The Youth Defence Force, constituted by the Kerala State Youth Commission, is gaining momentum.
Formed a year ago, the goals of the group of volunteers included creating awareness of various social evils, including the ill effects of alcohol and narcotic abuse; cybercrime; and violation of road safety norms. The group has also been entrusted with organising initiatives to empower the youth from SC/ST backgrounds.
Youth Commission chairman R.V. Rajesh said the group had been divided into units, each of which had been assigned tasks to be undertaken across the State.
115 members
The volunteers have been chosen after a screening process that included interviews intended to gauge their passion and commitment towards the programme. Each member was being provided a monthly honorarium of Rs.5,000. The membership has grown from 70 during the time of its launch in October 2014 to 115 at present.
Awareness campaigns had already been conducted in 200 colleges and 180 backward areas, he said. Mr. Rajesh added that the Commission roped in police officers, medical experts, and those in the field of road safety to conduct training sessions for the volunteers and sensitise them to various issues that were relevant for the people.
“We have been making attempts to coordinate the numerous awareness drives that were being undertaken by the various departments, including the Home and the Excise departments,” Mr. Rajesh told The Hindu on Tuesday.
Premarital education
Earlier, delivering the presidential address at the launch of a two-day training camp for the volunteers of the Youth Defence Force at Kovalam, Mr. Rajesh said the Commission was pushing for the Premarital Education Act, the proposal for which had been submitted to the government. He said the number of divorce cases in Kerala had increased by 70 per cent during the period from 2005-2013. The depressing trend had necessitated creating awareness among youth. The Commission had also called for making medical check-up mandatory prior to marriages, he said.
Inaugurating the training programme, Jameela Prakasam, MLA, said the waning interest for reading among youngsters was a cause for concern. Reading should be considered an essential part of personality development process.
Commission secretary K.B. Santhosh Kumar and members R.R. Sanjay Kumar, K. Vinod, Sumesh Andrews, A. Biji, K.C. Vipin, A.M. Ramesan, Khader Manya, and Asharaf Ali spoke.
