Oldest orphanage records lowest adoption in 2017

In a major setback to Gujarat's centenarian orphanage in Rajkot, it has recorded the lowest adoption cases in a decade. This is being blamed on the revised guidelines by the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), which in an attempt to ensure transparency and clarity, has helped raise a process without any human element, its critics say.

The 110-year-old Kathiawar Nirashrit Balashram in Rajkot, the oldest orphanage in the state that has in past 50 years facilitated more than 700 adoptions, could provide homes for only 13 children in 2017 .

Speaking about the matter, Chandrakant Patel, honorary secretary of the Balashram, said, "Last year, only 13 children including nine girls and four boys were adopted from our centre. The situation is extremely saddening and the fall in numbers are a proof of the same. We are not getting many children to be put up for adoption, nor are we getting more parents. The numbers earlier used to be around 25 on the average in a year.

"In fact, for the first time in several decades, we did not have any foreign parents for adoption. In the usual scenario, we send most of our kids to foreign couples. Of the 13 adopted last year, there are two sisters aged 12 years who have gone to one family, and two brothers of 14 years. This trend is also surprising as we normally do not have teenaged children to be put up for adoption."

Elaborating on the challenges, Patel said, "The drop in numbers is due to the new guidelines CARA introduced in 2016. According to them, prospective parents select the child through a photo put up on the website. However, as per earlier guidelines, parents would meet the child and bond with them before going ahead. Adoption is a serious matter and parents need to connect with the child. It is not like buying something online. Another biggest flaw is that parents get only 48 hours to select the child.

"In 2016, we had made a representation to CARA expressing our objection to the guidelines that take away all the powers from an NGO. We had expressed our reservation in continuing the adoption activity," Patel said.

CARA had released new guidelines governing adoption of children effective from August 1, 2016, replacing the earlier guidelines of 2011, apparently in the interest of greater transparency and clarity to simplify adoption procedure thereby making it an online process.

Flawed plan

• According to new rules, prospective parents select a child through a photo on the website
• Parents get only 48 hours to select a child