Officer sacked for taking bribe from Canadian who adopted baby

Action taken following complaint to Union Minister Maneka Gandhi

Anantapur Sishu Gruha manager Deepthi was dismissed from service on corruption charges following directions from the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The officer of the Andhra Pradesh Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) department allegedly took bribe from a Canadian woman who came to adopt a baby.

According to sources, the Canadian made an online application for adoption of a female baby from India on the portal of the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), Government of India, a few months ago.

For inter-country adoptions, the Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency (AFAA) will prepare a Home Study Report (HSR) on the family details and the reasons for adopting the baby and other particulars and submit a report to CARA. After receiving necessary documents from AFAA and verification, the adoptive parents can choose the baby online and the State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) of the State concerned will hand over the selected baby to the couple.

The WD&CW officials will issue a birth certificate, to facilitate the adoptive parents to get a passport for the baby.

Error in name

“In this case, the passport officials objected as the name was mentioned wrongly in the certificate and asked the Canadian to correct the name. The staff of the Anantapur Sishu Gruha allegedly took money from the woman for rectifying the name and completing the process,” said an officer. Meanwhile, the woman’s family members lodged a complaint with Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on a social media group. Responding to it, Ms. Gandhi spoke with the Anantapur Collector and directed him to take action on the complaint, said WD&CW Special Commissioner H. Arun Kumar. She also wanted the officials to check the other adoption cases too for any such irregularities, he added.

“Due to the mistake in the certificate and delay in getting passport, the woman missed her flight. A couple of days ago, we have sent the Canadian along with the baby to her country,” Mr. Arun Kumar said. The bribe charges would damage the reputation of the country and the inter-country relations, an officer commented.