Karnataka has witnessed a sharp rise in teenage pregnancies over the last three years. The number of teenage pregnancies went up from 10,101 during the calendar year 2020 to 13,159 during 2021 before registering a substantial increase to 19,561 during 2022, as per information obtained by Odanadi Seva Samsthe in Mysuru from the Commissionerate of Health and Family Welfare Services of Karnataka, through RTI. Between January and June 2023, another 2,736 teenage pregnancies had been reported in the State.
The total number of teenage pregnancies reported in Karnataka between January 2020 and June 2023 is a staggering 45,557.
This information was shared with The Hindu by L. Parashuram, the co-founder of Odanadi Seva Samsthe, an NGO engaged in rescue and rehabilitation of sexually exploited women and children. He claimed that the figures reported on the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) portal were ‘conservative’ but event they reveal a nearly doubling of teenage pregnancies over the last three years
