Online databank to streamline adoption process
Online databank to streamline adoption process
Himanshi Dhawan, TNN 21 July 2009, 03:00am IST
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NEW DELHI: With over 6,000 children in the country waiting to be adopted, the government plans to put in place an online centralised databank to
fast-track the process of adoption.
Significantly, this comes at a time when adoption is at an all-time low. Bureaucratic delays and a time consuming process translate to a waiting period that could stretch from six months to three years.
The databank under preparation will include details of children like their age, gender, date of birth and photograph. The Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) — under the aegis of the women and child development ministry — will also provide details about the child's antecedents like physical or mental disability, whether the child is abandoned or an orphan among other things.
The databank will link 71 government-run adoption agencies. Each agency will be given an user identification and will be able to show children available for adoption to parents not just in their agency but also in another state with the consultation of CARA.
"Right now, a problem that one faces is that some centres do not have any children for adoption or the prospective parents want to see some more children. Ordinarily they would have to wait. Once the system kicks in, the parents are free to adopt a child from anywhere in the country," a senior ministry source said.
The system will also allow parents to provide feedback while allowing agencies to keep track of the adopted child. However, there is a hitch to the plan. So far, most states have differing laws on adoption and do not allow inter-state adoption fearing trafficking. "We are in talks with states to ensure that there is one uniform policy for the entire country," the source said.
Adoption figures for the country paint a dismal picture. While countries like China, Ethiopia and Philippines have steamlined processes to ensure that abandoned and orphaned children find a home, India has lost its way in babudom. According to data available with CARA, in-country adoption has dropped from 2,533 in 2001 to 2,169 in 2008. Similarly, inter-country adoptions (NRI/foreign-born parents) have declined from 1,269 in 2001 to 821 in 2008.
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