Challenges Facing India's Adolescent Health Initiative

It seeks to integrate awareness in schools, offer health services at primary health centers, and involve community interven- tions. Despite these good intentions, the pro- gram has struggled with several key issues.

Recent incidents of sexual violence in cities like Kolkata and Maharashtra have highlighted the urgent need for better education and awareness on gender issues and sexual health for young people. While the Indian government has recognized this need and has made efforts since 2005 to include Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) education in schools, the actual implementation has faced several hurdles.

In 2014, the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) was launched to improve adolescent health. This program aims to address not just sexual and reproductive health but also nutrition, mental health, and violence prevention. It seeks to integrate awareness in schools, offer health services at primary health centers, and involve community interventions.

Despite these good intentions, the program has struggled with several key issues.

Resource Allocation and Utilization

One major challenge is the management of resources. For example, in Sitapur district, Uttar Pradesh, funding for RKSK has dropped significantly-from 142 lakh in 2016-17 to 78 lakh in 2018-19.