BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s child adoption rate has gone up marginally, particularly in case of girls, post the Covid-19 pandemic.
So has the coverage of Ministry of Women and Child Development’s Mission Vatsalya for orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children. This was pointed out in a report furnished by Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani as answer to a question on ‘adoption of orphans’ in the Lok Sabha recently.
As per the ministry’s records of the last three years, 188 children of the state were adopted in 2022-23. This includes 163 children within the country and 25 who were adopted by parents from other countries. More girls have been legally adopted compared to boys, both within and outside the country. It includes 16 girls and nine boys who found homes in foreign lands. Within the country, foster parents adopted 90 girls and 73 boys in the year.
In 2021-22, 150 children of the state were adopted by foster parents within the country and 28 outside the country and girls were most sought after. The preceding year, 179 children were adopted including nine outside the country.
Officials in the Women and Child Development department said the Adoption Regulations, 2022, lays down time limit for action by various authorities like district magistrates to issue adoption orders within 60 days; timelines at various stages like uploading of legally free for adoption (LFA) within 10 days; examination of special needs children within a period of 15 days by the chief medical officer; and verification of adoption application documents by district child protection unit within five days. A child can now be adopted by the foster family after two years instead of the earlier provision of five years, they added.
This apart, more orphaned, abandoned, surrendered children are also being supported under the Ministry’s Mission Vatsalya scheme. It supports such children through non-institutional care under private-aided sponsorship wherein interested sponsors (individuals and institutions) can provide assistance to children in difficult circumstances.
Compared to the 2020-21 and 2021-22 when 1,375 children each year were supported under the scheme, the number was increased to 1,772 in 2022-23.