Prerna Gala
Published on: September 27, 2022 at 20:15 IST
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), which was passed to protect the rights of children in need of care and protection, particularly in relation to adoption, foster care, and sponsorship, was one of the laws that the Supreme Court issued notice in a petition for on Monday.
The current case, which calls for the adoption procedure to be simplified, was linked to another similar suit by a bench made up of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli.
The petition expresses worries about the following Issues:
- The declining adoption rate in India;
- The necessity for reforming adoption laws in light of a report by a parliamentary standing committee;
- The protection, care, and adoption of children, particularly those with special needs;
- In India, there is no such thing as foster care;
- There is also no proper system in place for implementing sponsorship; and
- Allocation of budget and resources.
Decreasing Adoption Rates in India
According to information from 2020, 8.5% of all Indian children are orphaned or abandoned, but only 0.0009% of children are given up for adoption in any given year.
The petition asserts that between April 2020 and January 2022, 10,094 children became orphans, 1,36,910 children lost both parents, and 488 children were abandoned as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, citing an affidavit submitted by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) before the Apex Court in a suo moto proceeding.
The JJ Act’s “meagre” adoption rate, which for the years 2021–2022 was just 2291, is said to have been unaffected by the rise in the number of orphans.
Adoption Laws Need to be Revised, Have Shortcomings, According to Report from Parliamentary Standing Committee
According to the petition, the 118th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on “Review of Guardianship and Adoption Laws,” which was presented to the Parliament on 08.08.2022, found flaws in the adoption laws and recommended restructuring them to make them “uniform,” “transparent,” and “less bureaucratic.”
Additionally, it advised harmonizing the 1956 Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act with the JJ Act (HAMA).
Children’s Safety, Care, and Adoption, Especially for Those With Special Needs
1265 of the 1858 children that were available for adoption in July 2022 had special needs. According to the petition, there will be 68% more adoptable children with special needs in 2022 than there were in 2018.
The article claims that “adoption agencies are rapidly turning into dumps for kids with exceptional needs, who neither their family nor the potential adoptive parents want to care for.”
In India, There is No Foster Care System
Even though foster care is provided for by Section 44 of the JJ Act, the petition claims that the plan is not put into action.
Furthermore, there is no such single authority for overseeing foster care, in contrast to CARA, which served as a nodal body for regulating and monitoring adoption.
There is No Effective Framework for Implementing Sponsorship
According to the appeal, the sponsorship programme described in Section 45 of the JJ Act is not being carried out in full. If successfully carried out, the programme would greatly enhance the lives of children by meeting their medical, dietary, educational, and other needs.
Budget and Resource Allocation
According to the petition, Child Protection Services and Child Welfare Services were combined under Mission Vatsalya in the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2021–2022.
It was given a 900 crore rupee budget overall. Only Rs. 821 crore of the aforementioned budget was actually spent during the years 2021–2022. The budgetary allotment for Mission Vatsalya has been raised to Rs. 1472 crores for the fiscal year 2022–2023.
According to the petition, it is essential to determine the financial requirements for ensuring the adequate care and protection of children in need and allocating those funds effectively.
The current petition was filed through Advocate-on-Record, Mr. Vishnu Kant, and was contested by Mr. Roshan Shah and Mr. Alok Yadav.