Recently we saw in the news that the Delhi High Court had issued a notice to CARA on a plea by a Hindu Couple who lives in the US to allow No Objection Certificate to adopt a Christian Child.
WHAT IS CHILD ADOPTION?
As a definition we can say it is a legal process by which one takes up parenting of a child from the biological parents or of an orphan child. They get all the legal rights to be their parent which also includes social and emotional processes.
In layman’s way of explaining, a couple who have children or are unable to have children want to take up parenting of a child. As we know a parent can be anyone who wants to be and can nourish and upbring the child in the beautiful world.
As beautifully penned by Joyce Maguire Pavao – “Adoption is not about finding children for families, it’s about finding families for Children”.
HOW COVID-19 HAS AFFECTED THE CHILDREN?
According to NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) statistics 3621 children have been orphaned, 374 children abandoned and 26176 children have lost either of their parents.
HOW CAN WE HELP CHILDREN WHO NEEDS HELP?
To inform about such children we have 4 ways :-
- Call on children helpline number 1098
- Inform the Child Welfare Committee (CWC)
- Inform the Child Protection Officer (CPO)
- Inform the State Commission of Protection of Child Rights
WHAT DOES JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT 2015 STATE?
It is mandatory for the formation of Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee in every district. It must consist of at least one female member in each such Board or Committee. CARA, a statutory body has to be formed under the section 68 of the act and within 6months government or the non government organizations have to register which deals with child care.
Private individuals and organizations have no right to collect data of children and post about them on social media. As this violates the laws under Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. The act prohibits disclosure of data of children be it name, age, school address, home address or any such details that could reveal the identity of the child. A child who loses both parents automatically the State becomes the guardian and CWC sends immediate care of a Specialized Adoption Agency.
WHAT IS CARA?
- Full Form of CARA is the Central Adoption Resource Authority.
- It is a statutory body.
- It was formed in the year 1990.
- It falls under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India.
- It helps in in-country and intercountry adoption in India.
- The intercountry adoption is in accordance with HAGUE CONVENTION ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION,1993. It was later ratified by the Government of India in the year 2003.
- CARA primarily deals with adoption of Orphan, Abandoned and Surrendered children with help of it’s agencies.
LAWS RELATED TO ADOPTION
EFFECT OF PANDEMIC ON CHILD ADOPTION
India consists of around 39% children of its population and they are the ones facing the highest risk during the situation of COVID-19. Due to pandemic the smooth adoption process has been hampered by lockdown and no proper transport facility. Per year registration to adopt are around 20,000 to 25,000 but the adoption rate is around 4000 per year i.e. they have to wait nearly 2 years before finding a match for themselves. Due to COVID the time of delay is being moved to around more than 3 months.
NCPCR has been asked by the Supreme Court to track the orphan kids and to share their details for immediate care and protection. Central government have schemes like the PM cares to support these children and States also are doing as much they can for the welfare of these children.
FACTS RELATED TO ADOPTION
- If the children and parents are unable to adjust then a Specialized Adoption Agency or District Child Protection Unit arranges for Counselling Sessions for both the children and the parents. If there is still no sign of adjustment then there is only one thing to be done, dissolution of the adoption.
- To adopt children of the same sex, after adoption of one child, registration of the next is done almost after 2 years.
- For a single parent to adopt there should be an extended family to look after the child in his/her absence.
- More girls are adopted as compared to that of boys. That is nearly 2398 are girls out of 4627 kids adopted in 2018-19.
- After the adoption follow ups are done for nearly 2 years on the basis of 6 months. The details and photographs are uploaded on Child Adoption Resource Information and Guiding System (CARINGS)
WHAT NEXT?
When a child is adopted he/she falls into a good family or in the hands of bad people. A good family will always take care of them as their own kids and will help them flourish in life to be the best. But when it comes to a bad family things can go sideways. A child may be forced into child labour in their home or of someone else’s or may be send for sex trafficing or make them a prostitue against their will. To have a check on such cases CARA with others in help have taken steps for the safety of these kids and so we see such cases to have gone drastically down.
SOURCES :-
- cara.nic.in
- indianexpress.com
- scroll.in
- livelaw.in