THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The State Child Welfare Committee has set a record by facilitating the adoption of 100 children, who were under the care of foster mothers in various adoption centres across the state.
“The new administration took charge at the end of February 2023, and within just one and a half years, the committee has achieved this rare record,” said general secretary of the committee G L Arun Gopi. The milestone was reached on Friday when seven children completed adoption procedures and left the Thiruvananthapuram adoption centre with their new parents.
Out of the 100 children, 17 were adopted by families overseas. As many as 49 children found new homes in Kerala. Families from outside the state adopted 34 children and they include 19 who were taken by couples from Tamil Nadu.
Gopi said the committee’s efforts to provide appropriate care and security to children received through ‘Ammathottil’ (which offers protection to abandoned children) and the proper regulation of the adoption process led to success. Adoption requests are submitted online through the Central Adoption Resource Authority, and are granted based on the priority after the completion of legal procedures.
In the 17 children adopted overseas, five went to the United States, four each to Italy and Denmark, three to the UAE, and one to Sweden. Most adoptions were from the Thiruvananthapuram centre.
Families from Kerala, other states and foreign countries have shown interest in adopting children with special needs, with eight such children being adopted this year. The shift to online adoption procedures has led to an increase in applications from abroad.
Currently, 217 children are under the care of the panel at various centres, including those in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Malappuram, Kasaragod, Ernakulam, Palakkad and the Kozhikode centre for special care.
The committee is responsible for the care and education of these children. Funding for these activities comes from the sale of stamps on Children’s Day and donations.
“Under the campaign ‘Tharattu’, to make Kerala an adoption-friendly state, awareness programmes are being organised at district levels to remove the stigma associated with the word ‘orphan’ and to ensure that every child feels loved,” said Arun Gopi.