Centre has urged
the State Governments to play a proactive role in developing
adoption services within the States. Inaugurating the fourth
Annual Meet of the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) here
today, the Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment
Dr. Sanjay Paswan said that particularly the most populous States
in northern and central India must take greater interest in
promoting and regulating adoptions. He said it is necessary
to set up State Adoption Cells and State Advisory Boards on
Adoption. He urged the CARA to prepare a vision document which
should be implemented with a missionary zeal.
The Social Justice
& Empowerment Secretary, Shri C. Gopal Reddy informed the
meeting that guidelines for in- country adoption are being revised
for facilitating common procedures on adoption in all the states.
Praising the efforts of CARA at promoting and streamlining adoptions,
Shri Gopal Reddy said that about 17,600 children have been adopted
during the last six years through recognised agencies. Of these
more than 10,000 children were placed in in-country adoptions
while the rest were adopted in foreign countries. He said that
recently the scheme of Shishu Greh has been extended to government
run institutions in order to bring more destitute children under
the adoption programme. He said the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2000 has provided yet another opportunity
for the rehabilitation of abondoned and destitute children.
Shri Gopal Reddy urged the voluntary coordinating agencies to
facilitate adoption of children through the JJ Act. He said
that the Centre has written to State Governments to ensure that
illegal adoptions particularly those from Nursing Homes and
Hospitals should be stopped immediately. He said that the NGOs
have an important role in spreading awareness and knowledge
on adoptions so that illegal activities are curbed.
The two-day Annual
Meet, being attended by the representative of various States
and Union Territories, Placement Agencies, Shishu Grehs, Voluntary
Coordinating Agencies, is among other things discussing ways
and means to give priority to in-country adoptions and implications
of ratification of Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption.
CARA, an autonomous
body of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment promotes
in country adoption while at the same time facilitates inter-country
adoption of children who are unable to find families in the
country. It is the only Central Authority in the country to
promote inter-country adoption so that every destitute/orphan
child has a family. CARA acts as a clearing house of information
with regard to abandoned/destitute/neglected/orphan children
available for adoption. It also regulates, monitors and inspects
the working of recognized social /child welfare agencies engaged
both in-country and inter-country adoption.
