The Hindu : Procedural delays hit adoptions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 28, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Procedural delays hit adoptions

By C. Maya

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM March 27. Procedural delays are slowing down the adoption process in the district, even as there are a number of abandoned children waiting for new homes and an equally high number of parents-to-be in the waiting list.

The foundling home of the State Council for Child Welfare, one of the recognised adoption agencies in the district, has at present 23 abandoned children. The foundling home can keep the children only till they are five years old, during which time they have to be found new homes or else have to be shifted to some Government-run orphanage.

Time may thus be running out for some of the tiny tots here, who are over four years old. The Council authorities have not been able to place them for adoption as they are not legally `free'.

An abandoned child can be placed for adoption only after the probation officer of the Juvenile Welfare Board, under the Social Welfare Department conducts enquiries and gives legal clearance, that the child has no claimants and hence can be given away for adoption. But many children in the Council have not been given this clearance, citing technical reasons.

Babu was brought to the Council in 1999 from Malappuram and is now nearly four years old, but till date he hasn't been given clearance.

Kannan was born to a mentally unsound woman and is also four years old but his clearance too has not been issued, because, officially, he has a claimant. Unless his mother, who is still mentally ill, gives her consent, he cannot be placed for adoption. Manu, now three years old, had been found abandoned in front the house of a childless couple at Pathanamthitta. When found, there was a note on him which said that the child be brought up by the childless couple themselves. Since adoption process requires certain formalities, the Council asked the couple to register their name as a prospective parent. However, despite several reminders, the couple refused to register. With the Juvenile Welfare Board, Pathanamthitta issuing orders that the child should be given to this couple, the Council could not place him in another home. The JWB has not met in Pathanamthitta after 2000 and hence the old order stands.

Under the new Juvenile Justice Act 2000, in every district, Child Welfare Committees (CWC) should be set up, which will conduct enquiries and issue legal clearance for adoption. With the CWCs yet to be formed in any of the district, getting clearance certificates for children is taking a lot of time, the Council Secretary, Sunil C. Kurien, says. Except for two, none of the 23 children here has been cleared for adoption.

At present, the Social Welfare director is in charge of the CWC in Thiruvananthapuram, while in all other districts, the District Collector is holding the charge. "The problem has been acute for the past two years because the Juvenile Welfare Boards had not been functioning in many districts. In 2001, we could place only six children in adoption, and at present we have about 60 couples in the waiting list of prospective parents," the superintendent of the Council's adoption centre, Hepzhiba, says.

Meanwhile, the number of babies under the care of the Council had gone up suddenly in the past four months after the electronic cradle, `Amma' was set up on its premises. Eight babies were abandoned in the cradle in a space of three months. The sudden increase in numbers, especially that of the newborns, is now creating problems for the Council. "We have never had so many newborns under our care all at once and taking care of them becomes very difficult. Also, some of them are premature babies, who need special care," Hepzhiba says.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

Stories in this Section

Call to integrate suburbs with city

Top priority to Palayam development scheme

Web sites on Iraq go offline

Singers raise voice against war

Procedural delays hit adoptions