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GoI instructs all states to inspect Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity after allegations of baby selling

The government has instructed all states to inspect child care homes run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity across the country.

Women and Child Development Minister, Maneka Gandhi has also asked the state governments for ensuring of registrations of all child care institutions and linking to the country’ top adoption body, CARA, within a month.

Jharkhand’s child protection chairperson said that teams have been formed by the state to inspect all its shelter homes and hoped to receive their reports in early August. “If we find any one operating such homes illegally, strong action will be taken,” Arti Kujur told news agency Reuters.

Under the Juvenile Justice Act which had come into effect earlier, the ministry said that it was mandatory for every shelter home dealing with children and their adoption to register and also link the organisation to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

Earlier in this month, A nun and a woman employee of the Nirmal Hriday in Ranchi, which is under the care of Mother Teresa’s charity, were arrested for allegedly selling babies for adoption. The racket has triggered a a state-wide crackdown on shelter homes, particularly those run by the Missionaries of Charity.

Since December last year, 2,300 child care institutions have been linked to CARA, but around 4,000 are still pending. Maneka Gandhi has shown displeasure in the fact that the linked child care institutions have not been brought up in the adoption system.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has said that there are over 2.3 lakh children in all the child care institutions – registered and the unregistered ones – in the country.

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