Chandigarh, Oct. 21: With an alarming rise in teenage sex in the city, the state administration has decided to install condom vending machines near colleges and other places.
A survey conducted by the Urban Training Health Centre, which is attached to the Government Medical College and Hospital, says 33 per cent of college-going girls indulge in sex. Of the 981 girls interviewed, only 28 per cent refused to comment while 39 per cent claimed to be virgins.
While some parents and teachers criticising the study as done in “bad taste”, the administration has taken it seriously.
The survey was conducted in August in 12 colleges across the city. Students of the medical college, however, were not included.
“There are around 15,000 girl students in colleges. The city has witnessed a growing sex trade, too, involving young girls in the last couple of years. While we do not think that the figures in the survey, aimed essentially at minimising teenage pregnancies by promoting awareness about contraceptives, reflect the truth, we cannot take a chance as more and more people are testing positive for AIDS in the region. Interestingly, 75 per cent of the girls interviewed in the survey said they had knowledge about contraceptives,” a health department official said.
The administration has earmarked nearly 50 points in the city, including areas near colleges, to set up the condom vending machines.
The survey’s project coordinator, Sonia Puri, said the objective of the survey was not to find out about the sexual behaviour of college-going girls.
“We just wanted to test the awareness level and make girls aware of safe sexual practices,” she said.
Representatives from the various colleges featured in the survey have not taken too kindly to the move. “This is rubbish. Nobody would believe that such a large proportion of students is sexually active. Our colleges have been unnecessarily defamed,” fumed a principal.
Another said permission should have been taken from the college management committees before conducting the survey.
However, Satwant Singh, who has two college-going daughters, said the survey would help increase awareness among parents.
