Highlighting the "mismatch" between the number of legally adoptable children and registered prospective adoptive parents, the Supreme Court (SC) issued a directive on Monday, November 20, for all states and union territories (UTs) to conduct bi-monthly drives to identify children in the abandoned and surrendered (OAS) category within child care institutions, reports PTI.
According to the report, the bench, consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra, emphasised that the first of such exercises should be completed by December 7.
"All states and UTs are directed to ensure that within every district Specialised Adoption Agency (SAA) shall be set up by January 31, 2024. The nodal department in charge of implementing the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 shall positively communicate compliance to the director, Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) and secretary Ministry of Women and Child Development by January 31, 2024," the bench said, as reported by PTI.
Furthermore, the bench directed all states and UTs to compile and submit data on adoptions under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA) to the CARA Director by January 31, 2024.
Addressing the “tedious” nature of the child adoption process in India, the Supreme Court had previously remarked that there is an urgent need to streamline the procedures.
The court was responding to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by "The Temple of Healing", advocating for the simplification of the legal processes involved in child adoption in India, given the reported annual figure of only 4,000 adoptions in the country.
