Lucknow: Under the aegis of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, the Women and Child Development Department, Uttar Pradesh, celebrated every year as the National Adoption Awareness Month, a state-wide Conclave-2024 was organized at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan. The conclave was based on the theme of rehabilitation of older children through adoption and foster care. Through the conclave, discussions were held on making the rehabilitation of older children through adoption and foster care in the state positive.
Minister of State, Women and Child Development, Government of India, Savitri Thakur, Minister, Women Welfare, Child Development and Nutrition, Uttar Pradesh, Baby Rani Maurya, President, State Women Commission, Uttar Pradesh Babita Singh Chauhan and Vice President, State Women Commission, Uttar Pradesh Aparna Yadav were mainly present in the conclave.
During the conclave, Savitri Thakur said that under CARA’s Adoption Awareness Campaign 2024, we are organizing the annual conclave on the subject of parenting children above the age of 6 years. With the support of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, our stakeholders and parents have gathered in the capital Lucknow. Here we are talking to adoptive families and learning about their experiences of adopting children, while we are discussing all the processes of legal adoption with our stakeholders. She said that this time the theme of our entire campaign is “Rehabilitation of older children through foster care and foster adoption”. For children above 6 years of age whose adoption is not happening easily, there is an option of foster care in our system. Through this option, temporary family care is provided to children falling under the category of ‘no visitation’ and ‘unfit guardians/parents’.
Minister Baby Rani Maurya, who was present during this time, said in her address that child protection has been a matter of priority for the Uttar Pradesh government. The state government is playing a leading role in the safety, protection and welfare of children. She said that the Constitution of India has made many provisions to protect children from all kinds of abuse and exploitation and to secure their best interests and as ‘duty-bearers’ we are largely responsible for their care, protection and welfare. Although there are progressive laws, we still have a lot of efforts to make in their implementation. She expressed happiness over the celebration of National Adoption Awareness Month through a conclave in Uttar Pradesh this year and said that I not only hope but have full faith that this will give impetus to implement the dimensions of adoption and foster care in the state with additional speed.
Chairperson of Women’s Commission Babita Singh Chauhan said that it is necessary that the child lives in a familiar environment through adoption and does not present major challenges at the linguistic or socio-cultural level.
Adoption and Foster Care: It is noteworthy that the legal process of adoption in the country is followed as per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act and the guidelines issued in the year 2022 by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), authorized to advance the legal process of adoption in the country. Under which applications are made through the website for legally adopting any child. By doing this, you will be guided through the portal for the entire process of legally adopting a child in India. If you are from Uttar Pradesh, then a child from neighboring states Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh or Uttarakhand can also be referred to you. It is necessary that the child lives in a familiar environment and does not pose major challenges at the linguistic or socio-cultural level. Many times such misleading promotions have been seen through social media, in which children have been offered for adoption, this is illegal, it is necessary to follow the rules laid down by CARA to legally adopt children in the country. This is necessary because by doing so the child gets all the rights of being a child of a biological family. Also, now in the country, options like relative adoption and immediate adoption are open for quick adoption of disabled or older children.
Apart from this, in the absence of a biological family, there is also a provision of short-term or extended-term foster care to rehabilitate a child in an alternative family with the aim of providing care and protection in a family environment in the best interest of the child till the age of 18 years. The period of foster care can be extended by the Child Welfare Committee at the district level till the child attains the age of 18 years. On this occasion, Principal Secretary, Women and Child Development Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Leena Johri, provided detailed information about the departmental activities.
Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, Anil Malik, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, Preeti Pant, Member Secretary, CARA, Bhavana Saxena, Chairperson and Members of Child Welfare Committee constituted in the state, officials of Medical Department, officials of Women and Child Development Department, UNICEF, Child Helpline, District Child Protection Unit, care institutions and representatives of specialized adoption agencies were present at the conclave.
