Union Minister for women and child development, Maneka Gandhi on Tuesday ordered all states to immediately inspect child-care homes run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity across the country.
This comes in the backdrop of the latest accusations of illegal adoption and child trafficking in child care home run by the Charity in Jharkhand.
The child care home was allegedly involved in selling three children and giving away the fourth.
“Taking cognisance of the recent cases of illegal adoptions carried out by Missionaries of Charity in Jharkhand, the Centre has instructed all states to get child-care homes run by Missionaries of Charity all over the country inspected immediately,” said by ministry.
Gandhi had asked all state governments to ensure that all child-care homes get registered and linked to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), the country’s apex adoption body, within a month.
According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, registration and linking of child care homes to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is mandatory
Approximately 2300, child care homes have been linked to CARA, since December last year, but about 4000 are still pending.
“However, 2300 institutions that have already been linked to CARA are yet to be brought under adoption system”, displeasure expressed by Gandhi in one of her statement.
“There are 2,32,937 children in all child- care homes both registered and unregistered in the country” according to National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
