CARA action only tip of iceberg, says director

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, APRIL 28. The Central Adoption Resource Centre (CARA) has been acting against illegal child-traffickers, its Director, Ms. Andal Damodharan, has asserted.

"We have jurisdiction only on those agencies which are licenced. Our personnel have made inspections in the State and we have cancelled licences of two agencies - Good Samaritan Evangelical and Social Welfare Association of Peter Subbaiah and the Action for Social Development by Sanjeeva Rao for their illegal activities," she said today.

The CARA had also suspended licence of the John Abraham Memorial Bethany Home run by Savitri Devi as soon as the illegal procurement of babies and their deaths came to light, she said. A fact-finding team of CARA would also visit the Mission for Nations, a child adoption agency at Kakinada, to check conditions there.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. We have to take steps to stop this racket by finding out whether there are any focused programmes on the pre- and post-natal check-ups among the poor Lambada families," Ms. Damodharan said. Taking up poverty alleviation programmes and bringing about awareness among the poor was necessary to halt the sale of children, she opined.

She said CARA had revised guidelines in awarding recognition to the child adoption agencies. These include making it compulsory for the child to be with the recognised adoption agency for a month before being given away in adoption. The entire process should be clearly documented.

The guidelines were based on the Supreme Court recommendations but they have been challenged in the court by an agency, she said. "We can make 50 more rules but there will always be unscrupulous elements bent on breaking the law. That is why we require a strong monitoring from State Governments," she maintained.

She, however, felt adoption is still the best rehabilitation for children with no claimants.

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Section  : Southern States
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