Adoption norms to be streamlined

July 11,Hindustan Times

The government, in a new set of regulations for child adoption, have proposed that parents who have given their children up for adoption cannot claim them back again.

The draft guidelines on the adoption of Indian children without parental care, released on Wednesday, proposes to bring adoption of orphaned, abandoned or surrendered children under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2006, thereby giving legal sanctity to the adoption process.

JK Mittal, chairperson of the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), said: “Once child adoption comes under the JJ Act, there will be uniformity in the child adoption process in the country.

Secondly, adoption will mean legal separation of the child from his or her biological parents.”

Under the new guidelines, the time required for adoption has been reduced to three months from the existing six months. “The courts will have to settle adoption claims in two months as per the JJ Act,” Mittal said.

The government also wants to adopt the international child adoption standards. For this, Hague convention regulations have been incorporated in the proposed guidelines. It will result in the child getting citizenship immediately after touching the country of his or her adoption. Normally, it takes two-three months.

Inter-country adoption will not be allowed through an agency anymore. Foreigners will have to apply directly to CARA, which will then direct them to a registered agency for child adoption. “It will break the nexus between agencies,” Mittal said.

The guidelines also propose mandatory state government registration of all childcare homes. Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury said the Centre will make HIV/AIDS test mandatory for all children admitted by the adoption agencies. CARA will also create a central data bank on children for adoption within India and outside.