost the same amount. It means that the biggest writer in the country is earning only Rs. 14,000 for the year. He does not get any reply to his letters for months. He has written to Vani to not publish his book but nothing has been done on this,” “The Fame Game” actor had captioned the pictures.
The rights of Shukla’s Sahitya Akademi Award-winning “Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi”, poetry book “Atirikt Nahi” and another collection of poems are with Vani, whereas Rajkamal publishes “Naukar ki Kameez”, “Sabkuchch Hona Bacha Rahega”, “Kabhi Ke Baad Abhi”,”Kavita Se Lambi Kavita” and children’s novel “Hari Ghaas ki Chhapar Wali Jhopadi aur Bauna Pahaad”, among others. PTI BK RDS MG ZMN ZMN
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.