Child adoption agencies,Specialised adoption agencies,Central Adoption Resource Authority

The homes inspected were in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. (File photo)

An inspection of 15 specialised adoption agencies (SAAs) by the ministry of women and child development (WCD) and the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), carried out in January and February, has discovered glaring irregularities, including premature deaths, unhygienic conditions, and even children not being accounted for in some cases.

SAAs house orphaned and abandoned children below the age of six meant for adoption. There are 460 of them around India. The homes inspected were in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Under the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ?Act), SAAs, which are run by private agencies or NGOs in most cases, have to be registered with the government’s Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) for intra- and inter-country adoptions and provide details of each child admitted to the agency. The portal is run by CARA, the government’s nodal agency monitoring adoption in the country.

The Supreme Court has directed all states to complete the audit of all shelter homes and the district magistrates to finalise their report by September 15. "It seems that no one is interested in monitoring conditions in shelter homes," it remarked. This comes in the wake of Muzaffarpur and Deoria shelter homes cases in which inmates were allegedly sexually abused.

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Protest Children should have clear, accessible and safe channels to complain about the way they are treated, and the State must ensure effective monitoring , PTI

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Asha Bajpai

NEW DELHI,

In its audit of 21 Specialised Adoption Agencies in 20 Bihar distts, TISS found some children as old as three years were not speaking at all because there was no trained staff and also because they had no one to speak to. These institutions have 70 per cent girls. Children are also battling hunger, isolation and verbal abuse at these institutions.

TRAPPED in a world of silence, some children living in Bihar’s Specialised Adoption Agencies don’t speak at all because they have no one to talk to, reveals a Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) report that details instances of hunger, isolation and verbal abuse at the State-run institutions.

Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) are homes established by the Government to house abandoned, surrendered and missing children in the 0-6 age group. In its audit of 21 SAAs in 20 Bihar districts, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences found some children as old as three years were not speaking at all because there was no trained staff and also because they had no one to speak to. These institutions have 70 per cent girls. The TISS report also lists the various forms of punishment for the young children, some who are orphans, some who are runaways and others who may have been abandoned by their families.

“Acts such as locking the child in the bathroom, making them do sit-ups, isolating them, abusing them verbally were noticed at these homes,” the report said. Describing the punishments “very disturbing”, Mohammad Tarique, who led the TISS team that prepared the report, said they have long-term impact.

Children battle hunger, isolation and verbal abuse at Bihar' ..

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A month after the news of the alleged rape of an 11-year-old child in Chennai was reported, an orphanage in the city is now under the scanner for sexually harassing over 40 students between the ages of 4 and 15.

The matter came to light when two city magistrates - Anitha Ananth and B Soundarya - were invited to conduct a legal awareness programme at the Eternal Word Trust orphanage in Saraswathi Nagar, Thirumullaivoyal, on Thursday.

According to the police, a few children at the orphanage came forward to complain about the harassment that they had been facing. The Avadi All Women Police Station Inspector Shoba Rani, who was present at the programme, took note of their complaint and acted quickly to rescue the children.

Following the complaint, 24 girls and 20 boys were shifted out of the orphanage to care homes.

As investigations began, the police soon discovered that the orphanage did not have an operating license.

Maneka Gandhi

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi.

Every MP and MLA in the country should visit shelter homes in their constituencies once every fortnight to prevent incidents like the horrific mass rape in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said on Saturday.

"I have written to every MP in the last four years saying that all 9,000 of the children's homes in the country have to be checked every two weeks because things happen to the defenceless," said the Union minister, while speaking at the Mail Today Femail Summit, 2018.

"I gave each a list of all the children's homes in their respective areas. Not a single MP has taken it up," she added, responding to a question about the alleged rape, abuse and torture of the girls by the politically connected owner of the shelter home in Muzaffarpur.

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The Home managed by Eternal World Trust in Tirumullaivoyal.

The Home managed by Eternal World Trust in Tirumullaivoyal. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Crime reported by girls to judicial magistrates at a legal awareness campaign

Four persons, including the owners of an unauthorised orphanage in Tirumullaivoyal, were arrested on charges of child sexual abuse.

Representational image | Pixabay

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Agency seeks over four times more Group A officers, wants integrated finance division.

New Delhi: India’s controversy-laden adoption regulator, the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), is set for a major overhaul, with the agency looking to increase its senior-level staff strength by at least four times.

This comes at a time when several orphanages and shelter homes across the country have come under the scanner for alleged irregularities, sexual abuse and the sale of children.

24/08/2018

UNICEF and French government join efforts to improve International Adoption Standards in Viet Nam

(CPV) - UNICEF and the French Embassy in Viet Nam have signed an agreement to officialize their collaboration to improve international adoption standards in Viet Nam. The two-year project will help to strengthen the legal and policy framework on adoption.

It will also support a pilot project in two provinces on intercountry adoption in compliance with the international standards defined in the 1993 Hague Adoption Convention. Finally the project will help build capacity of agencies and organizations working on adoption, including on monitoring and supervision through training on alternative care and adoption processes and procedures.

Source: UNICEF