Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today called upon the cine personalities to help in creating more awareness about ‘Swachh Bharat’ proramme being implemented in the country. He was addressing a function of swatch Bharat organized at Cyber city Convention centre. They have to create more awareness using various means and cinema is a powerful tool, the union minister said adding that cinema is a medium of communication and it has a wider impact in the minds of people.

Ten short films on Swachh Bharat were released on the occasion. The ten short films were selected by the National Film development Corporation, out of 4346 entries received, for spreading of swatch Bharat message. These selected short films would be screened across the country. The government aimed to make the country free from open-defecation by 2019, the union minister asserted and asked the people to make a habit of keeping their surroundings clean.

Venkaiah Naidu said that a subsidy of Rs.1500 per tonne is being given for turning waste material into compost, and the matter of giving subsidy for generation of energy from waste material is being considered. He handed over to the Telangana Minister K T Rama Rao a cheque for Rs.31.20 crore meant for management of waste materials and creating awareness among the people on cleanliness. Dr T Subbarami Reddy, MP, Cine producer Allu Arvind, writer and actor Tanikella Bharani and others attended the function.