Strict watch to be kept on adoption homes

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, APRIL 23. The Government today resolved that it would act with firmness to end illegal trafficking in female children by keeping the adoption homes under a tight leash.

A Cabinet meeting today reviewed the situation arising from the rescue of 93 children from two adoption centres at Tandur and Hyderabad and felt that the licences of orphanages violating the conditions should be cancelled forthwith and the children taken care of by the Government.

It decided to depute officials to study the pattern of adoption of abandoned children in other States and enact tight laws to prevent any kind of mischief by adoption centres.

Briefing reporters, the Minister for Information, Dr. N. Siva Prasad, said the Cabinet took a serious view of the recurrence of the adoption racket in spite of the CID probe ordered two years ago. Immediately after this racket surfaced last month, the Government issued an order on April 18 plugging loopholes in the law.

The main feature of this GO, issued by the Governor, is prohibiting `relinquishment' of a child by its biological parents on grounds of poverty, number of children or unwanted girl child. Adoption homes or orphanages admitting such children face the risk of cancellation of their licences.

A board is being constituted to supervise various adoption- related activities and empowered to give certificate of recognition to the adoption centres. The board will consist of one representative each of the adoption centres and will be headed by a Chairman elected from among themselves. The Director, Women's Development and Child Welfare, will be the officer in- charge.

The GO makes it mandatory to register every child, found abandoned by unwed mother, picked up as a destitute, or whose parents have expired in an accident by civil, hospital and police officials, with the Project Director, District Women and Child Development Agency.

Guidelines have been laid down for running the homes. They must have a regular paediatrician for the care of children besides a qualified social worker. They must maintain growth monitoring charts, immunisation details and periodic health check-up details, duly attested by a doctor.

No institution other than possessing licences and a recognition certificate is authorised to procure and keep children for adoption. When the institution receives an abandoned child, it is responsible for tracing the biological parents and restoring the child to them. In case these efforts fail, the child should be given for adoption, as far as possible to Indian families.

There shall be follow-up of children given for adoption up to six years and also up to the stage of primary school. In case the child is found to have been neglected, the institution should take back the child and initiate action to prosecute the foster parents. Meanwhile, the Director of Women and Child Welfare, Mrs. Shalini Mishra, said 114 out 228 children procured from two voluntary organisations in the city two years ago and kept at Sishu Vihar here had been handed over to in-country `parents' and another 39 to parents outside the country.

Fourteen children had expired, 21 sent to SOS at Vizag and 10 returned to their biological parents. This left 30 children in Sishu Vihar, not including those who were admitted directly, she added.

DGP explains lacunae

According to a statement from the Director-General of Police, based on the CID report, the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), cancelled the licences given to run the creches and for the inter-country adoption given to the `Good Samaritan Evangelical and Social Welfare Association' of S. Peter Subbaiah and the `Action for Social Development Home' of N. Sanjeeva Rao, who was arrested today. But, the latter had obtained a stay order and continued his activities.

Explaining the lacunae, a DGP's statement said that though as per the law, the parents should file an affidavit in a court stating that they were renouncing the children voluntarily, this was not generally done as the parents were poor.

`Here a middleman gets into the picture. He impersonates the parent, signs affidavits and brings the child to the creche. The child would be put there till someone comes forward for adoption.'

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Section  : Southern States
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