Guwahati, Oct. 22: Assam will engage IAS, IPS and IFS officers to mentor 3,000 underprivileged students in the current financial year to help them pursue careers of their choice under a programme named Arohan.

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched the programme here today, in what the state government said was a part of its initiative to help youths achieve their career aspirations. Nearly 200 IAS, IPS and IFS officers attended today's function.

Sonowal said all the IAS, IPS and IFS officers of the state should be able to inspire the youths to aim big and become worthy citizens of the country.

Arohan is a mentoring programme which aims to properly guide the next generation with a vision to create a resource pool of able mentors within the next three to five years. With an aim to nurture young talents in different fields and give them opportunity to showcase their potential, the programme will seek to ensure that quality education reaches every household, a statement issued by the chief minister's office said.

The mentorship will be purely on volunteer basis where the officers will take it upon themselves to guide the younger generation of the state towards excellence, said the statement.

"Only material riches will not be enough to give life's satisfaction. Character-building through spiritual strength is of prime importance in today's world. I appeal to the top officers to willingly take it as their mission to shape the future of the state by mentoring the youth through dedication and passion so that the state can make rapid progress in building human resources for the future," said the statement, quoting Sonowal.

Education and health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said along with Arohan, the state government had started another programme, Gunotsav, where IAS, IPS and IFS officers will visit all schools of the state and monitor the functioning, take part in the activities of the schools for the day and have midday meals with the students.

Eight districts - Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Kamrup (metro), Barpeta, Chirang, Hailakandi and West Karbi Anglong - have been selected for this phase of the programme, he said.