To look after the abandoned children and provide them with the required protection and care, there are five government organisations besides 19 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) registered with the State Government.
As informed by the director of women welfare directorate, Yogendra Yadav, there are five government organisations out of which, two are located in Dehradun, two organisations in Almora and one is situated in Haridwar whereas the 19 NGOs registered with the State Government are functional in several districts.
Moreover, Yadav also informed that there are two categories under which children are generally kept in such organisations.
The first category is children in need of care and protection which comprises orphans or those who are not being taken care of by any of their kinfolks. According to him, there are about 252 children in the State who fall in this category and are taken care of in such bodies.
He further informed that the second category is the children against law which comprises children who are somehow involved in criminal activities and are under trials.
These children are kept in special homes and remain under observation there till they turn 18 years old, stated Yadav. According to him, there are about 152 children currently under this category in the state.
Besides this, he also informed that there are also some children who have fled from their parents' homes but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they have not been sent back to their homes.
The officials further informed that those infants who are generally abandoned by their parents due to certain reasons are sent to the Shishu Niketan of Dehradun and Almora by the district Child Welfare Committees (CWCs).
Since people are generally willing to adopt infants, the standard procedure is followed to register them for adoption by an adoption committee, stated the officials.
According to them, the infant who was recently found near a drain in Dakpatthar will also be sent to Shishu Niketan and if the parents do not come forward to claim the baby anytime soon, she will put up for the adoption too.
According to the officials, the child welfare committee of a district takes the decision of where to send a child for adoption as per the number of children already present in an agency while considering some other factors too as the infants need special care.