Adoption law to give women more rights………Nagendar Sharma
POSITIVE STEP Mothers will have same rights over children as fathers
For the first time, women will be given the same rights as men to guardianship and adoption of children, irrespectiveof marital status.
A proposed amendment to the existing law to make this effective appears set to become reality this year.
According to the Guardians and Wards Act (GWA), 1890, which applies to Christians, Muslims, Parsis and Jews, if a couple adopts a child, the father is the natural guardian.
The proposed amendment to the 120 year-old Act allows the mother along with the father to be appointed as guardian.
The parliamentary standing committee on law and justice, which is examining the Bill to amend the existing laws, is unanimous in its acceptanceof the Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010,introduced in the Rajya Sabha in April.
The Bill provides for the mother to be appointed as a guardian along with the father so that the courts dont appoint anyone else, incase the father ceases to exist,said Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily.
Noted constitutional expert Rajeev Dhavan said once this law comes into existence, mothers will have equal rights as that of fathers.
She would be responsible even as a trustee of the property, in case the minor child inherits his or her share of the property,he said.
The second amendment, proposed in the Hindu Adoption Maintenance Act, 1956,(applicable to Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs) aims to remove the hurdles in the way of a married woman to adopt as well as give a child for adoption, merely on the basis of her marital status.
At present, unmarried and divorced women, as also widows, are allowed to adopt a child, but women separated from their husbands or engaged in lengthy divorce battles cannot adopt achild.
The fresh amendment would allow a married woman separated from her husband to adopt with the consent of her husband even if divorce proceedings are pending. However, if he changes his religion or is declared to be of unsoundmind, no consent from the estranged husband is required.