Central Adoption Resource Authority [CARA – UPSC Notes]

Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) Report on differently-abled children —

• Foreigner = 7x Indians, who adopt disabled children from India.
  • Domestic adoptions has fallen with every passing year — 76→ 49→ 46
  • Foreigners adoptions rose by 50% in last year alone — 237 (2017-18)

Reasons —

1. As per the law, efforts have to be made to place a child within India first, if not adopted by any Indian applicant — then only he/she is referred to foreigners. Hence overseas applicant are mostly referred disabled children.
2. Huge gap in the cultural attitude towards disabilities is one of the reason for such variance.
3. Lack of proper social security mechanism in India — lack of incentives (eg. tax benefits, easy loans) — lack of proper healthcare facilities etc. In foreign — the social security mechanism is much more robust.
   • Access to schools, public-places, employment opportunities etc

To remove the title of ‘hub of commercial surrogacy’ from India 

CARA —

• Statutory Body — CARA is created under the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, 2015
• Nodal body for adoption of Indian Children and master regulator. The greatest hurdle is to ensure that the child is ‘legally free’.
• Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003.
• CARINGS Initiative 

Why ‘declining’?

• Law — Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (see GS2 Act folder)
• The number of adoption of children is on a decline for last four years.

Reasons

1. Extensive Paperwork
   1. Paperwork now made online for making the process easy. Hasn’t quite worked out well — procedural delay is the most cited reason
   2. 2013-14 — only 4000 children were adopted compared from 6000 in 2011-12
   3. Guidelines include linking orphaned and abandoned children in institutes across the country to CARA — Central Adoption Resource Agency — nodal agency — making the process much faster and efficient.
   4. Idea is to cut the waiting period for an adoption to a few months from year or more now.
2. Murphy Baby Syndrome — Social and Mindset problem
   1. Everyone wants a fair, chubby, cute baby
   2. Baby Boy over Baby Girl
   3. Age of the baby and its physical health is also a major factor.
   4. This results in a conflict between the prospective parents and the agencies.
3. Rise of Surrogacy
   1. An alternative to adopt — at least 50% of the baby will be ‘their own Blood’
   2. Artificial reproductive technology is giving a stiff competition to the cause of adoption.
4. Black Market
   1. Through nursing homes, hospitals, institutes illegally
   2. These adoption are not in records — this number can be as much as 10 times the official record
   3. Human trafficking is also a major problem arising due to illegal adoption and black market.