Maneka orders inspection of Missionaries of Charity

Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Maneka Gandhi has ordered for an "immediate inspection" of the childcare homes run by Missionaries of Charity all over the country.

The Union minister has directed the states to immediately get the Mother Teresa-founded Missionaries of Charity's childcare homes inspected within their jurisdiction, taking cognizance of a recent case of "illegal adoptions" in Ranchi district of Jharkhand.

The Jharkhand Police recently arrested Anima Indwar and sister Koncilia, two staff members of the Missionaries of Charity's Nirmal Hriday in Ranchi, on charges of selling four babies of the childcare home to different people.

According to police, sister Konsalia, who was arrested on July 5, confessed to have been involved in the crime.

The police swung into action after the state's Child Welfare Committee (CWC) lodged a complaint in this connection.

The police have rescued all the four babies. A six-month-old baby, one of the four recovered by the police on Sunday, was sold for Rs 50,000.

"Taking cognizance of the recent cases of illegal adoptions carried out by the Missionaries of Charity in Jharkhand, Maneka has instructed the states to get childcare homes run by Missionaries of Charity all over the country inspected immediately,"the WCD ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The Union minister has also asked the state governments to ensure that all the childcare institutions (CCIs) are registered and linked to the central adoption resource authority (CARA) "within the next one month".

According to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), more than 1,300 CCIs in the country are yet to be registered under the Juvenile Justice Act.

A total of 2,300 CCIs are currently linked to the CARA, while about 4,000 are still pending for linkage with the central adoption resource authority.

"Even the 2,300 institutions that have been linked to CARA, the children available in these institutions have still not been brought into on the adoption system," Maneka noted, expressing her displeasure with the state of affairs.

The WCD minister is expected to take up this issue "very strongly" in the meeting of the WCD ministers of the states scheduled to be held on July 17, an official said.