Maneka Gandhi to address NE meet on adoption today
SHILLONG: Six children from the State will be part of a new family abroad after they are adopted legally by Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) from Spain and Belgium.
The State will present a status of adoption in Meghalaya during the one-day regional conference to discuss the matter which will be inaugurated by Union Minister of Child and Women, Maneka Gandhi, here on Monday.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on the eve of the conference, Virginia Malngiang, programme manager, State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA), said, “3 sisters and 2 siblings (a boy and a girl) will be taken to Spain whereas one boy will be in Belgium. They will be taken by their adopted parents after all legal procedures are observed by them.”
“Altogether 14 children from the State will be adopted by PAPs within the country,” she added.
To discourage illegal adoption, SARA has identified three specialized adoption agencies (SAA) which are recognized by the State government under sub section 4 of Section 41 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
These are Lawei Baphyrnai in East Khasi Hills, Life Light Focus Concern in Nongstoin and Hope Orphanage, Mawkyrwat, while another SAA at Tura is being proposed to be set up.
It may be reminded that the Ministry of Women and Child Development in its attempt to stop illegal adoptions have come up with its new adoption guidelines effective from August 1, 2015 which has stated that taking children directly from hospitals, maternity clinics or nursing homes for adoption is an offence.
The Union Ministry issued revised Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2015 which became effective from August last year. The 2015 Guidelines issued by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) replaced the 2011 Adoption Guidelines.
Meanwhile, as many as 400 delegates are expected to attend the North East conference on legal adoption to be held at the State Convention Centre here on Monday. The one-day Regional Conference with North Eastern States on the issues relating to child adoption will be attended by the Ministers in-charge of Social Welfare and Women & Child Development in the Northeastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
The highlight of the conference is to familiarize the stakeholders with the adoption programme in North Eastern States about the provisions relating to adoption under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and about the provisions of Adoption Guidelines – 2015 as well as the online adoption process through Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS).
CARINGS is a platform where all child care institutions of the country have been brought into an integrated system and provides for hassle-free adoption.
Clear cut timelines for domestic and inter-country adoption have been laid down.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 came into force from January 15, 2016 and repeals the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and gives the existing Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
The Act contains a separate new chapter on Adoption to streamline adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children.
A separate chapter (VIII) on Adoption provides for detailed provisions relating to adoption and punishments for not complying with the laid down procedure. Processes have been streamlined with timelines for both in-country and inter-country adoption including declaring a child legally free for adoption.