Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday called for caution while using “internet and social media” which, although useful for students, is linked to a “worrying rise in incidents of crime and rape”. He was speaking at an event organised to launch the central government’s nationwide Student Police Cadet (SPC) programme in Gurgaon. “With the dawn of new technologies, internet and social media has helped children keep pace with the changing times. But it has also adversely impacted our society, leading to a breakdown of the traditional family system and a worrying rise in incidents of crime and rape,” said Singh, expressing hope that programmes like the SPC would help combat such problems. “Since social media affects our entire society, there is a need to focus on character building from the school level itself. The youth who emerge from such programmes will bear ethical values of social commitment and be aware of social evils like drugs, alcohol abuse, intolerance and vandalism,” he said. The SPC programme will, in its initial phase, be implemented in government schools in urban and rural areas across the country, with each institution being provided Rs 50,000 for “educational assistance, training and contingencies”.
