Udita Yojana (Madhya Pradesh Menstrual Hygiene Initiative)

What is Udita Yojana in Madhya Pradesh?

Udita Yojana is the name Madhya Pradesh used for its adolescent girls' menstrual hygiene initiative, delivered through the Anganwadi network of the Women and Child Development Department. The Hindi form "उदिता योजना" is still widely searched by girls, teachers and Anganwadi workers looking for where sanitary napkins and menstrual health counselling can be obtained.

The position has to be stated plainly. Udita Yojana does not appear in the current published scheme list of the Madhya Pradesh Women and Child Development Department. The department's site at mpwcdmis.gov.in lists six state schemes; Ladli Behna Yojana, Ladli Laxmi Yojana, Lado Abhiyan, Shaurya Dal, Mukhya Mantri Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana and the Chief Minister's Community Leadership Capacity Development Programme: alongside the three centrally sponsored missions the state implements.

No official page currently publishes eligibility rules, a napkin price, a distribution schedule or a helpline specific to Udita Yojana. Figures circulating on private websites for this scheme should not be relied on.

What is published, and what an adolescent girl in Madhya Pradesh can actually use today, is Kishori Balika Yojana.

Which scheme covers menstrual hygiene for girls in Madhya Pradesh now?

Kishori Balika Yojana is a component of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, the centrally sponsored mission implemented in Madhya Pradesh by the Women and Child Development Department. According to the department's own scheme page, the services are delivered through "departmental convergence", meaning the Anganwadi centre coordinates with the health and education departments rather than working alone.

Nutrition support

• Take-home ration for eligible adolescent girls.

Non-nutrition services

• Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation to address anaemia.
• Health check-ups and referral services.
• Nutrition and health education.
• Menstrual hygiene promotion and personal hygiene awareness, the component that carries the work Udita was named for.
• Skill training for adolescents.
• Youth leadership and personality development training.
• Life skills education, counselling and career guidance.

Who can and cannot get this support?

A girl is covered if:

• She is aged 14 to 18 years.
• She lives in Madhya Pradesh and is registered at her local Anganwadi centre, which maintains the adolescent girl register.
• Her district is covered, the department states that Kishori Balika Yojana currently operates in Madhya Pradesh's aspirational districts.

Who cannot apply / who is not eligible:

• Girls outside the 14 to 18 age band are not eligible under this scheme. Younger children are covered by the general Anganwadi services instead.
• Boys cannot apply. The scheme is for adolescent girls.
• Girls in districts outside the aspirational district list may not receive the take-home ration component even where they meet the age criterion. Health education and hygiene counselling at the Anganwadi are generally available more widely, but the ration is not.
• Girls not registered at any Anganwadi centre cannot be enrolled until that registration is done.

There is no income limit, caste condition or school enrolment requirement. Out-of-school girls in the age band are, in fact, the group the adolescent girls scheme was originally designed for.

How to get enrolled: step by step

1. Visit the Anganwadi centre in your village or ward and ask the Anganwadi worker to enter your name in the adolescent girl register.
2. Show proof of age. A birth certificate, school record or Aadhaar establishing that the girl is between 14 and 18 years old. Carry the Samagra member ID if the family has one.
3. Collect the take-home ration on the distribution day the Anganwadi announces, where your district is covered.
4. Attend the Anganwadi sessions on nutrition, anaemia, menstrual hygiene and life skills. These are where the hygiene counselling and the IFA tablets are given.
5. Ask for a referral if a health check-up finds anaemia or another problem needing treatment — referral services are part of the scheme.

There is no online application form and no fee. Enrolment is done entirely at the Anganwadi centre by the Anganwadi worker.

Why an adolescent girl may not be receiving these services

• District not covered, the take-home ration component is limited to aspirational districts.
• Not on the Anganwadi adolescent register. The most common and the most easily fixed reason.
• Age recorded wrongly, so the girl shows as under 14 or over 18 in the register. Correct it with a school record or birth certificate.
• Supply gap at the centre, raise this with the Anganwadi supervisor or the Child Development Project Officer.

Help and grievance redressal

• Women Helpline, Madhya Pradesh: 181
• Anganwadi worker and supervisor; first point of contact for enrolment and supply problems
• Child Development Project Officer (CDPO), project-level escalation
• District Programme Officer, Women and Child Development, district-level escalation
• Directorate of Women and Child Development, Bhopal, via mpwcdmis.gov.in
• CM Helpline, Madhya Pradesh, for anything unresolved at district level

Everything described here is free. No Anganwadi worker, supervisor or agent is authorised to charge for enrolment, for take-home ration or for IFA tablets.