Woman and Child Development Ministry is working towards clearing the entire backlog of orphans in children homes awaiting adoption with greater alacrity.
WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi has asked Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to give a detailed report on the waiting list of children for adoption across States. She held a meeting with CARA officials earlier this week to work out ways to clear the entire pending backlog of cases of children in institutions immediately
The WCD Minister has written to Chief Justices of all High Courts and to all district judges in the country to expedite the legal procedure involved in the adoption process.
“She (Maneka Gandhi) has also written to Chief Justices of States to expedite issuance of court orders to parents in queue for adoption,” said an official in the WCD Ministry.
“In both, domestic as well as international adoptions, legal clearance are paramount. Until the prospective parents do not get a legal sanction, the centre cannot release the child and this is one clearance is a major bottleneck in the process,” he said.
According to the statistics with CARA, there are around 2400 children waiting for adoption in about 324 Specialised Adoption Agencies. There are over 1250 children’s homes in the country.
“Under the directions of the Minister for WCD, the Ministry is working to integrate Children Homes with Specialised Adoption Agencies making older children also available for adoption,” said the official.
“The Ministry has also given directions for integrating the CARA website with Facebook. Moreover, details of Child Welfare Committees and lawyers have been uploaded on the website of CARA to ensure speedy adoptions,” said the official.
According to officials in the Ministry, Gandhi is personally taking interest in the adoptions, as she wants “every child in the country to find a home.”