New Delhi: Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Information and Broadcasting has said that the “Mood of Developing India” (MODI) over the last two years has been for a Clean India. With people leading the India Sanitation Alliance, cleanliness in rural and urban areas has been mainstreamed with political leadership at various levels for the first time. 21st century India had to be free from illiteracy and LITTERATI people who threw litter in the open in order to make India a model for people’s participation for a unique cause. The Minister mentioned this while delivering his address at felicitation ceremony of the Swachh Bharat Short Film Festival here today. Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and Shri Ajay Mittal, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting were also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Naidu said the Swachh Film Festival aimed at generating awareness, and motivating participants and citizens towards the Swachh Bharat Mission through the most interactive medium of cinema. Complimenting the youngsters, for the creativity and talent shown, the Minister stated that the future of India was safe in the hands of the young generation who understood the communication needs on issues such as Swachh Bharat which required mass mobilization. It was through such movements and platforms that the objective of Jan Aandolan for the Swachh Bharat Mission could be achieved. The Minister announced that eminent filmmakers like Shri Madhur Bhandarkar, Shri Radhakrishna Jagarlamudi, Shri Prasoon Pandey, Shri Ramesh Sippy and Shri Shoojit Sircar had kindly consented to produce films on Swachh Bharat providing support and creative ideas to the movement.
In his address, Shri Naidu also mentioned that the overall objective of the Swachh Bharat Mission was to work as “Swachhgrahis” to fulfill the vision of the Prime Minister in an attempt to establish people’s movement for a dirt-free India. The Minister said that the aim of the nationwide cleanliness drive was to clean up the country by 2019, the year that marked the 150thanniversary of the birth of Gandhiji, who sought to make sanitation a priority for India more than a century ago. The Minister said that the current drive aimed at providing sanitation to every family, end the practice of open defecation, build more toilets and also improve waste management, among other goals.
Shri Naidu along with Col. Rathore released the book published by Publications Division, authored by noted Gandhian Shri Sudarshan Iyengar “In the Footsteps of Mahatma: Gandhi & Sanitation”. The book highlights Gandhiji’s very direct approach to sanitation and recount Gandhiji’s experiences beginning in South Africa on issues of Cleanliness and Hygiene. Shri Naidu also released the e-versions of other classic books on Mahatma Gandhi, and an online purchase facility for its books. About 25 e-books on Gandhiji are being made available today for online sale through e-commerce platforms.
Secretary I&B Shri Ajay Mittal in his opening remarks said that the Swachh Bharat Mission today had become a public movement, thereby fulfilling the dreams of the Father of the Nation. The Film Festival provided had provided a platform to pool the ideas and talent of the creative youngsters.
The short films festival was a competition inviting films of duration not more than 3 minutes. The distinguished jury, comprising of eminent theatre and film actor – producer Ms. Vani Tripathi, award-winning filmmaker Ms. Gitanjali Rao, and celebrated advertising personality Mr. Prahlad Kakar, has selected 20 short films out of the 4346 entries.
The first prize was awarded to Shri Katyanan Shivpuri from Maharashtra for the film Murga. The second prize was given to Shri Sudanshu Sharma, Shri KVK Kumar and Shri Akshay Danavale for their films Nahna Doot, Chembuku Moodindi (The Dying Vessel) and Sarkarmi Rati Wadho! respectively. The third prize was awarded to six entires.
The Directors of the top ten films would be given cash awards of INR 10 lakhs (first film), 5 lakhs (next three films) and 2 lakhs respectively (last 6 films), while the next ten were awarded certificates.
The highlight was performance by Advait band and the redention of Swachh Bharat theme song by Shri Kailash Kher.
