Twenty-four minor girls staying in government-run tribal school hostels in Odisha became pregnant during the last two academic years, with 15 cases reported in 2025-26, school and mass education minister Nityananda Gond told the state Assembly on Friday.
Debagarh, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada and Sundargarh reported one case each, Gond said. In Malkangiri district, a minor student engaged in a physical relationship with a boy from a neighbouring village, while in Mayurbhanj district, the incident occurred during the summer vacation, while another involved a youth from the victim’s home village. In Kandhamal and Rayagada, multiple cases were similarly attributed to private individuals and outsiders. The disclosures come amid concerns over teenage pregnancy and the safety and supervision of minors staying in residential educational institutions, particularly in tribal and remote districts where many students live away from their families for extended periods.
Replying to a question by Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Gond said nine cases were reported in 2024-25 and 15 in 2025-26. Of the nine cases reported in 2024-25, three were from Rayagada and one each from Balasore, Debagarh, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri and Mayurbhanj. In 2025-26, Kandhamal reported the highest number of cases at five, followed by Koraput with four. Odisha has recorded a modest improvement in teenage motherhood and pregnancy, with the proportion of girls aged 15-19 who were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the National Family Health Survey-6 (2023-24) declining to 6.5% from 7.5%. However, the prevalence remained considerably higher in several districts, including Keonjhar at 15%, Mayurbhanj at 14.8%, Malkangiri at 14.1%, Rayagada at 12.8% and Dhenkanal at 11.5%.
Gond said action had been taken against those accused in the cases. Some of them were arrested, while FIRs were registered in other cases, he said.
