By MAIL TODAY COMMENT, PUBLISHED: 22:42 GMT, 27 July 2015 | UPDATED: 22:42 GMT, 27 July 2015

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi’s guidelines to make to make it easier for NRIs to adopt Indian children is good news. India’s children are in desperate need of help. 

Estimates suggest India is home to 18 million street-children, with half of them likely to face sexual abuse. 

Let’s face it, the country is a nightmare for less privileged kids, and while adoption will not change all of that, it will solve some problems. 

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Union Minister Maneka Gandhi’s guidelines to make to make it easier for NRIs to adopt Indian children are good news

On the face of it, the new guidelines are positive. Reduction of red tape, providing a specific time-frame for adoption, and monitoring of adoption agencies are the urgent need of the hour for a country that’s all but given up on adoption. 

In response to an RTI reply CARA – Central Adoption Resource Agency – said 1,662 children were adopted between April-September in 2014, shocking for a country that has an estimated 50,000 orphans. 

Measures to push adoption come not a moment too soon. But there are certain issues that must be thought through. 

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi’s guidelines to make to make it easier for NRIs to adopt Indian children is good news. India’s children are in desperate need of help. 

Estimates suggest India is home to 18 million street-children, with half of them likely to face sexual abuse. 

Let’s face it, the country is a nightmare for less privileged kids, and while adoption will not change all of that, it will solve some problems. 

+1

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi’s guidelines to make to make it easier for NRIs to adopt Indian children are good news

On the face of it, the new guidelines are positive. Reduction of red tape, providing a specific time-frame for adoption, and monitoring of adoption agencies are the urgent need of the hour for a country that’s all but given up on adoption. 

In response to an RTI reply CARA – Central Adoption Resource Agency – said 1,662 children were adopted between April-September in 2014, shocking for a country that has an estimated 50,000 orphans. 

Measures to push adoption come not a moment too soon. But there are certain issues that must be thought through. 

Getting people to adopt is one issue, ensuring the children are well looked after is another. India needs an effective social service department, who will monitor the child to see if s/he is all right. 

Secondly for NRI parents, adoption agencies and government bodies of both countries need to be in sync so that the welfare and safety of the child is guaranteed. 

Also NRI parents should ideally provide character certificates from their employers and friends to ensure complete confidence. 

After all, handling over a child for care is a serious matter, especially when the parents will not be purview to Indian law. While these issues do bear thinking about they are not insurmountable. 

The government’s bid to encourage adoption needs to be well debated by our legislators in the Rajya Sabha, to ensure that at least some of our kids can have a future. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3176390/QUICK-EDIT-Encouraging-NRIs-adopt-Indian-children.html