Chapter V

RECOGNITION OF INDIAN AGENCIES FOR ADOPTION

Proforma for Application

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.

Un-Recognized Agencies Barred

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.

Conditions for Recognition

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 Charitable Trust Act, or an organization registered under an appropriate law or an organization which has worked for the welfare of children during the preceding five years;

(b) The organization 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 organization 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 organization 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.

Renewal of Recognition

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 Government does not send the application to CARA with its view within a period of two months from the date of receipt of the application e concurrence of the State Government will 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 tow months or before 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 Licensing 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 recognized 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 recognized agency fails to arrange in-country adoptions up to 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 unacceptable reasons.

Agencies to Maintain Accounts

5.7 (i) Every agency shall maintain proper accounts to be audited by a Chartered Accountant every year.

(ii) A Photostatted 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 Photostatted 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 Recognized 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 recognized Indian agency after following the procedure set out in these Guidelines.

Application to be sponsored by Enlisted Foreign Agencies

5.9 A recognized 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 recognized Indian agency in India through such agency operated or owned by the foreign Government.

Indian Agencies Recognized to Deal with Enlisted Agencies Abroad

5. 10 No recognized 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.

Inspection of Agencies

5.11 The premises of the recognized 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.