Which age group of children/adolescents is included in Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram ?
- (a)8 to 15 years
- (b)8 to 17 years
- (c)9 to 16 years
- (d)10 to 19 years
Correct — D, 10 to 19 years. Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) was launched by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 7 January 2014 under the National Health Mission, and it uses the World Health Organization's definition of an adolescent: any person aged 10 to 19 years. The programme deliberately covers that entire band without filters — boys and girls, rural and urban, married and unmarried, in-school and out-of-school — which, on Census 2011 numbers, is about 253 million people, a little over a fifth of India's population.
- (a)8 to 15 years — No Indian health programme and no WHO definition begins adolescence at 8. The under-6 band belongs to ICDS/Anganwadi services and the school-based Ayushman Bharat School Health and Wellness Programme runs 5-18 years, but neither is RKSK, whose lower bound is firmly 10.
- (b)8 to 17 years — Both ends are wrong. The lower end is not 8, and RKSK does not stop at 17 — it runs to 19, which is why the last two teenage years (18 and 19, legally adult) are still inside the programme.
- (c)9 to 16 years — A plausible-looking 'school years' band, but it matches no scheme. Adolescence in RKSK is a health definition tied to puberty and the teenage decade (10-19), not to school classes.
RKSK is India's flagship adolescent health programme, run under the National Health Mission. It replaced the narrower ARSH (Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health) strategy, which had dealt only with sexual and reproductive health, and widened the agenda to six thematic areas: nutrition; sexual and reproductive health; mental health; non-communicable diseases; substance misuse; and injuries and violence, including gender-based violence. Delivery runs through Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics, trained Peer Educators (Saathiya), Adolescent Health Days, Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation and the Menstrual Hygiene Scheme.
Age-band questions are a favourite because India runs several overlapping programmes for young people, each with its own bracket — 0-6 for ICDS, 6-14 for the Right to Education, 5-18 for the school health programme, 15-29 for 'youth'. The single anchor that resolves all of them is the WHO definition: an adolescent is 10-19. Once you fix that, RKSK's band follows automatically, and every option that starts at 8 or 9 falls away.
- RKSK — launched 7 January 2014 by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare under the National Health Mission
- Target group: adolescents aged 10-19 years (the WHO definition) — about 253 million people per Census 2011, a little over one-fifth of India's population
- Six thematic areas: nutrition; sexual and reproductive health; mental health; non-communicable diseases; substance misuse; injuries and violence (including gender-based violence)
- Delivery platforms: Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics, Peer Educators (Saathiya) and the Saathiya Salah helpline/app, Adolescent Health Days, Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation, Menstrual Hygiene Scheme
- RKSK expanded the earlier ARSH strategy from sexual and reproductive health alone to all six themes
Only one band runs 10 to 19, and it is the health definition of adolescence. Options starting at 8 or 9 belong to no Indian programme at all.
- Assuming adolescence ends at 18 because that is the age of legal majority — RKSK runs to 19
- Confusing RKSK (10-19, health system) with the Ayushman Bharat School Health Programme (5-18, schools)
- Treating 'adolescent' and 'youth' as the same category — youth in Indian policy is 15-29
MPPSC asks the age band, launch year or nodal ministry of a flagship health programme directly; UPSC prefers statement-based questions on what a mission covers and which groups it targets.
Which of the following are the objectives of ‘National Nutrition Mission’? 1. To create awareness relating to malnutrition among pregnant women and lactating mothers. 2. To reduce the incidence of anaemia among young children, adolescent girls and women. 3. To promote the consumption of millets, coarse cereals and unpolished rice. 4. To promote the consumption of poultry eggs. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 1, 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1, 2 and 4 only
- (d) 3 and 4 only
Answer(a) 1 and 2 only
The same skill on a sister programme — knowing the stated coverage and target groups of a flagship national health-nutrition mission, including adolescent girls, rather than guessing from the name.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram is implemented by which Union Ministry?
- (a)Ministry of Women and Child Development
- (b)Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- (c)Ministry of Education
- (d)Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Answer(b) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare — RKSK runs under the National Health Mission.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is NOT among the six thematic areas of Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram?
- (a)Nutrition
- (b)Mental health
- (c)Substance misuse
- (d)Financial literacy
Answer(d) Financial literacy — the six themes are nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, non-communicable diseases, substance misuse, and injuries and violence.