Student Police Cadet programme rolled out in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to make school students responsible and law-abiding citizens, the Odisha Police today launched Student Police Cadet (SPC), a Ministry of Home Affairs-sponsored programme.

Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary of Home Department Asit Kumar Tripathy launched the state-wide launching programme at Capital High School premises here this afternoon.

Joining the programme as Chief Guest, Director General of Police (DGP) R P Sharma said the scheme will instill civic sense and discipline among the school students.

The scheme was rolled out at 40 schools, of which 33 are run by State government while the rest are Kendriya Vidyalaya and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas. Each school has a contingent of 44 cadets, including 22 girls.

The students are from classes eight and nine are eligible to be part of the SPC.

“Our objective is to successfully implement the project, which focuses on character-building and imparting moral values among the school students,” Sharma said.

He further said: “The cadets will be given training twice in a week (both indoor and outdoor) by police officers to groom them in imparting lessons such as policing, civic sense and discipline, among others to be law-abiding citizens.”

For the students who have registered, the school will provide a khaki uniform, cap, belt, shoes and handbooks. The government would also give Rs 50,000 to each school for educational assistance, training and contingencies.

The cadets would also be taught values and ethics, respect for elders, empathy and sympathy, tolerance, patience, attitude, team spirit and discipline.

Last year, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had launched the initiative and Rs 67 crore was released to the States for implementation of the programme.