As many as 1,614 children with special needs have been adopted in the country in the past five years, the Women and Child Development Ministry informed the Parliament.
In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, WCD Minister Smriti Irani said as per the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS), an online portal of the Central Adoption Resource Authority, 1,614 children with special needs had been placed in-country and inter-country adoptions during the past five years.
In the financial year 2019-20 till March 3, 160 children with special needs were adopted, while 402 such adoptions were seen in the previous fiscal, according to the data given by Irani.
In 2017-18, 391 children with special needs were adopted, while 291 adoptions were seen in 2016-17, it said.