BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Government on Sunday launched Advika, a new programme for adolescent girls to mark the International Day of Girl Child celebrated across the world with a campaign for girls to amplify their voices and stand up for their rights.
Advika (Every girl is unique) is an initiative of the State for the development and empowerment of adolescent girls, aged between 10 and 19 years. It will be implemented through the Anganwadi centres across the State.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said every day girls around the world are breaking boundaries and barriers with their courage and tenacity. He called upon to take pledge to remove biases and barriers which limit their future prospects to help them realise their potential.
Launching the programme Minister Women and Child Development Tukuni Sahu said all girls will gather at Anganwadi centre to attend the learning sessions in an enjoyable way. Advika will be a platform to connect girls to various government welfare programmes, she said.
As part of the initiative, an MIS will be developed for tracking of adolescent girls. Unlike the Mother and Child Protection (MCP) card, there will be ‘Kishori Card’, which will record the BMI, haemoglobin and sessions of training undertaken. This will help to know the health, nutrition and safety status of the adolescent girls.
Principal Secretary of the Department Anu Garg said Advika was a renewed commitment of the State Government towards the adolescent girls.