New guidelines soon for child adoption

NEW DELHI: The Centre will soon finalise fresh guidelines for child adoption so as to make the process more transparent and ensure that there are adequate safety checks and a tracking system.

The draft guidelines are ready and they will be finalised after taking into account any new inputs that could be received at a “International Conference on Adoption,” organised here from October 8 to10 by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

“The conference will receive feedback from other countries and Indian agencies on the issues, challenges and success stories involved in international adoptions and discuss common issues to further streamline the international adoption process,” Minister of State for Women and Child Development (independent charge) Renuka Chowdhury told reporters here on Friday.

The Minister said that under the new guidelines, it would be mandatory to register all adoption agencies with CARA. “We need to sensitise the courts to reduce the time in legal requirements without diluting the safety checks. Software is being developed by the Ministry to keep track of the adoptee parents – in confidentiality or otherwise – who will be required to give feedback. This will help the Ministry in making random checks on adopted children, if necessary.”

The government, she said, was planning to create a mechanism for children orphaned or separated in disaster situations, such as tsunami. The new guidelines would encourage single-parent adoptions. Focus would also be on children with special needs.

The conference would also deal with inter-country adoption and status of Indian children placed in international adoption.