2 min readPuneApr 8, 2014 02:29 PM IST
First published on: Sep 9, 2013 at 04:39 AM IST
The less number of children up for adoption as against the number of prospective parents has prompted the State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) to conduct a survey to find out the exact number of in-country and inter-country adoptions.
The Central Adoption Resource Agency’s (CARA) figures till last year show that of the 6,553 children available for adoption across the country,5,964 were put up for in-country adoption while 589 for inter-country. “With less children and more parents,almost all the adoptions are taking place within the country,’’said a senior CARA official. This has been the trend for the past three years and CARA has asked the state agencies to take cognisance of the situation,he added.
The member secretary of SARA,who is also the Woman and Child Development Commissioner of the state,is trying to reach out to agencies as well as child welfare committees to promote adoption. “There are large number of parents who are willing to adopt but we do not have children for adoption,’’ said a member of SARA.
Besides conducting workshops for police and other department officials to take stock of abandoned children,SARA has also started track the child drive.
“Our work is to protect abandoned children and to ensure they are put in adoption homes after we get necessary clearance from the child welfare committees,’’said an official. According to a CARA official,Indian parents are preferred for adoption rather than foreign parents.
With over 1,000 Indian prospective parents on the waiting list,almost all the agencies have a shortfall of children. “According to CARA guidelines,the first preference is given to Indian adoptions. The ratio of children for in-country and inter-country adoption which was 50:50 was amended to 80:20. But with less children,there are hardly any inter-country adoptions taking place,’’said a member from the women and child development department.
According to CARA figures,of the 2,518 adoptions in 2009,1,852 were in-country and 666 inter-country. In 2010,of the 6,286 adoptions,5,693 were in-country and 593 inter-country. In 2011-12,of the 6,553 adoptions,5,964 were in-country and 589 inter-country.
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