All child care homes run by Missionaries of Charity to be inspected: Maneka Gandhi
Maneka Gandhi
The order comes after reports of illegal adoptions carried out by the Missionaries of Charity in Jharkhand.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi, has instructed all states to inspect child care homes run by Missionaries of Charity.
The move followed recent reports of illegal adoptions carried out by Missionaries of Charity in Jharkhand.
A nun and some employees of an organisation in Ranchi, run by Missionaries of Charity, were arrested by the Jharkhand Police on July 5 for allegedly selling a baby for over a lakh rupees.
On July 5, the Jharkhand Police had arrested a nun and an employee on charges of selling a baby allegedly for Rs 1.2 lakh.
According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, registration of CCIs and their linking with the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is mandatory, but some orphanages have challenged the validity of the clause, an official in the Women and Child Development Ministry said.
According to news agency ANI, Maneka Gandhi ordered state governments to register all child care institutions (CCI) and link them to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) within a month's time.
Gandhi has expressed displeasure over the fact that the children in the 2,300 institutions linked to CARA are yet to be brought under an adoption system. According to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), 2,32,937 children are currently under the care of CCIs -- both registered and unregistered -- in the country.