’40% of India’s adoptions in Maha’

But ratio of destitute children and adoptive parents low

'40% of India's adoptions in Maha'

But ratio of destitute children and adoptive parents low

Sushmita Sen has one. Sandip Soparrkar has one. Angelina Jolie has three. But adoption rates in our country are still low. Vipul Jain, president of Catalysts for Social Action, a charity organisation that has been working for child welfare, reveals that while there are 12 million destitute children in India, only around 3,500 are adopted per year. "Maharashtra contributes to 40 per cent of adoptions, especially Pune and Mumbai," says Jain, himself an adoptive parent.

Vipul Jain, president of CSA

"It is the experience of some people, not everyone. The basic problem is that in the bigger cities, the waiting list of the parents is much longer than the number of children who are up for adoption. In the rural areas, it is the opposite. There are many destitute children but few prospective parents."

Jain doesn't deny the fact that corruption finds its way in this field as well, with parents having to pay bribes just so they can take home their adopted children sooner. "Corruption is everywhere," he says with a dry laugh. "Some medical practitioners run a quiet racket of passing on babies who are not wanted by their birth mothers, to couples that want a babyu2026 however, it is not clear whether the biological mother is really willing to give up her child. Also, because it's not a legal procedure it brings in the possibility of blackmail."

CSA will play a role in the 'Joy of Giving' week (September 27 to October 3) organised by Give India, in the course of which a book on adoption will be released. Jain and his team will also send a petition to the Prime Minister, citing the sorry state of adoption. "The only way to ensure that no corruption takes place is to make the process a lot simpler and transparent. Also, children in orphanages ought to be considered for adoption too."u00a0

Even though Article 377 was recently read down, the CSA website rules that adopting is banned for homosexual couples. Jain refuses to comment on the matter, only stating, "There are enough normal parents who want children. Once we've addressed their issues, we can move on to others."

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