Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram Scheme

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram under the National Health Mission on Jan 7, 2014. The objective of this government scheme is to promote the health and well-being of the adolescent population of India. The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram is the nation’s first adolescent health program and it covers an adolescent whose age is from 10-19 years (both girls and boys). Let’s read this page further and know more about the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram.

Target Areas of The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram

This scheme targets the adolescent people of age group 10-14 years and 15-19 years whether they live in rural or urban cities. The following are the certain sections of health and wellness that the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram aims to improve among adolescent such as –

1. Nutrition – Reduce malnutrition, Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA), including obesity and weight control programs.
2. Sexual & Reproductive Health – This scheme will improve knowledge of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) among adolescent people. It will result in reduced teenage pregnancies, improved birth precautions, complication readiness and early parenting support.
3. Mental Health – As you know the number of mental illnesses is increasing in India. and to protect the adolescent population from it, the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram also addresses mental health concerns.
4. Injury and Violence – Under the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram, peer educator programs in community and schools will be organized to promote favorable attitudes to prevent injuries and violence including Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
5. Substance Misuse – Awareness of substance abuse will be spread among the adolescent population in India for smoking, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, etc.
6. Awareness of NCDs – This scheme will also promote behavioral change to prevent non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and strokes among adolescents.

The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram Strategies

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare builds the following strategies to work on the targeted areas –

1. Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics (AFHCs) were established across public health institutions in all the states. Under the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram 6,220 AFHCs will be set up.
2. Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) Programme for adolescent boys and girls in school. And the adolescent girls who don’t have the privilege to go to schools will benefit from the WIFS programs that will be organized across the country. The WIFS program was launched in 31 states or union territories with coverage of 34 million beneficiaries.
3. Peer Educator Programme in 200 districts, based on composite health index and High Priority Districts (HPDs). The covered districts under the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram will get the benefit of the Peer Educator Programme for 50% of the blocks only. And later, the government will expand it to the remaining districts gradually based on proposals received from states.
4. Menstrual Hygiene Scheme provides funds to states or union territories for procurement of sanitary napkins for adolescent girls who are aged between 10-19 years. The scheme of Menstrual Hygiene will be rolled out in 1,092 Blocks of 17 states through the central supply of “Freedays”.
5. There will be 881 dedicated and 1,439 ICTC counselors for adolescent girls and boys sexual and reproductive health counseling.