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Sachin Tendulkar
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Priyanka Chopra
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Actress Priyanka Chopra and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar have decided to waive off their professional fees for the home ministry.
Both the celebrities have communicated that they won’t charge a penny for participating in an awareness campaign encouraging people to stand up and be counted in the last phase of Census that is supposed to end on February 28.
The Census department has also given out a confirmation that the icons are on board for the next phase of campaigns that that will be circulated in 12 languages and which have cost the exchequer Rs38 crore.
“Sachin is an icon and if he is spreading a message then everybody would like to follow it. He’s a star in himself, so is Priyanka (Chopra),” Chinmoy Chakravorty, consultant to registrar general of India, said in a statement.
“Since they have not charged money, they are not brand ambassadors in the traditional sense, but it was a very kind gesture for them to agree to shoot for two special campaigns for the Census department where they would ask everybody to stand up and get counted,” says an official, working with the Census department. “The basic message that they will try to give out is to ask everybody to co-operate with the enumerators who are visiting your home to count you,” the official adds.
According to sources, while Tendulkar could only manage a limited time to shoot, Chopra has promised as much time as it requires. Apart from the still photographs, Chopra will also be seen doing her special bit for women. “Priyanka will encourage women to talk about what work they do. Generally women (especially among the backward classes and sex workers) keep mum about the work they do. Priyanka will be seen urging them to discuss work even if they have a working husband at home,” says the official.
It is learnt that the home ministry got in touch with UNICEF, which readily partnered the campaign and got Priyanka on board. Sachin was contacted through another NGO for whom he works.
“We are glad that they decided to allot time to us without charging money. In fact, they have used their own make-up person etc for the shoots the costs of which were borne by them,” the official informs.
Ironically, the earlier campaign that Chopra did for free was for the income tax department where she urged people to pay their taxes regularly.
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