Government Starts "Student Police Cadet" Project In Gurugram

The Student Police Cadet (SPC) Project on the pattern of National Cadet Corps (NCC) has been launched in Haryana with 6000 school students took oath of responsibility in the presence of the Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh on July 21 in Gurugram.

Facts :

• A sum of Rs. 67 crore had been sanctioned to states for the programme's implementation and each school would get Rs. 50,000 for educational aids, training and contingency for the programme.
• The Project aims at inculcating civic consciousness, social commitment and a sense of purpose among students besides inspiring them to fight against social evils.
• The project would also encourage them to develop love for nature, uphold values, maintaining discipline and respect for law and order thereby contributing in nation building.
• It aims to build bridge between Police and larger community through school students by inculcating values and ethics in them through classes in school and outside.
• The venture also aims to unlock the potential of India's youth and make them capable of becoming social leaders with global vision guided by humanitarian values.
• India has the world's largest population of youth and there is a paradigm shift in the policing function from enforcement to facilitation of law.
• Referring to the ill-effects of rapid modernization and incidents aired on news, TV and social media on daily basis, he said that they put a negative impact on entire society and there was a need to give moral character education at both home and school.
• The SPC programme works on Education-Values-Law linkage, to enable school community to create safe school environment with confident and discipline youth.
• Students of classes 8 and 9 form nearly 4 crore of the 26 crore students across the country.

Student Police Cadet (SPC) Programme :

• The programme focuses on students of class 8th and 9th. It will be implemented first in government schools, in both urban and rural areas and later expanded to private schools. It takes special care to ensure that it does not increase workload of the students. It does not have any prescribed text book and also any exam. Only one class is proposed in a month under its schedule.
• The programme, including classes, physical training, field visits, SPC camps and practical projects, will be first introduced in the government schools and later will be extended to the private educational institutes.
• Students will be studying about law and constitution, communication skill, disaster management health and hygiene and about setting goal.
   

a). Programme will broadly cover two topics :

• Crime prevention and control: Topics covered under it include road safety, fight against social evils, community policing, safety of women and children, fight against corruption and disaster management.
• Values and ethics: Topics covered under it include values and ethics, empathy and sympathy, tolerance, patience, attitude, respect for elders, team spirit and discipline.

b). Handbook:  Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) with support of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has prepared handbook for imparting instructions. It will also enable learning through group discussions and audio-visual mediums.
c). Implementation:  It will be steered by state level committee headed by Principal Secretary, Home Department with Principal Secretary, Education and Director General of Police (DGP) as members. Besides, similar committee will be formed at district level, headed by District Magistrate with District Inspector of Schools and Superintendent of Police (SP) as members.
d). Funding: Central Government has released amount worth Rs.67 crores to states for implementation of programme. Besides, amount of Rs 50,000 has been earmarked for each school for educational aids, training and contingency.

By: Harman Sandhu