Inspect all childcare homes run by Missionaries of Charity: Maneka tells States

Ms. Gandhi also directs the States to ensure that all the childcare institutions are registered and linked to the country’s apex adoption body within a month.

A file picture of police standing outside a home run by the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic order founded by Mother Teresa, in Ranchi.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has ordered all the States to get the childcare homes run by the Mother Teresa-founded Missionaries of Charity (MoC) inspected immediately following the surfacing of cases of alleged illegal adoptions carried out by them, the Ministry said in a statement.

Ms. Gandhi also directed the States to ensure that all the childcare institutions (CCIs) are registered and linked to the country’s apex adoption body within a month.

According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the registration of CCIs and their linking with the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is mandatory, but some orphanages had challenged the validity of the clause, an official in the Women and Child Development Ministry said.

Ranchi incident

A shelter home run by the MoC in Ranchi was allegedly involved in “selling” three children and “giving away” another one.

Approximately 2,300 CCIs have been linked to the CARA since December 2017, while about 4,000 more are still pending for linkage.

Ms. Gandhi has expressed displeasure over the fact that the children in the 2,300 institutions linked to the CARA are yet to be brought under an adoption system.

According to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), 2,32,937 children are currently under the care of the CCIs — both registered and unregistered — in the country.