Kishori Shakti Yojana

The Government of India under the Ministry of Women and Child Development has introduced the Kishori Shakti Yojana to empower adolescent girls. This scheme is implemented as a component under the centrally sponsored Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme that aims to enable self-development and empowerment of the Adolescent Girls. Kishori Shakti Yojana works to combat the various socio-legal issues by focusing on health, nutritional and educational requirements. In this article, we look at the Kishori Shakti Yojana in detail. Also, read Assistance Scheme to Women for Self-Employment in Himachal Pradesh

Objective

The objective of the Kishori Shakti Yojana are as follows:

To improve the health, nutritional and development status of the adolescent girls.
To promote awareness of hygiene, health, nutrition and family care.
To provide opportunities to upgrade their like skills, home-based skills and vocational skills.
To help them in improving their decision-making capabilities.
To support adolescent girls to initiate various activities to be useful and productive members of society.

Applicability

The given below are the eligibility criteria of applicants to apply for the Kishori Shakti Yojana:

The scheme applies to the adolescent girls in the age limit of 11 to 18 years under the ICDS Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Projects from the selected 200 districts initially across India on a pilot basis.
This scheme will target all out of school Adolescent girls, who can gather at the Anganwadi Centres regulated by the Government.
Also, the school-going girls regularly visit the Anganwadi Centres where they will endure living skills, nourishment tips, education and awareness of socio-legal issues.

Note: The Scheme has further classified the age group of 11 to 14 years and 14 to 18 years of age to provide proper attention to each group.

Financial Assistance

The Central Government will provide an amount of Rs. 1,10, 000 lakhs to each ICDS every year. This amount can be utilised in training to the applicants and organising health examination.

Services Under the Scheme

The following are the services provided under the

Kishori Shakti Yojana:

Health checkup and referral services

Under this program, each selected applicant will get the facility of health checkups at village health care centres or Anganwadi centres. This checkup will be performed after every six months.

Vocational Training

All preferred candidates will acquire suitable guidance from qualified trainers so that they can augment their occupational skills. With a boost in this training, trainees will be able to acquire financial independence.

Nutritional and Health Education

As the level of nutrition in adolescent female candidates is low, the awareness on personal hygiene, nutritional deficiency, balanced diet, first aid and home remedies will be provided under this scheme.

Life Skill Education

Under this programme, skills focused on personality development, functional literacy and accessing public services in Anganwadi centres. The Kishori Shakti Yojana will be implemented through the State Government with the 100% reimbursement of financial assistance from for all inputs other than the nutrition provision.

Implementation of the Scheme

The Central Government would contribute assistance to the extent of 50% of the expenditure or the actual financial norms incurred by the States, whichever is less to the States.
The Women and Child Development are responsible for the budgetary control and scheme administration from the corresponding centre.
At the State level committee, the Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Child Development dealing with the ICDS will be liable for the implementation of the scheme.
The other officials and director dealing with the ICDS will also implement the Kishori Shakti Yojana at the initial level.
The scheme will be executed through the Anganwadi centres in case of infrastructure and facilities at the Anganwadi centres are not satisfactory, the scheme would be implemented using alternative arrangements such as community building, school building/panchayat buildings/s, etc.
The Anganwadi Worker (AWW) will evaluate the registered Adolescent Girls within the jurisdiction of that Anganwadi centres and encourage them to attend training at the Anganwadi centres. The District Probation Officer (DPO) will be a concerned officer for the executing the scheme within the district level and the Child Development Project Officers (CDPO) within the ICDS Project area along with the supervisors.

Documents Required

The below following are the documents required to be attached along with the application form.

Copy of aadhaar card.
Copy of Income certificate
Copy of Birth Certificate
Copy of Domicile Certificate

Application Procedure

To register for the Kishori Shakti Yojana, follow the procedure given below: Approach Anganwadi Center Step 1: The Adolescent Girls will have to access the Anganwadi centre/Ministry of Labour/Anganwadi Medical Officer depends upon the services availed by the beneficiaries. Receive Application Form Step 2: The applicant has to fill the application form, which is obtained from the concerned office. Fill out the Application Form Step 3: Now, submit your duly filled application form to the representatives for verification. Verification Process Step 4: The verification will be done periodically to assess the scheme and take corrective measures. Also, evaluations will also be carried out by the States periodically. The survey and situational analysis will also be made by the States for the selection of beneficiaries so that the end evaluation would indicate the results. Processing of Applications Step 5: The register will be maintained at the Anganwadi centre by the AWW with the financial assistance amount of Saheli/Sakhi. Project wise, financial/physical progress report and records on the annual or quarterly basis in specified formats will be linked by the CDPO and forwarded to the State Government which will later be forwarded to the Ministry by the Governments. Then the supervisor will ensure that accurate records of Adolescent Girls are maintained at the AWC, compiled and reported in the prescribed format.