The funds will be provided by Home Ministry. (File)
To counter extremist ideologies that incite children and youth, the government is set to roll out its first student police cadet programme Saturday with nearly 6,000 school students in Gurgaon.
Officials said students from classes VIII and IX will be enrolled by state governments for training in “values and ethics”, “discipline”, “attitude”, “fight against corruption”, “fight against social evils”, among others.
The initiative, sources said, is part of a “counter-radicalisation plan” for students and aims to do this without increasing their workload. “The programme does not have any prescribed textbook nor is any exam envisaged. Only one class in a month is proposed which would broadly cover crime prevention and control and values and ethics,” reads a statement from Union Home Ministry.
The statement also added that a handbook has been prepared by Bureau of Police Research and Department (BPR&D) for imparting instructions with the support of NCERT. In the first phase, the Centre plans to involve students of government-run schools. “The curriculum developed by the BPR&D can be adapted by each state as per its culture and traditions,” reads a statement from the Home Ministry.
The communication said that the programme will be monitored by a steering committee at the state level comprising principal secretaries of home and education departments and DGP of state police. The funds will be provided by Home Ministry. States like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, J&K and the eight north-eastern states will be funded in the 90:10 ratio and the remaining states will be funded in the 60:40 ratio.
Officials said the programme aims to address issues like “underage sex, anti-establishment behaviour, substance abuse, crimes by children and protect the children from ideological and religious radical organisations”.