Scheme for Adolescent Girls

About the Scheme for Adolescent Girls 

The Adolescent Girls (AG) Scheme, implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development under Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), primarily aims at breaking the intergenerational life-cycle of nutritional and gender disadvantage and providing a supportive environment for self-development.

Launch: 2010

Implementation: By the Anganwadi Centres under ICDS

Aims: 

• It primarily aims at breaking the intergenerational life-cycle of nutritional and gender disadvantage and providing a supportive environment for self-development.

Target group: The Scheme will cover out of school girls in the age group of 11-14 years.

Objectives

The key objective of the scheme is to facilitate, educate and empower AGs so as to enable them to become self-reliant and aware citizens. The scheme has the following objectives.

• Enable the adolescent girls (AGs) for self-development and empowerment.
• Improve their nutrition and health status.iii) Promote awareness about health, hygiene, nutrition
• Support out of school AG to successfully transition back to formal schooling or bridge learning / skill training.
• Upgrade their home-based skills and life skills.
• Provide information/guidance about existing public services such as Primary Health Centers, Rural Hospitals/CHCs, Post Office, Bank, Police Station, etc.

Scheme Components:

There are two major components under the Scheme ‐ Nutrition Component and Non Nutrition Component.

• Nutrition Component

• Take Home Ration or Hot Cooked Meal for 11‐14 years Out of school girls – Nutrition Provision Rs. 9.50 per day (600 calories; 18‐20 gram of protein and recommended daily intake of micronutrients per day for 300 days in a year.). 
• The financial norms will be Rs. 9.5/- per beneficiary per day for 300 days in a year. 
• This would be inclusive of the cost of micronutrient fortification.

Funding pattern for supplementary nutrition: 

The Government of India and States share the cost of supplementary nutrition in a ratio of 50:50. 

For eight North Eastern States and three special category Himalayan States (H.P., J&K and Uttrakhand), the share of Centre and State is in the ratio of 90:10 and Union Territories (without legislation) are funded 100% of the financial norms or the actual expenditure incurred whichever is less

• Non Nutrition Component:For Out of school Adolescent Girls: (2 – 3 times a week)  of 11 ‐ 14 years
• Iron–folic acid (IFA) supplementation
• Health check‐up and Referral services
• Nutrition & Health Education (NHE)
• Counseling / Guidance on family welfare, ARSH, child care practices
• Life Skill Education and accessing public services

Funding pattern for non nutritive component: The Government of India and States share the cost under non nutritive components in a ratio of 60:40. For eight North Eastern States and three special category Himalayan States (H.P, J&K and Uttarakhand), the share of Centre and State is in the ratio of 90:10 and Union Territories (without legislation) are funded 100% of the financial norms. 

Coverage under the scheme

• The target group for the scheme covers out of school adolescent girls (AGs) in the age group of 11 to 14 years.
• The Scheme for Adolescent Girls was sanctioned in the year 2010 and was implemented in 205 districts across the country. 
• Later, the expansion and universalisation of the Scheme for Adolescent Girls was done in additional 303 districts in 2017-18 and the remaining districts in 2018-19 with the simultaneous phasing out of Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY). 
• At present, all districts in the country are covered under Scheme for Adolescent Girls.