The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Mrs. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi addressing at the inauguration of the National Meet on Adoption, organised by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), in New Delhi on February 20, 2015. The Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Mr. V.S. Oberoi is also seen.
- The two-day national meet on Adoption concludes with consensus to protect interests of children
- Aadhar cards to be issued to all children in adoption agencies across India
New Delhi (PIB-GR-TYP-BIN): The two-day National meet on adoption organised by Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development concluded on February 21 with the message that all stakeholders should make every possible effort to ensure that the interests of the children are given utmost importance in the process of adoption. The meet was inaugurated yesterday by Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Mrs. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi. She told the stakeholders that any kind of delay in adoption process will not be tolerated and entire process of adoption of a child should not take more than 4 months.
The Chairperson of CARA, Mrs. Deepak Sandhu, said that all stakeholders present at the meet are involved in the task of protection of rights of the children and all should work together to achieve this objective. She also emphasised the role of awareness campaigns so that illegal adoptions can be checked and the rights of the child can be protected in future.
Secretary , CARA, Dr Veerendra Mishra said that the proposed guidelines are child-centric. He also said that to give identity to children, Aadhar cards will be issued to all the children in the adoption homes across India. This has already been started as a pilot project in Delhi, he added. Shri Ashok Kumar, ADG, UIDAI said that Aadhar cards will empower the children with a Unique identity of their own which can be verified and authenticated online and thus it will eliminate false identities. Responding to the concern expressed by various stakeholders about the difficulty of making Aadhar card for infants and small children, he said that for children who are below 5 years of age, biometrics are not collected, they are tagged to the parent/guardian’s ID.
Legal experts also addressed the concerns raised by the agencies. Ms Aparna Bhat, former member of NOC Committee-CARA said that due caution should be exercised to follow all rules during the adoption process and there should be complete documentation to prevent adoption from being declared illegal at any stage. Regarding inter-country adoption, the representatives from MEA revealed that E-seva kendras have been opened to speed up and simplify the passport making process.
Earlier, the adoption agencies expressed their apprehensions about not getting enough children because of illegal adoptions at hospitals and maternity homes. They also pointed out the delays caused by the police and judiciary as well as passport authorities in giving clearances which harm the interests of the children placed for adoption. The agencies pointed also pointed out the lackadaisical attitude of state departments and agencies towards the working of these organisations.
The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Mrs. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi gave away the Aadhar Card to the children in Adoption home, at the inauguration of the National Meet on Adoption, organised by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), in New Delhi on February 20, 2015
(Courtesy: PIB)