India sees 4,515 child adoptions in 2024-25, highest in 12 years: Centre

India has seen a record number of child adoptions 4515 in FY 202425 the highest in the last 12 years according to the Ministry of Women and Child DevelopmentOf the total number 4155 were domestic adoptions said the Ministry noting that it shows the growing acceptance of legal adoption in the countryThis was made possible because of a strong identification drive by data from the Central Adoption Resource Authority CARA which introduced 8598 new children into the adoption pool CARA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Women and Child DevelopmentIn addition 245 new adoption agencies were set up in coordination with state governments to streamline the adoption processThe Ministry also credited interventions such as identification cells and extensive training and awareness campaigns for the progress in adoption in the countryldquoCARA conducted physical state orientations across 12 states and UTs along with 45 virtual training sessions covering adoption timelines training of CWC members foster care and adoption counseling for children and prospective adoptive parents PAPsrdquo the Ministry saidMoreover CARA partnered with 16 states to organise meets with adoptive parents from October 2024 to January 2025CARA also launched a comprehensive child identification exercise adhering to the directives of the Supreme CourtThis initiative categorised children under five groups orphan abandoned surrendered children with no visitation and children with unfit guardiansldquoThis strategic effort aimed to bring more children into the legal adoption framework ensuring their right to a secure and supportive homerdquo the Ministry saidFurther CARA also introduced new initiatives to enhance alternate familybased care In 2024 CARA introduced foster care and foster adoption modules on the CARINGS portal to ensure placement of older children in familybased alternate careThe agency implemented digital interventions to streamline adoption procedures and enable greater transparency and efficiencyIdentificationrelated initiatives about data cleansing and provisions from the Adoption Regulations 2022 were added to the CARINGS portal New modules for incountry relative and stepparent adoptions were introduced reducing the average processing time to 34 months the Ministry saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever