Giving young girls a healthy chance to grow

LUCKNOW: Here is a day in the life of Aarti Devi, a 12-year-old girl from Chitrkoot. Wake up at sunrise, clean the kitchen, wash the dishes, sweep the house, assist her mother in cooking and after all this, if she has any time left, she can study.
Aarti is not the only one. Teenage girls from across Uttar Pradesh who have collected in Lucknow to attend and perform at the ‘Kishori Utsav’ organised by the Mahila Samakhya, have an almost identical daily schedule.
Most complain that they are beaten by their parents if they do not do the household chores. “My brother gets more food than me. I was not even allowed to come for the utsav. I had to really pester my parents,� complains 12-year-old Phoolkali.
The life of an adolescent girl child, specially in rural areas of the country continues to be grim. The statistics presented by Dr Manju Agarwal, the programme director of Mahila Samakhya, outline a horrifying picture. No less than 51 per cent of the adolescent girls are anaemic, 15 per cent of the married adolescent girls have stunted growth, and 40 per cent have an abnormally low body mass. And if that was startling, here are some comparisons. Among the adolescent population of between 15 to 19 years, 40 per cent of the girls are married, as compared to only 7 per cent of boys in this category. Some 90 per cent of married girls have heard of modern contraceptives but only 7 per cent have ever used them.
Neesha does not know her age, but this little girl is adept at all the household chores. “I have come to Lucknow for the first time,� she says with a twinkle in her eye. While for the 15-year-old Pooja, this was her first train journey.
“Many girls do not see beating as anything wrong. For them, it’s just a part of life,� rues Tripti, a counsellor working with Mahila Samakhya. “Educating them is a problem too, because they do not want to hear about issues such as marriage, as it is a taboo to talk about it,� adds Tripti.