The internet is making everyone aggro, it's seriously damaging our ability to get along and women and minorities are copping the brunt of it.

And it's not a generational thing either. Older Australians are reporting more online abuse than ever before, a new report shows.

There's been a significant jump in the number of Australians reporting online harassment, with a staggering 70 percent of of respondents reporting some form of harassment or abuse this year.

The study, by internet security company Norton by Symantec, came across our desks at an interesting time. Last week a high school Facebook group became "ground zero" for the harassment and abuse of poet Ellen van Neerven, author of the poem Mango which itself is the focus of an HSC English exam.

The Norton report -- released last week -- shows an increase of people experiencing online harassment across all age groups, with 40+ age group showing the most significant rise in reports from 37 percent in 2016 to 61 percent in 2017.

Norton's second Online Harassment Survey found:

• A general increase of people across all age groups experiencing online harassment;
• Abuse, insults, malicious gossip and being subject to rumours has become commonplace;
• Minority groups are suffering as a result, including LGBTIQ, those with poor mental health and weight issues;
• Men do not share experiences with peers, withdrawing even more from society, and;
• More women receive unwanted graphic / sexual pornographic material

But under 30s continue to be the most targeted age group, with 85 percent reporting online harassment as well as being more likely to be victim of more serious forms of online abuse such as cyberbullying, cyberstalking and sexual harassment.

Women suffer greater negative emotional impacts than men, with 33 percent expressing anger, 32 percent feeling anxious and 29 percent reporting feelings of depression.

More than half of women who suffered from depression as a result of their experiences had to seek medical help, which the report authors said confirmed the detrimental impact of cyber harassment on mental health and the need for education around online security.

What does cyberbullying look like?

• Being sent mean or hurtful text messages from someone you know or even someone you don't know;
• Getting nasty, threatening or hurtful messages through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, or through sites where people can ask / answer questions like Formspring or Internet forums;
• People sending photos and videos of you to others to try and embarrass or hurt you;
• People spreading rumours about you via emails or social networking sites or text messages;
• People trying to stop you from communicating with others;
• People stealing your passwords or getting into your accounts and changing the information there;
• People setting up fake profiles pretending to be you, or posting messages or status updates from your accounts.

Source: AHRC

While the number of incidents in each case may be limited to one or two rare events, it was concerning that the total number of reports had increased, said Melissa Dempsey, Senior Director of Norton's Asia Pacific and Japan arms.

"Online or cyber harassment continues to be a real threat for both young and old," Dempsey said in a statement.

"While the increased number of incidents could be due to people now feeling more confident to speak up, the fact that reports of online bullying and abusive behaviour is on the rise requires immediate action in terms of online users' security and privacy."

Steps You Can Take To Help Combat Online Harassment:

REVIEW your online presence on all devices:

• Check your security and privacy settings;
• Regularly change passwords.

RECOGNISE the problem if it happens and move quickly:

• Do not respond to the perpetrator;
• Keep all records and evidence of the harassment by making a copy of the message, photo or video;
• If you are witness to online harassment, help by supporting the person targeted and, depending on the situation, letting the perpetrators know that their behaviour is not acceptable.

REPORT:

• If someone says or does something that is inappropriate or deemed as harassment, report it to the relevant authorities immediately;
• If inappropriate content is displayed online, contact the website operators by phone or email, requesting the content be removed or blocked.

Younger Minority Groups Under Threat

Being constantly socially connected comes with risks, with the report noting high incidences of abuse could be attributed to young adults' regular use of popular social media profiles such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Experience of abuse and insults (53 percent) as well as malicious gossip and rumours (43 percent) are now commonplace complaints, the survey of 1,030 adults aged over 18 found.

This kind of "mild harassment" is most commonly experienced amongst younger Australians with 67 percent reporting abuse and insults.

Tech Use Sees Boost In Counselling Services

In April Kids Helpline released a report showing increased use of technology saw a 151 percent increase in WebChat counselling over a five year period, going from 12,643 in 2012 to 31,765 contacts in 2016.

In July last year KHL began gathering data on the prevalence of cyberbullying and other issues in this space.

"From July to December 2016, 1,566 counselling contacts were from children and young people concerned, worried or feeling unsafe as a result of online or texting activity," Ms Adams said in April.

"In addition to bullying, this included participation in sexting, receiving unwanted online contact, suspected grooming and uncontrolled or excessive use of online gaming or social networking."

The 2016 Insights report showed NSW and Victoria as the leading states accessing Kids Helpline services with 35 percent and 25 percent of all contacts coming from these States respectively.

Burrowing down into the Norton findings shows very tough circumstances for certain minority groups

Of those reporting the most common harassment are the physically disabled at (59 percent), the LGBTQ community (66 percent) and those with weight issues (66 percent) or poor mental health (69 percent) more likely to be victims.

Threats Of Violence, Cyberbullying And Cyberstalking Reports On The Rise

Reports of threats of physical violence more than doubled since the last survey up from 16 percent to 35 percent, with younger men and people with minority status being more likely to be targeted.

Cyberbullying and cyberstalking reports also increased significantly from 20 percent to 33 percent and 15 per cent to 29 percent respectively.

Cyberbullying is especially a concern for younger Australians (57 percent), those in the LGBTIQ community (55 percent) and people suffering from poor mental health (48 percent).

When it came to identifying perpetrators of cyberbullying, men were more likely to say their bullies' identities were unknown (39 percent) or total strangers (30 percent). 28 percent of women who had experienced bullying said that they had been bullied by a former friend or an acquaintance.

While young women were only a little more likely to be targeted by sexual harassment than men, the range and variety of sexual abuse they receive is greater.

The Gender Imbalance in Abuse:

• 48 percent of women compared to 31 percent of men reported said they had people send sexual comments and messages on social media accounts;
• Requests for sexually explicit photographs/images was significantly higher for women with 44 percent reporting this complaint than men (25 percent);
• Women also reported more instances of receiving unwanted graphic/sexual pornographic material as well as being pestered for dates by someone who would not take no for an answer.

Alarmingly, 77 percent of men surveyed said that they do not know anyone who has suffered from online harassment, however 70 per cent have experienced it themselves.

This indicates that most men do not share these experiences with their peers, Norton said.

Are you experiencing cyberbullying? Get in touch with the eSafety Commissioner for advice on how to make a complaint, find someone to talk to as well as advice and strategies for dealing with cyberbullying.

If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For further information about depression contact beyondBlue on 1300224636 or talk to your GP, local health professional or someone you trust.

NEW DELHI -- An estimated nine million people died worldwide in 2015 due to diseases caused by pollution -- the biggest cause globally of all premature deaths -- more than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined and even more disastrous than all violence, with India and China contributing to 5.4 million of the pollution-related mortalities, a study has found.

"Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today. Diseases caused by pollution were responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths in 2015," the study released on Thursday in The Lancet medical journal noted.

The study, the first to put together data on disease and death caused by all forms of pollution combined, said 16 per cent of all deaths worldwide were attributable to the environmental pollution.

This figure is three times more than the deaths from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined and 15 times more than from all wars and other forms of violence. It is also one-and-a-half times higher than the number of people killed by smoking and over six times the number of people dying in road accidents.

In the most severely affected countries, pollution-related disease are responsible for more than one death in four, it said.

"In 2015, the greatest numbers of deaths due to pollution occurred in Southeast Asia (3·2 million) and the western Pacific (2·2 million). Southeast Asia includes India and the western Pacific region includes China," said the study.

Epidemiologist Philip Landrigan, dean of global health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the lead author on the report said pollution has never received the desired attention of world leaders, civil society and health professionals.

"There's been a lot of study of pollution, but it has never received the resources or level of attention as, say, Aids or climate change," Landrigan said.

"Despite its substantial effects on human health, the economy, and the environment, pollution has been neglected, especially in low-income and middle-income countries, and the health effects of pollution are under-estimated in calculations of the global burden of disease."

The report said that pollution in low-income and middle-income countries caused by industrial emissions, vehicular exhaust, and toxic chemicals has particularly been overlooked in both the international development and the global health agendas.

"Although more than 70 per cent of the diseases caused by pollution are non-communicable diseases, interventions against pollution are barely mentioned in the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases."

Stating that several cities in India and China had recorded alarming annual concentrations of PM2·5 pollution, the study said over 50 per cent of global deaths due to ambient air pollution in 2015 occurred in India and China.

"Ambient air pollution in rapidly expanding mega-cities such as New Delhi and Beijing attracts the greatest public attention. However, WHO documents that the problem of ambient air pollution is widespread in low-income and middle-income countries and finds that 98 per cent of urban areas in developing countries with populations of more than 100,000 people fail to meet the WHO global air quality guideline for PM2·5 pollution of 10 µg/m3 of ambient air annually."

Other countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, North Korea, South Sudan and Haiti have seen nearly one in every fifth premature deaths caused by pollution.

Pollution, the report said, was also "costly", costing some $4.6 trillion in annual losses - or about 6.2 per cent of the global economy.

"Pollution-related diseases cause productivity losses that reduce gross domestic product (GDP) in low-income to middle-income countries by up to 2 per cent each year. Pollution-related disease also results in health-care costs that are responsible for 1·7 per cent of annual health spending in high-income countries and for up to 7 per cent of health spending in middle-income countries that are heavily polluted and rapidly developing.

"Welfare losses due to pollution are estimated to amount to $4·6 trillion per year: 6·2 per cent of global economic output. The costs attributed to pollution-related disease will probably increase as additional associations between pollution and disease are identified," it said.

"At 11, he dropped out of school to devote all his time towards learning religious scriptures. He spent the next two years studying the ways of an ascetic life under his guru. In a month's time, he's going to renounce the world and start life afresh as a monk," says linguistics professional Mishti Shah* of her 13-year old cousin whose family is bustling around proudly preparing for his diksha ceremony next month. "You can't drive before 16, you can't marry before 18, you can't drink alcohol before 21, but you are allowed to give up worldly life at 13, or even earlier. This is ridiculous!" she says with barely concealed frustration.

The controversy surrounding this religious service cropped up again last month when a young Jain couple from Madhya Pradesh relinquished their assets and took diksha, leaving behind their 3-year-old daughter in the care of relatives. Both stories raise questions about the cultural and religious factors that infringe upon child rights, the helplessness of the state in ending it and the need for liberal social reforms.

In the past, attempts by child rights activists and human rights bodies to prohibit the practice of Bal Diksha (renunciation by children) have been met by severe resistance from Jain community leaders, and disputed legal judgements regarding the extent of state interference with religion. A bench of the Bombay High Court proclaimed Bal Diksha to be "as bad as Sati" in 2008 and pondered over the conflict between the Right to Childhood and the Right to Religion in 2011.

For decades, traditional notions of gender and morality have dominated the exercise of human rights, especially those of women and children.

Nicole Menezes, co-founder of Leher, a child rights organisation, says: "this practice is not in the best interests of children. They are not capable of making informed decisions for themselves. Moreover, there is a grey area concerning the legality of the issue. But I believe that the society really needs to collectively develop its own conscience and decide what it wants for children."

In recent times, members of the Jain community – legally recognised as minority – have been divided over the ramifications of this practice. "Bal Diksha has been a contentious subject within the community, with resistance to the practice developing in the early 20th century The Bal Diksha Pratibandh Andolan, a reformist movement led by a section of the Jains themselves sought prohibition of the practise, not so much out of concern for the ascetic child, but out of fear that children could not possibly uphold the rigours of an ascetic life.

For decades, traditional notions of gender and morality have dominated the exercise of human rights, especially those of women and children.

The controversy has continued into the present, but the terrain of arguments has seen a shift, with the more recent opposition centering on the rights of children," says Manisha Sethi, author of Escaping the World: Women Renouncers among Jains. For decades, traditional notions of gender and morality have dominated the exercise of human rights, especially those of women and children. When religious doctrines join hands with established cultural systems, it leaves barely any space for a broader interpretation of individual justice and freedom. And when left unchallenged, these often intolerant norms pave the way for the exploitation of rights in the name of rituals, conventions and spirituality.

Instead of treating a child's so-called disavowal of the worldly life as an occasion to rejoice, we, as conscious beings of a civilised society, ought to deplore the loss of his right to childhood, right to education, and more importantly, right to life.

The conflict between rights and religion is very real. When religion, society and culture start overshadowing the essence of human rights, it's time to step back and consider where one must draw the line. It is irrational to always leave it up to the law to govern the character of the society that evolves from time to time. This reformist confrontation is not about joining forces against religion; rather it entails standing up for the rights of children, transcending the prevalent social and cultural forces.

"The reluctance to challenge norms prevails among followers of almost every religion. Even when people sense a right from wrong, most are unwilling to publicly call attention to it because of the religious bearing attached to it," says Ektaa Jain, research scholar at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

*name changed to protect privacy.

The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of HuffPost India. Any omissions or errors are the author's and HuffPost India does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.

When you get a phone call from your husband who is based abroad, you expect a general conversation about his everyday life, when he'll be visiting next, your daily life and as the conversation peters out, the last question is always when will he call next. What you don't expect even in your wildest of dreams, is to have the conversation as 'Mrs. Salma Khan' and end the conversation as 'Miss Salma Ahmed'.

Nightmare or fiction? Neither, this is the truth of Triple Talaq (TT) in the lives of Indian Muslim women before the recent landmark judgement pronounced by the Supreme Court banned it by a 3:2 majority. The judges stated: "given the fact that Triple Talaq is instant and irrevocable, it is obvious that any attempt at reconciliation between the husband and wife by two arbiters from their families, which is essential to save the marital tie, cannot ever take place. This being the case, it is clear that this form of Talaq is manifestly arbitrary in the sense that the marital tie can be broken capriciously and whimsically by a Muslim man without any attempt at reconciliation so as to save it.

The rampant abuse of this form of talaq made the men all powerful, and soon there were triple talaqs being emailed, even sent on WhatsApp.

This form of Talaq must, therefore, be held to be violative of the 393 Fundamental Right contained under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. In our opinion, therefore, the 1937 Act, insofar as it seeks to recognise and enforce Triple Talaq, is within the meaning of the expression 'laws in force' in Article 13(1) and must be struck down as being void to the extent that it recognizes and enforces Triple Talaq." Justices Kurian Joseph, UU Lalit and RF Nariman delivered the majority Judgment. Chief Justice Khehar and Justice Abdul Nazeer dissented. In layman's terms triple talaq is not a legally valid type of divorce after this judgement.

Triple talaq is a form of divorce practiced by Muslim men where even the an utterance of 'talaq, talaq, talaq' was enough for them to divorce their wife. This form of divorce was only available to the Muslim men and not the women, who if they wanted a divorce from their spouse would have to approach the courts and seek a divorce.

Let's take Mrs. Salma Khan's case where she went to speak to her husband, who had called from the Middle-East, on a neighbour's phone, only to be stunned when he pronounced the triple talaq on the phone.

Let's take Mrs. Salma Khan's case where she went to speak to her husband, who had called from the Middle-East, on a neighbour's phone, only to be stunned when he pronounced the triple talaq on the phone. Similarly in my client Shaheen's case, which was even more bizarre, where her husband smsed her the triple talaq. When Shaheen first came to me I thought it was a joke but soon I realised that the joke was on her because the triple talaq was supported by the law. She essentially had no recourse, except to seek maintenance for herself and her children. But it's not always about the money, it's also about a sense of dignity and self-respect as a human being.

Triple talaq divests a woman of all sense of equality in a marriage. When a man is all-powerful and has the ability to end his marriage regardless of whether his wife wants to or not, is it not a violation of human rights? When there is a unilateral and unequivocal application of power we speak of it as an abuse of human rights, which is exactly what TT had become over a period of time. The rampant abuse of this form of talaq made the men all powerful and soon there were triple talaqs being emailed, even being sent on WhatsApp, reducing the woman to a helpless piece of chattel, because she had no absolute rights to contest this form of divorce.

The power balance which was skewed in favour of men will now tilt considerably towards women.

Triple talaq coupled with polygamy is akin to handing over a nuclear bomb to Kim Jong Un, which is what happened to Sajjida's marital life. Whilst she was in court fighting over the validity of the triple talaq, her husband married another woman. I can feel Sajjida's anger, hurt and humiliation each time we go to court to challenge the validity of the talaqnama and also fight for maintenance in court. When the thought of even sharing a boyfriend, with another woman doesn't cross my mind one can't even imagine, having to share a husband with another wife, especially when you have been so unceremoniously divorced using triple talaq.

However, with the passing of this path breaking judgement the socio-legal parameters of Muslim divorces will change in India. The power balance which was skewed in favour of men will tilt considerably towards women. The judgement also emphasises the implementation of Fundamental Rights, and it will be pave the path forward for the Uniform Civil Code. One thing is for sure, the lives of the new Salmas, Shaheens, Sajjidas will definitely not be turned upside down ever again, thanks to the death of the instant triple talaq.

The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of HuffPost India. Any omissions or errors are the author's and HuffPost India does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.

New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) — The CBI has written to the government for reconsideration of its 2005 decision and allow the agency to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court in the Bofors case challenging the quashing of an FIR in the alleged scam, officials said.

In a letter to the Department of Personnel and Training, the CBI conveyed that it wanted to file the SLP challenging the Delhi High Court order of 31 May 2005 quashing all charges against Europe-based Hinduja brothers in the Bofors case.

Government officials said the CBI was in favour of filing the SLP in 2005 but the then UPA government did not give its nod.

Legal experts feel that the agency will have to do a lot of explanation for condoning the lapsed time period of over 12 years.

The then Delhi High Court judge RS Sodhi had on 31 May 2005, quashed all charges against the Hinduja brothers — Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand — and the Bofors company and castigated the CBI for its handling of the case saying it had cost the exchequer about Rs 250 crore.

Before the 2005 verdict, another judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice JD Kapoor (since retired), on 4 February 2004, had exonerated the late prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in the case and directed framing of charge of forgery under Section 465 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the Bofors company.

On Wednesday, the CBI had said it would look into the "facts and circumstances" of the Bofors scam mentioned by private detective Michael Hershmam, who alleged that the then Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government had sabotaged his investigation.

Hershman, who is the president of the US-based private detective firm Fairfax, claimed in television interviews recently that Rajiv Gandhi was "furious" when he had found a Swiss bank account "Mont Blanc".

Hershman, who was here last week to address a conference of private detectives, also alleged that the bribe money of the Bofors gun scandal had been parked in the Swiss account.

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The Rajasthan government has come out with an ordinance which purportedly tries to protect public servants, including judges and magistrates, from prosecution from actions taken in the discharge of their duties as public servants. The media has been widely reporting this as an attempt to protect corrupt activities, but this discourse is leading people away from the actual mischief sought to be done.

Public servants, including judges, are protected from prosecution for actions in discharge of their duties by Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which lays down that a prior sanction to prosecute shall be taken from the competent authority of the Central or state government, as the case may be. Judges are provided additional protection under the Judges Protection Act from civil or criminal action for actions or words spoken during discharge of their duties.

When in comes to charges of corruption, even the Prevention of Corruption Act provides for a mechanism of prior sanction for prosecution of public servants under the Act.

This makes one wonder about the necessity of the ordinance promulgated by the Rajasthan government. This is where one notices the mischief.

The ordinance doesn't merely protect public servants and judges, it declares an embargo on the free press from reporting about the accusations or probe till the time prior sanction to prosecute is not granted.

The ordinance doesn't merely protect public servants and judges, it declares an embargo on the free press from reporting about the accusations or probe till the time prior sanction to prosecute is not granted. As it provides a time period of 180 days for a decision to be taken for such sanctions, there's effectively a six month gag on the media.

This strikes at the very root of journalistic freedom to report fairly and accurately, a freedom guaranteed by the Constitution as a fundamental right. Such a right to report fairly has been upheld by a catena of decisions of various constitutional courts.

The ordinance goes another step ahead and attempts to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to make disclosure of identity of certain people against whom sanction is sought to be a cognizable but bailable offence punishable by imprisonment up to two years.

Such criminalisation of disclosure again hits at the very roots of journalistic freedoms and shall have a chilling effect on free speech.

This is still an ordinance, and as it attempts to amend Central laws it would require presidential assent. However, the threat to free speech is a clear and present danger.

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"I write for you and me and for a gentler, more just world." Catharsis is a word I avoid using in any context. Even when friends, well-wishers and experts offer it an explanation for what they see happening with me. Or suggest it as a necessary step to deal with an issue. It is not because I don't like the word or don't believe in the process. Just the opposite, in fact. I treat catharsis as a sacred precious gift; the word carries so much value for me that I don't want it made trite in the world of easy sound bytes and trending catch phrases.

So it is with a lot of thought that I call Natasha Badhwar's debut book a cathartic read. My Daughters' Mum is an extraordinary book in its candour. The author writes with such self-reflexive vulnerability that you forget you are reading another person's writing. You feel your heart spill out on the page. Through tears and smiles, and a heaving and sinking heart the book embraces the reader, cleansing many heartaches and allowing one to celebrate unspoken joys. You recognise memories you had dumped away, you reclaim parts you had been too ashamed to include in your narrative of self. You examine what you have known; you let yourself be drawn into speculating on the unknown.

No motherhoods preached, no rules that are claimed as fail proof. Just a brave and honest sharing of personal experiences, insights and revelations.

The theme of coming home to a place in this world, and a place inside yourself is the big story of this marvellously loving collection of deeply personal essays. The theme holds together carefully curated sections from Natasha's long running Mint Lounge column. As a regular reader, it makes me happy that the stories of the column, with their message of love, hope, inclusion and the vision of a different, kinder world now have another home with an even wider accessibility. The editor and writer have skilfully structured the collection in a way that feels like a seamless narration of an ongoing conversation.

Part memoir, part essay, part record of our times, there is nothing the book does not touch. Birth family, mothers and daughter, parents, nation, others, love, work, interfaith marriage, friends, grief, death, births, self-love, identity, nationality, changing times, family, in-laws, maids, working from home, road trips, childhood, college, siblings, it is all there, in Natasha's warm and smart prose.

Part memoir, part essay, part record of our times, there is nothing the book does not touch.

No motherhoods preached, no rules that are claimed as fail proof. Just brave and honest sharing of personal experiences, insights and revelations. Sample this, on parenting: "I had never really felt so lonely. Clearly, I had spread myself too thin; the urban myth of the supermom had trapped me. I looked good, but I felt terrible. All at once, parenting proved to be a test of loyalty. Was I willing to be loyal to myself? I didn't have much practice in this area. It had always been much easier to be loyal to friends, trends and gadgets. I had to come to terms with a few grand truths. For one, I would be able to raise our kids well only if I first raised myself well...I had also to learn to pamper the child in me – love her, appreciate her, make her happy."

In the chapter titled 'A Technology Chowkidar At Home', Natasha takes head on the issue many young and not so young parents mention all too often as an obstacle to stay away from negative media. "Despite my intense love for gadgets... I am the self-appointed watchman who moderates access to technology in family spaces... We barely listen to each other. We are often way behind in keeping track of each other's creative milestones... we all need some time to share our experiences with each other So we do things that may seem odd to other families. ...I do not want us to be a family of Western-consumerist-culture-addicted-Anglophones. We do not want to find ourselves scavenging for comfort amid the clutter of shallow, raucous media content with limited shelf life. I want variety in our lives. Slowness. Pauses. Daydreaming and imaginary friends. I don't want to prepare our children for the 'real world'. I want us and them to have the confidence that we can create the world we want to live in. We don't have to fit into pre-fabricated moulds. We are free to discover and relate to our inner and outer worlds at our own pace. We can pick and chose. This is real life."

Natasha's writing is always crisp, the chapters short and sentences light.

Natasha's writing is always crisp, the chapters short and sentences light. Such nimble handling of weighty and gut wrenchingly loaded topics is a feat this slim book achieves with élan. I have a feeling that the author's experience as a TV newsperson and filmmaker, and then coach has definitely helped her create this light as air feel for this warm as pashmina coziness of a book.

If like me, you are a dreamer who wants to persist on this path despite an often broken heart and habitually weary feet, go get yourself this dose of solidarity and encouragement. Keep the tissues on hand, and start reading. You will go on a journey of your life, I promise you. In Natasha's words reflecting on the wreckage of a riot she watched as a young girl: "our heart breaks and somehow we keep working. Lives are wrecked and people get back to building homes again. We lose hope and then we find a way to believe once more. We often despair that we are too cynical but we are all constantly creating, restoring, healing, trying to reassemble broken pieces." I like to believe she speaks for a lot of us.

The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of HuffPost India. Any omissions or errors are the author's and HuffPost India does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.

Nearly 590,00 Rohingya refugees have been admitted to camps in Bangladesh and 320,00 refugee children among them are threatened by water-borne diseases and desperate living conditions, a United Nations spokesman said Friday.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 589,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar's northern Rakhine State since alleged retaliation following a deadly rebel militia attack on 25 August against police posts, said Farhan Haq, the UN spokesman.

Just over half of the new arrivals in Bangladesh are staying in Kutupalong Expansion, he said. It was described as a single large site where aid partners are working with authorities to improve road access, infrastructure and basic services.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said nearly 7,000 of the refugees had been admitted to Bangladesh after spending up to four days stranded near the border. "Thousands more are believed to be on their way from Myanmar."

The most vulnerable among the new arrivals are taken by bus from the border to a transit centre, where the UNHCR and its partners provide food, water, medical checks and temporary shelter, Haq said.

The UN Children's Agency (UNICEF) said that desperate living conditions and water-borne diseases are threatening more than 320,000 Rohingya refugee children, he said.

A new report by the agency said most of the refugees are living in overcrowded and unsanitary makeshift settlements.

Despite an expanding international aid effort led by the government of Bangladesh, the report said that the essential needs of many children are not being met, the spokesman said. "UNICEF is also calling for an end to the atrocities targeting civilians in Rakhine State, as well as for humanitarian actors to be given immediate and unfettered access."

A pledging conference for donors next Monday in Geneva was announced earlier this week. Officials said they hope to raise $434 million to aid Rohingya refugees and their hosts, some 11.2 million people in all. So far it is only 26% funded.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu is flustered by scenes in a movie criticising several policies introduced by its government at the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

All hell broke loose over the release of Mersal, a drama featuring popular actor Vijay, for Diwali. Already a major hit with the masses, the movie deals with corruption in the medical profession, among other themes of social justice.

On Wednesday, BJP's Tamil Nadu president Tamilisai Soundararajan demanded several scenes from the film to be excised because they criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a number of policies implemented by his administration.

One of the offending bits is in this snippet from Mersal, with English subtitles, posted by a Twitter user.

Complete English translation in subtitles: RT to share#MersalVsModipic.twitter.com/gDDiuSzLzF

— Shashikant (@Maasum_Bacha) October 21, 2017

The speech made by the character played by Vijay highlights the Modi government's mismanagement of the infamous move to demonetise high-value currency in November 2016. Another actor in Mersal shows off his empty wallet to prove that Modi government's financial sleight of hand has forced him to go cashless.

Before the public had fully recovered from the aftermath of the noteban, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and its shoddy imposition unleashed a fresh round of havoc to the economy, especially small- and medium-size businesses.

Add to the economic woes, the general mishandling of healthcare, exemplified by the scores of children who allegedly died due to lack of oxygen supply in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, in August this year.

The character played by Vijay not only highlights these damages wreaked by the government at the Centre but also compares similar policies in places like Singapore, which have, he claims, applied such strategies with more success.

Matters went downhill from there.

On Friday BJP national secretary H Raja attacked Vijay on Twitter, saying that his lines in Mersal exposed the actor's ignorance on economic matters. But that wasn't all. He decided to drag in the actor's religion, by dredging up his Christian name, Joseph, which he scarcely uses. All this to put an ugly communal angle to the alleged slurs a character played by him makes in a movie.

Raja also said he was "trying to confirm" whether the producer Hema Rukmani of Thenandal Studios Ltd "may also be a Christian".

In 2014, Modi had met Vijay while campaigning for the general elections, which propelled him to power by a landslide victory, and sought to seek the support of his fan base for the polls. Vijay is followed by over 3 million people on Twitter and is revered as a superstar.

In 2015, Vijay faced raids on suspicions of tax evasion, which Raja also brought into his counter-attack. He also pointed out that the claims made about Singapore's healthcare and public policies in the movie by the actor are incorrect.

Be that as it may, the government has no business asking for cuts from a movie after it has been cleared for release, simply because the latter is critical of its performance.

Such a demand exposes the BJP's lack of respect to the principle of freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution and guaranteed to every citizen. Worse still, it reveals the depths of insecurity in the rank and file of the party that it is compelled to behave like an autocratic at the slightest hint of disagreement.

As of now, titans of Tamil cinema, such as Pa Ranjith, who directed Rajinikanth's Kabali, are supporting Vijay, as are the fans of his rival superstar Ajith. Actor Kamal Haasan also tweeted his support to Mersal and Vijay.

"Don't silence critics. India will shine when it speaks. Mersal was certified. Don't re-censor it. Counter criticism with logical response," he said.

The overwhelming reaction to Mersal from the public so far also perhaps shows that, like any successful cinema, it has been able to appeal to the people's sentiment by speaking of their grievances and for them.

As for the BJP, its desperation to get a toe-hold in the southern states will not be favourably served by its penchant for banning, if the earlier attempt to ban beef consumption in Kerala is any indication.

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New Delhi — Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the BJP's demand for removal of dialogues critical of the GST in Tamil movie Mersal, asking him not to "demon-etise Tamil pride" by such interference.

"Mr. Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don't try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal," Gandhi said in a tweet.

Mr. Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don't try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) October 21, 2017

Gandhi's counter-attack came after Tamil actor Vijay's Diwali release Mersal came under attack from BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu, one of whom also sought to give a communal twist by raking up the actor's religion.

The actor has been panned for his dialogues in the film that takes a dig at GST and Digital India. Vijay, who had met Narendra Modi during electioneering ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had even lauded demonetisation last year.

BJP's National Secretary H Raja in a tweet on Friday raked up the actor's Christian origins.

"Joseph Vijay's hatred for Modi is 'Mersal'."

Referring to the actor's dialogue in the movie, Raja tweeted that in the last 20 years, 17,500 churches, 9,700 mosques and 370 temples were built. Out of these what should be avoided to build hospitals, Raja posted.

Raja even said Mersal shows Vijay's ignorance in economic matters as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is not a new tax and the tax on liquor is over 58%.

Tamil Nadu BJP President Tamilisai Soundararajan demanded removal of the dialogues relating to GST, digital payments and temples from the movie as they spread a wrong message.

Earlier on Saturday, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also attacked the BJP over its demand for removal of dialogues critical of GST in Mersal.

"Notice to film makers: Law is coming, you can only make documentaries praising government's policies," Chidambaram tweeted.

Notice to film makers: Law is coming, you can only make documentaries praising government's policies.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) October 21, 2017

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People know not to use Comic Sans and maybe Papyrus ― those are things you just shouldn’t do. But very rarely do people understand why they should use a typeface. Douglas Thomas

Mumbai, Oct 21 (PTI) — A 16-year-old girl was left with a fractured nose after a man allegedly repeatedly hit her for asking him and his friends not to indulge in loud arguments at Kurla-Nehrunagar here, police said today.

A video purportedly showing the man, identified as Imran Shahid Shaikh, attacking the girl, has gone viral in the social and mainstream media. The incident, which took place on Tuesday, was captured in a CCTV camera.

The accused was arrested on the day of the incident, but was later grated bail by a local court, police said.

According to a police official, the incident took place on 17 October near SRA Building in Shramjeevi Nagar, Chembur at 7 pm, when the victim was going to her class with a friend at Adarsh Nagar in Thakkar Bappa Colony in Chembur.

"When she was near her building, a group of youths, who were seated inside a parked autorickshaw, were arguing loudly. The victim asked them not to make noise and then walked some distance with her friend," the official said.

However, enraged at being reprimanded by her, Shaikh, whom she knew, came out of the rickshaw and thrashed her repeatedly.

#WATCH#CCTVVisuals: Minor girl allegedly molested in #Mumbai on Oct 17, beaten up as she protested. Case registered by Nehru Nagar Police pic.twitter.com/Qo2T8VZCN4

— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2017

"Shaikh hit her on the nose with a metal object, after which she collapsed on the ground, with her nose bleeding profusely," he said.

After the incident, Shaikh also threatened her and fled from the spot, the official said.

"The people, who witnessed the incident, did not stop Imran from beating her," the official said.

The victim was taken to a hospital, where she was found to have suffered a nose fracture, he said.

Based on the complaint by the victim Nehrunagar Police registered an offence against Shaikh under sections 324, 326 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

He was arrested on the same day. He was produced in a court, which granted bail to him, investigating officer Deepak Pawra said.

Further investigation is underway.

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No political event, big or small, exists in isolation. Every speech and gesture by a leader of consequence has a context, a subtext, a message(s) and portents that linger long after the dust raised by his chopper or motor cavalcade has settled. These elements often acquire a life of their own and augment the basic purpose of an event.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Kedarnath shrine and his address to a gathering there on October 20 and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's presence at the Ayodhya "Deeputsav" celebration on Diwali on October 19 have resonances that transcend the boundaries of the small towns and the states in which they are located. Both the occasions have to be contextualised in the backdrop of the elections in Gujarat and the BJP's resurrection of its tried, tested and trusted Hindutva card that may not carry its original potency this time.

Gujarat is beset with woes arising from the arrival of a Goods and Services Tax regime. It has compounded the problems faced by textile and diamond traders who are up against an overall economic downturn that slackened business, caused job losses and shutdowns. The state's caste fault lines, camouflaged by a sense of "Hindu identity" in the years that the BJP has ruled, have surfaced as the dominant Patels or Patidars and the Thakores (divided into upper castes and backward castes) vie for a larger share of the power pie.

Gujarat is beset with woes arising from the arrival of a Goods and Services Tax regime.

After Modi's relocation to the Centre, the BJP does not have a credible or charismatic face, capable of leading the party to another victory, independent of Modi's persona and legacy. Modi's immediate successor Anandiben Patel announced she will not contest the election. The incumbent chief minister Vijay Rupani, though not a hot-button, was regarded as "uninspiring" by the Gujarat BJP. Therefore, this circumstance increases the BJP's dependency on Modi to deliver another victory with the party president Amit Shah as the back-up.

Modi was Gujarat's "Hindu hriday ka samrat" (monarch of the Hindu heart), an appellation he earned in 2002 on the back of the Godhra train carnage and the ensuing communal violence. He tried to balance the Hindutva tag with "vikas" (development), accounting for every little "accomplishment" of his government in his campaign trails.

Modi was Gujarat's "Hindu hriday ka samrat" (monarch of the Hindu heart), an appellation he earned in 2002 on the back of the Godhra train carnage and the ensuing communal violence.

Modi has reasons to play the Hindu card with greater intensity this time. The Patels are upset with the BJP but the community's also susceptible to faith-based political rhetoric and may not root with alacrity for the Congress. The traders must be retained, the upper caste Thakores have to be weaned from the Congress while the OBCs, a constituency the BJP has assiduously tapped into since 2012, may not vote for it as a solid block because the Congress is also making a play for their votes by co-opting non-state actors like Alpesh Thakore. The Dalits and the tribals vote differently in the different regions.

Second, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), that have a vast network, have to be assured that Modi's heart is with the Hindus. In the past, as the chief minister, he had run-ins with the VHP and made no secret of his dislike for its state leader, the outspoken Praveen Togadia. Because Modi's pro-Hindu credentials were above board, the VHP could do nothing to damage him and the BJP.

Kedarnath, high up on Uttarakhand's hills, was where Modi played to the Hindu gallery. His forehead covered with sandalwood paste and "rudraksha" beads strung around his neck, he invoked Shiva, enshrined in the temple's sanctum sanctorum, seeking "Baba Kedar's" blessings. He sent his greetings to Gujarat on its new year in Hindi and Gujarati several times.

I am happy to be in Kedarnath, a day after Diwali. Today, Gujaratis are celebrating the start of a New Year. I convey my greetings to everyone around the world who mark the start of Nutan Varsh: PM @narendramodi in Kedarnath

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 20, 2017

Modi claimed his political career was the outcome of a call from "Baba Kedar" to dedicate his life to the country's 125 crore "Babas". But the political underpinnings were unmistakeable. He wanted to remind people that in his youth, he had turned a monk and was wandering in the hills of Uttarakhand until he chanced upon an unnamed "ascetic" who counselled him to return to worldly life and "serve" people. This is mentioned in an early biography on Modi called "Narendra Modi: The Architect of a Modern State" by MV Kamath and Kalindi Randeri. It is a story that many Gujaratis swear by.

Modi harked back to the flash floods of June 2013 that had flattened out the hills, alleging that as the Gujarat CM, he had wanted to help out the state but the Uttarakhand government (then helmed by Vijay Bahuguna who has since joined the BJP) had rebuffed his offer.

Kedarnath, part of the "char dham" or four abodes of god, is a must on a devout Hindu's pilgrimage. More so for Gujaratis who account for the bulk of the tourists with those from Tamil Nadu, Andhra and West Bengal. In 2013, several pilgrims from Gujarat were trapped in the deluge. The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board website, specifically mentions Gujarati among the three languages spoken in Kedarnath with Hindi and English.

The Congress's attempts to punch holes in Modi's rhetoric with the contention that while he landed at Kedarnath in a chopper, Rahul Gandhi had trekked 18 kms like any faithful, cut no ice because Modi's videos have reportedly been snapped up like hot cakes in Gujarat.

To do a balancing act, he promised to use a holistic approach to develop Kedarnath into a "model" pilgrim centre.

Through the work we are doing in Kedarnath, we want to show how an ideal 'Tirth Kshetra' should be, how it should be pilgrim friendly and the wellbeing of the priests should be given importance: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 20, 2017

Concealed in the folds of messaging was an important one meant for another state, Karnataka, that polls in early 2018. The head priest (Raval) of Kedarnath temple belongs to the Veerashaiva Lingayat community of Karnataka and chants the "mantras" in Kannada and not Sanskrit. The Veerashaiva Lingayats have demanded a religious status, independent of the Hindus, causing a problem for the Congress and the BJP. Modi may be telling the community that by heading one of the most important Hindu shrines, it is an integral part of Hinduism.

Modi may not have been physically present when a lakh lamps were lit on the banks of Ayodhya's Saryu river. But Yogi Adityanath, another "avatar" of Hindutva, presided over the jamboree laden as much with symbolism as substance for Gujarat.

Think of February 2002 and the VHP-BJP's aborted efforts to lay claim on the "disputed" land in Ayodhya to start the construction of a "grand" Ram temple. Most of the agitators were from Gujarat. Some of those who went back in a train were gutted down at the Godhra station. The unfortunate occurrence triggered a chain of violence against the Muslims who were held culpable for the train-burning and established a sense of strong religious identity among Gujarat's Hindus. Modi never looked back since then because he owes his political supremacy to Ayodhya.

"How old are you? What is your age?" I asked Babita (name changed), a young girl breastfeeding her two-month-old daughter.

"What do you mean by age?", her sunken eyes looked puzzled.

Realising we don't share the same references to time, I reword my question, "How many years ago did you start menstruating?"

"Two-three years ago," she tells us.

She is approximately 15-16 years old, I surmise.

During the interview, Babita told me that she was married off a year after she started menstruating. At the time of interview, she was staying with her mother as her husband had gone to Punjab for six months to work as an agricultural labourer. There are no functional schools in her village since the headmaster seldom shows up, so she stopped going to school early on. Added to this was the fact that she had to help her parents by cutting dhaan (paddy) in the field all day. To escape that drudgery, she agreed to get married. Why did she conceive a child so soon after marriage, I ask? "Baanj bulayenge warna sab" (otherwise they will call me infertile)," she exclaims!

This is a typical example of my conversations with young girls I had met in Araria, Bihar during field work for a formative study on adolescent reproductive and sexual health (ARSH). For this population, child marriage and early pregnancy are a stark reality; according to NFHS-4 survey (2015-16), 26.8 percent of women in India between the ages of 20 and 24 years are married before they turn 18 years old.

For rural Bihar, this number is more alarming – 2 out of 5 women aged 20-24 years were married before 18 years of age (NFHS-4). Similarly, 42.6 percent of men aged 25-29 years in rural Bihar were married before they turned 21 years.

Adolescent pregnancy remains underreported in India

It is important to point out here that these numbers do not reflect ground realities. Even though NFHS survey questionnaires undergo extensive pre-testing, they do not account for two things: the cognitive and conceptual gaps in understanding and reporting age in rural areas, and the impact of messaging and government's Information Education and Communication (IEC) material on mis-reporting or over-reporting one's age. Young boy and girls, especially when under-age, and their parents, either fear adverse consequences if they have been exposed to messaging on child marriage or fester false hopes of receiving benefits during survey exercises.

Babita's mother for example vehemently insisted that her daughter got married when she turned 18 years old, which our probing and triangulation of information revealed was not true. Adolescents as well as their parents frequently misreported their age either because they did not know their actual age and miscalculated years, or because they knew they cannot report being married if they are less than 18 or 21 years old. For similar reasons, the data on adolescent pregnancy also remains underreported in India, indicating a need to re-look standardised data collection practices.

ARSH Status Quo and Unmet Needs

Around 12.8 percent of women aged 15-19 years in rural Bihar were already mothers or were pregnant at the time of the NFHS-4 survey, which in real terms is a significant number. India in fact ranks as one of the highest in the number of reported adolescent pregnancies – the actual numbers are probably higher.

Yet, awareness and use of contraceptive methods as well as sexual rights remain limited in rural India. Babita, who upon some probing acknowledged that while she has heard about some contraceptive methods, argued that she will not use Copper-T or oral pills for delaying her next pregnancy as, it will "make her infertile". Such myths and misconceptions associated with IUD, pills and condoms are a commonplace in rural areas and are a significant reason behind lack of uptake of contraceptive methods in spite of rudimentary awareness. This is compounded by limited use of male-dependent methods, high discontinuation rates, and lack of support from family as well as service providers.

Studies show that the unmet need for contraceptives, especially for spacing pregnancies, in rural Bihar is as high as 21% (NFHS-4). The use of short-term contraceptives among adolescent women to delay pregnancy is even lower as they are expected to establish their fertility right after marriage to avoid stigmatization by the society.

Consequently, female sterilisation after bearing a few children has become the most widely accepted contraceptive method. "do ladka hone ke baad operation karvaungi" (I will undergo an operation after delivering two sons)," Babita told us when we asked her how will she prevent pregnancy after she has had the number of children she wants. The success of female sterilisation is explained by the penetration of Accredited Social Health Workers (ASHAs) in rural areas under the National Rural Health Mission, an increase in number of institutional deliveries, and the compensation offered in public health facilities for sterilisation.

Unmarried adolescents are simply discouraged from seeking reproductive and sexual healthcare and their problems are dismissed as trivial.

However, our field experience suggests that the problem with sterilisation is that it is viewed as a permanent contraception method which is adopted only after the couple has had multiple children, preferably sons. The onus of this adversely falls on women and their health who are in turn pushed towards early pregnancy and consecutive child births.

This social pressure on adolescent and young women is coupled by lack of alternative life choices, limited mobility and lack of control over their own sexual and reproductive rights. Further, while married adolescents still enjoy certain social legitimacy while accessing reproductive health services, unmarried adolescents are simply discouraged from seeking reproductive and sexual healthcare and their problems are dismissed as trivial.

This is bolstered by the population control and family centric approach in our policy environment which primarily focuses on improving access to contraceptives for married couples, and an overall development of the 'family'. Such a discourse fails to take into account the overall quality of life that young women in rural areas are leading, the social costs associated with delaying or limiting pregnancies and the lack of decision making power in the hands of women.

The movie Parched (2015), set in the landscape of rural Rajasthan about four women navigating the patriarchal society, drives home this point really well. When Lajjo, a young woman in an abusive marriage fails to conceive due to her husband's impotency, she is mocked for infertility, and when Janki, a child bride, chops off her hair to stop her marriage, she is forced into it nonetheless. The movie ends on a positive note: the three characters escape their village in search for a better life. But it leaves a crucial question unanswered, what is the life that awaits them?

The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of HuffPost India. Any omissions or errors are the author's and HuffPost India does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.

The issue of reproductive health and sexual rights of adolescent boys and girls, under-age marriage, and adolescent pregnancy within and outside marriage remains a policy blind-spot in India. This is in spite of the fact that multiple surveys have highlighted the prevalence of child marriage and early pregnancy in India (Hyperlink Part 1 of the article here). Ironically, women's issues have been consistently reduced to the lens of health, family and violence in the development discourse since independence. Yet, attention to adolescent girls in particular, and their sexual and reproductive rights has been almost absent until recently.

The unmet need for reproductive and sexual health services and counselling is propounded by studies that suggest that adolescents and youth have not received relevant information on sexual matters from frontline workers and healthcare providers and are largely uncomfortable in obtaining contraceptive supplies from them, even when it is available (International Institute for Population Sciences and Population Council, 2010). In fact, reports suggest that adolescent girls rank the lowest in terms of awareness about sexual health, family planning methods, risky sexual behavior and their rights (RKSK Strategy Handbook, Government of India, 2014).

The unmet need for reproductive and sexual health services and counselling is propounded by studies that suggest that adolescents and youth have not received relevant information on sexual matters from frontline workers and healthcare providers.

During our field work for example, while adolescent boys, who seasonally migrated to Punjab and Delhi in search of work, were familiar with contraceptive methods such as condom and emergency pills, and STDs such as HIV/AIDS, adolescent girls would often plead ignorance during the interviews.

Until the National Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) strategy released in 2006, there was no policy that directly addressed adolescent SRH. The National ARSH strategy mandated setting up of Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics (AFHC) to provide preventive, curative and referral health services to adolescents in a safe and respectful environment. However, a number of evaluations of AFHCs over the past decade has revealed its policy failure: uneven implementation, limited awareness, inadequate training and sensitisation of health care providers, lack of utilisation by adolescents, insufferably poor quality, and unavailability of supporting infrastructure. These clinics have failed to operate regularly and provide services with respect and privacy to adolescents (Santhya et al 2014).

Our recent field work on ARSH suggests that often AFHCs exists only on paper,with no dedicated staff, training or infrastructure to meet the needs of adolescents in rural Bihar. None of the adolescent boys and girls we spoke to had ever heard of an AFHC, or a clinic with corresponding description, but only about the block level Primary Health Centre (PHC), which they hardly ever visited. Unmarried boys and girls in fact told us that they prefer availing private health care facilities for common ailments instead of consulting ASHAs or visiting Anganwadi Centres and PHCs, the latter is meant for married women or severe ailments, they added.

ASHAs themselves acknowledged that they hardly ever interact with unmarried girls.

The National ARSH strategy also mandated training of ASHAs to interact with unmarried adolescent females in order to capitalise on the success of their access to the community. This goal, however, remains unfulfilled. In cases where ASHAs have been trained to address adolescent SRH needs, their focus in practice has remained on facilitating the incentive system based institutional delivery scheme for married women or facilitating female sterilization (Planning Commission 2011; Santhya et al 2011). During our field work, ASHAs themselves acknowledged that they hardly ever interact with unmarried girls, except when the latter themselves approach them during VHSND (Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition days), most often with issues related to irregular menstruation.

Policy efforts have not been accompanied with infrastructural support, adequate trainings of frontline workers and awareness generation among the community. ASHAs, ANMs and Staff nurses have in most cases received very rudimentary training and sensitisation on adolescent SRH, their needs and unique challenges with regard to imparting information to adolescents and mitigating their own inhibitions (Santhya et al 2014).

Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakarm (RKSK), one of the recent government programs aimed at improving ARSH seeks to address some of these challenges, and builds upon the National Adolescent Health Strategy released by Government of India in 2013. RKSK seeks to further strengthen ASHAs and mobilise community leaders such as peer educators to raise awareness and access to contraceptives and reproductive health supplies such as sanitary napkins within the community. It seeks to strengthen and extend AFHCs, by setting up daily AFHC at Community Health Centre level and weekly AFHC at PHC level and complementing it with referral services. While these two components are a continuation of the earlier policy, and need improvement in terms of implementation, the operational framework of RKSK focuses on overall health and well-being of adolescents including nutrition, SRH, menstrual hygiene management, mental health, violence and substance abuse by converging various stakeholders.

Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakarm (RKSK), one of the recent government programs aimed at improving ARSH seeks to address some of these challenges, and builds upon the National Adolescent Health Strategy released by Government of India in 2013.

An ambitious and well-intentioned scheme, RKSK's biggest challenge remains implementation in terms of awareness generation, community mobilisation and uptake, successful convergence, sensitised and tailored trainings of frontline workers and peer educators, and timely and appropriate infrastructural and resource availability and support. While RKSK focuses on overall well-being of adolescents, in the absence of a supporting environment with alternative life-choices, decision making autonomy and capacity building to enable adolescent women to lead a fruitful life if they delay marriage and pregnancy, its aims will remain severely curtailed.

The aim to achieve overall development of adolescents should not mask more specific and severe challenges existing in the countryside: underage brides, adolescent pregnancies, social pressures to conceive which conflict with ARSH messaging, and absence of awareness and sensitisation among married and unmarried young men to name a few. It is important to converge policies on ARSH with life skill training, awareness generation, and behavior change campaigns in the absence of which young women will have little option.

The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of HuffPost India. Any omissions or errors are the author's and HuffPost India does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.