GURUGRAM: Student Police Cadet (SPC), an ambitious nationwide programme, was rolled out from Tau Devi Lal Stadium here on Saturday, with an objective to inculcate discipline and social values in youngsters and help them grow into law-abiding citizens.“The aim is to impart values to students and make them responsible, disciplined, virtuous and future citizens with character. Also, it will help start a strong interface between students and police,” said Union home minister Rajnath Singh after launching the programme.Union human resource development minister (HRD) Prakash Javadekar, Union minister Hansraj Ahir,Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and state minister Rao Narbir were also present at the event that was attended by around 6,000 students from across Haryana.Jointly launched by the MHA and HRD ministries, the programme has been designed for Class VIII and IX students, who will be made aware of social values, law and order and Constitution. They will be made aware of issues like road safety, women empowerment, civil sense and empathy for vulnerable sections of society and resistance to social evils. Also, they will be given tips on communication skills, disaster manager, health and hygiene, etc.In the first phase, the SPC programme will be implemented in government schools, both in urban and rural areas, across the country. Eventually, it will be rolled out in private schools as well.A sum of Rs 67 crore has been released to the states and Union territories. Every school will receive Rs 50,000 to be spent on educational aids and training under the SPC.Speaking at the event, Singh said SPC would act like a bridge between the youth and law enforcement agencies, ensuring peace and public safety in society. “The programme will generate a feeling of social commitment among youths, keeping them away from crime and other social evils like drug abuse, alcoholism, intolerance and vandalism,” said the home minister.Describing children the future of the country, Singh also urged the students to participate in the programme with utmost zeal and dedication so as to make a prosperous and strong nation.Elaborating on other advantages, Singh maintained the programme would also help the police to know what youths expected from the men in khaki, and help cops improve their image.“It will build a strong foundation of harmonious relationship between the police and public, help develop peaceful and prosperous society,” he added.Singh further said reports on miserable incidents shown in news channels and circulated on social media on a daily basis had a negative impact on the entire society. “We have to impart moral education with a focus on character building both at home and school. Though it is a tough task and would take a long time, we have to achieve this. Apart from bookish knowledge, we have to take care of overall development of our children so as to make them responsible citizens,” he explained.Union HRD minister Javadekar said many countries had mandatory military service but India could not have such a system. Thus, SPC has been conceived as a vehicle for creating safe school environment with confident and discipline youths. “We cannot make anything mandatory, but we urge students to join SPC,” he said.Around 24 crore youths are under 25 years, out of which around 4 crore are in Classes 8-9 who can become part of SPC, Javadekar said.

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