A study conducted in urban slums of Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and Telangana revealed that 67 per cent of girls attended online classes and 56 per cent did not get time for recreational activities during the Covid-induced lockdown in 2020.

The study by the NGO Save The Children in February last year also found that 68 per cent of girls, aged between 10 and 18 years, faced challenges in accessing health and nutrition services in these states.

Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and Telangana represented the four geographical zones — east, west, north and south. In each state, two districts or cities were selected.

During the 2020 lockdown, fear of infection, closure of schools and health centres, long queues and unavailability of health staff made it difficult for adolescent girls to access health and nutrition services, said the report titled Wings 2022: World of India’s Girls: Spotlight on Adolescent Girls amid Covid-19.

After the lockdown, 51 per cent of the adolescent girls continued facing challenges in accessing health services.

“Across the four states, one in three girls attended online classes during the lockdown. Three in four mothers (73 per cent) indicated that the pandemic had adversely impacted their daughter’s learning to a large extent,” the report stated.

Since the closure of schools, two in five girls (42 per cent) were not contacted by school staff, the mothers reported. One in two girls reported that they missed travelling to and from school with their siblings and friends.

“One in seven (14 per cent) mothers felt that the pandemic has increased the risk of early marriage among girls,” the report said, citing reduced income due to job loss as the reason.