New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asserted that there is a need to streamline the process of adoption in India, as there a need to streamline the adoption of a single child under the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). There is a waiting period of years, while “millions of orphans are waiting for adoption”. An urgent need was expressed. The bench listed the matter for further hearing in October.
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice A. s. Bopanna and Justice J. B. Pardiwala’s bench, appearing for the central government, directed Additional Solicitor General K. M. Nataraja, “Many young couples are waiting to adopt a child, but the process is so difficult that it takes three to four years to adopt a child through CARA. Can you imagine the period of three to four years for a child to be adopted in India? It should be made easy. Lakhs of orphans are waiting to be adopted.
Natraj said that the government is aware of this issue. He has sought six weeks’ time for the Central Government to respond to a petition filed by an NGO to ease the process of child adoption in the country. The bench asked Natraj to call a responsible person from the Ministry of Child Development to convene a meeting and consider the suggestions of the NGO ‘The Temple of Healing’ and prepare a report to be filed before the apex court.
Urgent need to ‘streamline’ processes
On August 5, the top court said the process of child adoption in India is “very difficult” and there is an urgent need to “streamline” the procedures. It had asked Natraj, appearing for the Centre, to file his reply on a PIL detailing steps to streamline the process of child adoption in the country. Piyush Saxena, appearing for the NGO, said that he had applied several times to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development to simplify the process of child adoption, but nothing has happened so far.
