RECOGNITION
OF INDIAN AGENCIES FOR ADOPTION
5.1
Any Indian social/child welfare agency desirous of obtaining recognition from the
Government of India for undertaking intercountry adoption work shall submit an application
in the prescribed form to the CARA through the Department dealing with Social
Welfare/Women & Child Development in the State in which the agency is located.
5.2
No agency which does not hold a certificate of recognition from the CARA shall give
a child to foreign parents for the purpose of adoption nor submit an application to an
Indian court under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, for declaring a foreigner as a
guardian of an Indian child.
Recognition for
Specified period
5.3
Recognition to an Indian agency shall be granted initially for a period of three
years, subject to the conditions laid down in these guidelines.
5.4
Any Indian agency which seeks recognition shall generally fulfil the following
conditions:
(a)
It shall be a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or a
Trust created under the Chartitable Trust Act, or an organisation registered under an
appropriate law or an organisation which has worked for the welfare of children during the
proceeding five years;
(b)
The organisation shall be duly licensed by the State Government under the
provisions either of the Women and Children Institutions (Licensing) Act, 1956 or the
Orphanages or Charitable Institutions (Supervision and Control) Act, 1960;
(c)
It shall have a duly constituted
Executive Committee. The Chief Executive of
the organisation as well as the majority of members of the Board/Executive Committee
should be Indian citizens;
(d)
It should have appropriate children's home for the protection and up-keep of
children including infants;
(e)
It should be able to raise funds through donations or Government grants;
(f)
It should be running on a non-commercial, non-profitable basis;
(g)
It should have atleast one qualified Social Worker on its staff to carry out the
adoption work;
(h)
The Chief Executive of the organisation should be willing to sign a written
undertaking to follow the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court of India and those
prescribed, from time to time, by the Government of India and the Regulations if any, made
by CARA.
(i)
Recognition of the agency should be recommended by the State Government concerned. Or, if it is not so recommended, the reason for
the refusal should be given. CARA may accept
or reject the reasons for refusal. The
decision of CARA shall be final.
5.5
The original application should be sent to the appropriate authority of the State
Government and a copy of it should simultaneously be forwarded directly to CARA. The State Government will forward the original
application to CARA alongwith its views within a period of two months from the date of
receipt of the application. If the State
Goverment does not send the application to CARA with its view within a period of two
months from the date of receipt of the application the concurrence of the State Government
will be presumed by CARA and the application will be processed by CARA for grant of
recognition within a maximum further period of two months.
It there is no response from CARA to the application within such further maximum
period of two months or before the
expiry of the recognition of the
agency, whichever is later, the renewal shall be deemed to have been granted for a period
of two years. Recognition would normally be
renewable for a period of three years at a time subject to the following conditions:-
(i)
Satisfactory performance in in-country adoption.
The Licencing Authority should ensure that the agencies should abundantly exhibit
their involvement in the area of Indian adoption. Therefore,
it shall be obligatory on the part of every recognised placement agency to make at least
25 per cent placement of children in Indian families out of the total placements effected
by it by way of adoption/guardianship in the first year of its recognition. This level of in-country adoption/guardianship
shall be raised to 50 per cent by the third year of its recognition. The recognition is liable to be suspended or
revoked in cases where the recognised agency fails to arrange in-country adoptions upto
the figures stipulated above. However, an
opportunity would be given to the placement agency to show cause against such suspension
or revocation, as the case may be and such suspension or revocation shall be made by a
written order giving reasons for such suspension or revocation.
(ii)
Regular submission of reports and returns.
(iii)
No instance of proved malpractice against the placement agency.
(iv)
Recommendation of the concerned State Government provided that the refusal to
recommend is not based on any inadequate, irrelevant or inacceptable reasons.
5.7(i)
Every agency shall maintain proper accounts to be audited by a Chartered Accountant
every year.
(ii)
A photostat copy of audited accounts together with audit report shall be furnished
by every agency within one month from the date accounts have been audited by the Chartered
Accountant, to the Social Welfare Department of the State Government concerned and to the
CARA.
(iii)
A photostat copy of the FCRA accounts submitted to the Home Ministry should be
furnished to CARA together with the audited accounts, by the agency.
Application to be
Processed only by Recognised Agencies
5.8
An application for declaring a foreigner or an Indian to be the guardian of an
Indian child as a prelude to adoption in a foreign country shall be processed only by a
recognised Indian agency after following the procedure set out in these Guidelines.
Application to be
Sponsored by Enlisted Foreign Agencies
5.9
A recognised Indian agency may submit an application of a foreign adoptive parent
to an Indian court for awarding the guardianship of an Indian child to a foreigner
provided the application of such foreigner has been forwarded by a foreign voluntary
agency enlisted by the Government of India and the application is made in accordance with
these guidelines. However, if there is an
agency owned or operated by the Government in a foreign country, the foreign adoptive
parents can approach a recognised Indian agency in India through such agency operated or
owned by the foreign Government.
Indian Agencies
Recognised to Deal with Enlisted Agencies Abroad
5.10
No recognised Indian agency shall entertain any application directly for adoption
of an Indian child from a foreigner or sponsored by a foreign enlisted agency unless the
prescribed documents alongwith the application are cleared by CARA.
5.11
The premises of the recognised Indian agencies including their children homes, and
their records shall open to inspection by officials of the CARA and/or official of the
State Government at any time.