Central agency frames new adoption rules for foreigners…..Hetal Vyas
Mumbai: The Central Adoption Resource Agency (Cara) has laid down new rules for granting no-objection certificates (NOCs) to foreigners.The rules stipulate that apart from a declaration by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) that a child is free for adoption,a certificate will be required from the state government (stating) that there are no waiting parents available for the adoption of such children within the country and so the case can be considered for inter-country (adoption).
Cara filed the affidavit in reply to seven petitions from prospective foreigner parents who had applied for adoption through the Punebased adoption centre Preet Mandir.The centre had come under scrutiny following a sting operation by a news channel showing that it sells babies at a premium to foreigners.
After hearing the petitions of the foreigners (three couples each from Spain and Italy,and one from Canada),a division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice S J Vazifdar of the Bombay high court directed Cara to speedily scrutinize their applications.An affidavit filed by Caras deputy director Jagannath Patil informed the court that the agency has laid down new rules for clearing international adoptions.Caras counsel Vinod Joshi told the court on Tuesday that prospective parents from abroad need to meet the new conditions.In the case of Preet Mandir, the affidavit stated,a certificate will be required from a committee appointed by the state government to verify its cases.
Also,if foreigners want to adopt children with special needs,a certificate from a medical board constituted by the government will be required.The document must specify the nature and the percentage of the disability.
The new rules are in addition to Caras existing ones.In a related development,the high court has allowed Preet Mandir to continue providing adoption facilities to the 86 children who are at present with the centre.