Bhubaneswar, Aug. 14: Dressed in white T-shirts and blue track pants, student traffic volunteers have become a regular sight at almost all the busy squares in the city.

These volunteers are students from various institutes who have willingly devoted their free time to the safety of commuters and putting in a sense of traffic discipline among motorists.

Around 100 students have been dedicating their time without any remuneration for this social cause since the past year. Besides regulating traffic, these students also offer their services during festivals and functions such as rath yatra, Shivratri and other programmes, where huge manpower is required to control heavy traffic.

The volunteer scheme is aimed to make Bhubaneswar residents familiar with the various do's and don'ts of traffic norms and was introduced in April last year. The objective is to provide assistance considering the acute shortage of manpower to handle heavy traffic. However, it was only on August 11 that it was approved by chief minister Naveen Patnaik. In accordance with the scheme, 300 students of colleges and universities will be taken in as volunteers for traffic management in Bhubaneswar.

Each student-volunteer can work for a maximum of three hours a day and will be entitled to a stipend up to Rs 3,000 a month that will be directly deposited in their bank accounts.

"The volunteers have undoubtedly won the confidence of the public and set themselves as examples. They worked hard without remuneration in the larger interest of the public," said police commissioner Y.B. Khurania.

"The students will volunteer for traffic management only during leisure hours. They will be provided proper training, identity cards and uniforms," said Linkan Subudhi of Seva Prayas, who initiated the move.

"We have faced challenges. There have been instances where students have been injured by unruly motorists and girl volunteers faced humiliation. ," said Subudhi.