Karnataka is facing an alarming public health and social challenge, with 25,436 teenage pregnancies reported between April 2024 and February 2025, based on the state’s Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) data.
Although this marks a decrease from the nearly 50,000 cases recorded in 2022-23, experts say the numbers remain “unacceptably high” and point to systemic issues. Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar has attributed the trend largely to excessive use of social media among children, early romantic involvement, child marriages, and changing family dynamics.
Disturbingly, pregnancies have been reported in girls as young as nine years old. Bengaluru Urban tops the list with 2,723 cases, followed by districts like Belagavi and Mysuru.
The government has responded with measures including the ‘Akka Force’ a women-led policing initiative coupled with awareness programmes, school-level counselling, and collaborations with NGOs.
Civil society leaders and child rights experts warn of deeper social triggers like poverty, lack of reproductive health education, and unchecked access to harmful online content.
Alarming Numbers and Policy Responses
According to Karnataka’s Department of Health and Family Welfare, the state has consistently recorded some of the highest teenage pregnancy figures in the country.
A breakdown shows 49,600 cases in 2022-23, followed by a slight drop in 2023-24, but the latest April–February 2024-25 figure of 25,436 has renewed urgency among policymakers.
Minister Hebbalkar has repeatedly expressed concerns about the “digital exposure trap” faced by adolescents, where platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp are allegedly being used to form early relationships, sometimes leading to sexual exploitation.
“We are not against technology,” Hebbalkar clarified in a press briefing, “but unmonitored online content can shape vulnerable minds faster than any school lesson.
The ‘Akka Force’, launched statewide from August 15, 2025, pairs women police officers with National Cadet Corps (NCC) volunteers to patrol parks, bus stands, and other public gathering places in cities including Mysuru, Hubballi, and Mangaluru.
Their dual role is to prevent child marriages often a precursor to early pregnancy and to counsel young couples. Furthermore, multi-departmental committees have been mandated at the village, taluk, and district levels to track cases and ensure timely interventions.
Helplines such as 1098 remain active 24/7, and school-based workshops on reproductive health are being scaled up in collaboration with the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR).
Underlying Causes and Context
While the minister’s comments have sparked debate, experts say the causes extend far beyond social media. Vasudeva Sharma, Executive Director of the Child Rights Trust, notes: “We’re seeing secret child marriages in some rural areas, often under the guise of cultural practice, along with coercion and economic pressures on families.”
Reports from rural health workers suggest that poverty, school dropouts, and migration where parents leave home for seasonal labour create environments where adolescent girls are more vulnerable to exploitation. A KSCPCR evaluation warns that the official RCH figures may underrepresent the reality, as cases from private clinics and unregistered home births often go unreported.
The spread of cheap smartphones and data plans to rural corners of the state, coupled with a lack of structured digital literacy education, has allowed peer-to-peer “virtual intimacy” to replace traditional courting norms, sometimes resulting in coercive situations.
Activists stress that while legislative measures like stricter Prohibition of Child Marriage Act enforcement are necessary, real change will come from community-level dialogue, parent engagement, and sex education starting from upper primary grades.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The surge in teenage pregnancies in Karnataka is more than a statistic it’s a silent crisis affecting thousands of young lives, often with irreversible consequences. As a society, we must resist the temptation to single out one cause like social media, and instead tackle the web of factors: digital unawareness, socio-economic inequality, gender norms, and gaps in school education.
We at The Logical Indian believe that while enforcement measures like ‘Akka Force’ are urgent and necessary, the long-term solution lies in empowerment, not fear empowering parents to have open conversations, empowering schools to deliver age-appropriate sex education, and empowering adolescents to make informed choices.
Technology can be harnessed not just as a threat but as a tool for education and awareness if guided responsibly. Will Karnataka, and India as a whole, rise to the challenge of protecting its adolescents through compassion, knowledge, and community action, or will we continue to firefight once the damage is already done?
