Maharashtra to local bodies: provide sex education for teens

In directives issued by the rural development department to ZPs and Panchayat Samitis (PS) a week ago, the state government said it has reviewed the working of 24 schemes evolved in 2001 and 17 schemes added in 2006, and reduced the number of schemes to 21. And the new list of schemes includes the bicycle scheme for girls from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

The ZPs have been asked to provide free bicycles to girls from Class V to Class X who walk minimum two kilometres to reach their school. The ZPs have been asked to conduct a survey to find out the beneficiaries and implement the novel scheme.

The new directives also ask ZPs and PSs to provide sex education to adolescent girls and boys. “We call it life-skills (not sex education) that are necessary for adolescents,” a senior official said. “We have asked the ZPs to seek the help of NGOs and medical experts to impart scientific information on the problems faced by students who are growing up with secondary sexual characteristics,” he said.

He further stated that ZPs have been asked to prepare a booklet on the subject for circulation among students. The ZPs have also been asked to form committees under the chief executive officers to provide legal aid to women in distress.

The new list of 21 schemes to be executed by the woman and child committees of ZPs includes: bicycles for poor girls, “life-skills” for adolescents, mass weddings to combat dowry, martial arts training for girls, sewing machines to poor women, health checkup camps for infants, competitions...