The Hindu : New Delhi News : `Homeless' children wait for adoption

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 20, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

`Homeless' children wait for adoption

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Delhi Council for Child Welfare unable to clear the list of adoptive parents "Children who are mentally ill, sick or are dark complexioned are not adopted. Adoptive parents look for children who are perfect and we are having a hard time trying to cope with the upkeep of these children whom nobody wants''

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Council of Child Welfare's adoption home `Palna' has been turning away `prospective' parents for several months now. The reason: the Council has not been able to get enough members on its selection board to hold a meeting and clear the registration applications of prospective adoptive parents.

To be sure, `orphaned' children requiring a home haven't left the adoption centre since November 2004.

Yes, the credit for pushing up adoption figure in the Capital and also educating Delhiites about the merits of adopting a girl child goes to the Council. But this development has hit `homeless' children badly.

"It is true the Council had some trouble about new registration for adoptive parents late last year as we did not have the stipulated number of members required to constitute the board and hold meetings to clear the list of adoptive parents. It is nothing out of the ordinary for an organisation of our capacity to register a slowing down due to some technical problems. Things have been working well and we are sure to be back in action,'' assured Delhi Council of Child Welfare head, A.V. Kumar. According to the figures available, Palna has seen 113 adoptions in 2001, 138 in 2002 and 122 in 2003. And with 50 per cent of these adoptions being local, the Council has worked well in encouraging childless couples to adopt children within Delhi. But besides the trouble with constituting a clearance board, the Council head explains that they are now trying hard to find homes for `disadvantaged children.'

"Children who are mentally ill, sick or are dark complexioned are not adopted. Adoptive parents look for children who are perfect and we are having a hard time trying to cope with the upkeep of these children whom nobody wants. Earlier, we had to plead with couples to take girls, but now that situation has been reversed and on an average we have a healthy waiting list for baby girls," said Ms. Kumar.

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