The Missionaries of Charity (MC) congregation has agreed to return to adoption services, federal Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi told reporters on October 29. The minister had a meeting with a delegation of the sisters led by its superior general Sister Mary Prema Pierick. The congregation, founded by Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata, had pulled out of adoptions three years ago because of reservations over new guidelines allowing single, divorced or separated individuals to adopt.
As reported by Telegraph, After a meeting with the delegation, Maneka tweeted: “I requested them to come back into the @CARAWCD system of adoption so that children in the 79 MC homes can go into family care. Sr. Prema agreed to my request to work jointly on each of these homes so that the children in the MC homes can be onboarded into CARINGS expeditiously.’’ An official said the minister was very keen on getting the MC back into the system because of the “good work’’ they do. “Their homes are well run and they take good care of the children,’’ the officer said, adding that the government felt the MC’s loss when it withdrew from the adoption system, particularly because they are a known and trusted name globally.
MC’s return to adoptions became inevitable after the enactment of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 on December 31, 2015. As per Section 41 of the Act, all child care institutions — run by any state government or NGO — have to get themselves registered. Once registered, their linkage to the nearest adoption agency is mandatory, bringing them into the centralized adoption system.
Source: Telegraph
