Issue instructions to conduct MoCs' inspection: WCD Ministry to states
What's the story
The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry has said that it has asked all states and Union Territories to issue instructions for conducting an inspection of all homes run by the Missionaries of Charity (MoC). It has also asked the states and the Union Territories to identify all potential institutions and organizations which could be involved in unlawful activities.
Details
States to submit the report by end of July
The WCD Ministry has asked the states to keep a close watch on maternity hospitals and other facilities, which may act as potential places for child trafficking. The states have been asked to submit a status report by the month's end. The announcement comes days after WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi ordered all states to get the childcare homes run by the MoC inspected immediately.
Information
JJ Act recognizes CARA for regulating adoptions
The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 recognizes the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) as the nodal agency for promoting and regulating in-country and inter-country adoptions, which is being facilitated through an online portal, "CARINGS".
CARINGS
All states to link childcare institutions with CARINGS
The Ministry also said it has instructed that all the States/Union Territories should ensure that all the registered childcare institutions, whether run by a state government or by voluntary/non-governmental organizations, are linked to specialized adoption agencies and are reflected in the online portal CARINGS within one month. The Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) is a platform providing the adoption services.
Information
Move aims to pay attention towards reports of illegal adoption
The Ministry said the move aims to address the grave concerns that have come to notice, through media reports, that some organizations have been propagating illegal adoption outside the domain of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, which is tantamount to child trafficking.
Ranchi MoC scandal
Ranchi MoC staffers had allegedly sold four infants
From the media reports, the Ministry was hinting at the recent scandal at childcare homes run by the MoC in Ranchi where staffers had allegedly sold four infants. The state governments and Union Territories have also been asked to publish the Ministry's direction in a local newspaper to ensure compliance by the institutions within the stipulated period, failing which action may be taken.
MoC row
MoC had earlier denied adoption to single parents, divorced couples
The MoC in Ranchi, however, had denied the allegations and were ready for any kind of inspection. In 2015, an ideological row between the Ministry and the MoC surfaced over issues like the MoCs' denial to give children to separated, divorced parents, or single parents. Following the row, the Missionaries of Charity decided to stop putting children up for adoption.
Derecognizing
Govt will have to derecognize Ranchi MoC: Gandhi
Gandhi had then said the government would have to derecognize the Ranchi MoC if it continued to defy the revised guidelines. "They have cited ideological issues with our adoption guidelines such as giving a child up for adoption to single, unwed mothers. They have their own agenda...now when they have to come under a unified secular agenda, they are refusing it," Gandhi had said.