Bhubaneswar, Jan. 10: Students will now assist traffic personnel, with police introducing the Student Traffic Volunteer Scheme during their 9th Raising Day celebrations today.

In the first phase, as many as 111 students pursuing graduation and above have been included in the scheme.

The police said the volunteers would be provided with a remuneration of Rs 100 for three hours of duty. "They will be provided with T-shirts with the logo of the commissionerate police. They will assist our personnel in traffic management besides creating awareness in the city," said a senior police official.

The police said each volunteer would perform duty for six months and the service would be renewed every six months till they are students. "After completing their service, they will be given certificates," he said.

Students selected under the scheme expressed happiness. "This will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us with the traffic of the city increasing. We will also learn various road rules, which will enable us to obey traffic regulations," said Priyanka Sahu, a volunteer pursuing Plus Three at City Women's College here.

Similarly, Chinmayee Bhuyan, the girl who thrashed three motorcycle-borne criminals after they had snatched away her cell phone, was today appointed as special police officer during the celebrations.

The 23-year-old graduate had chased the three goons after the trio snatched her mobile phone from Unit-IX on September 25. She managed to nab the accused at Unit-II. The criminals left their motorcycle after she started thrashing them. Subsequently, Capital police arrested all the three. "I will try to teach self-defence to girls and women in distress and perform my duty to the best of my ability. I will try to remove fear from the minds of women and girls," said the student.

The police today also revealed the annual crime figures for the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

According to the statistics, the overall registration of cognisable cases has dropped by three per cent in 2016 as compared to 2015.

In 2016, the police registered 9,783 cognisable cases in the twin cities.

The number of rape cases in the twin cities, however, increased by 13 per cent in 2016 as compared to 2015. According to the statistics, as many as 144 rape cases were reported in 2016 as compared to 2015, when the number was 127.