170 children died in UP adoption homes in five years: Govt data

LUCKNOW:Over the past five years, UP witnessed death of 170 children in the state-run adoption centres. This figure, revealed as part of data furnished by the union ministry of women and child development in the ongoing Parliament session, is only marginally lower than Maharashtra’s 172 over the same period.

UP government authorities said that poor health of children lodged in state adoption homes was responsible for this figure. Commissioner for protection of child rights, Uttar Pradesh, Vishesh Gupta, said, “Sometimes, children lodged in adoption centres have been rescued by stake holding agencies in peculiar situations. Sometime, children are rescued from the roadside and are already suffering from infections. In such a situation, it becomes difficult to save their life despite earnest attempts.”

He also admitted that the state lacked trained manpower in its adoption homes. “Lack of manpower

is also an issue. We don’t have the training mechanism and the infrastructure needed. It has been observed that the staff is not adequately trained to take care of such children,” said Gupta.

According to available data , in 2014-15, as many as 30 kids lodged in adoption homes in UP died; in 2015-16, there were 27 deaths; in 2016-17, the number of deaths was 34; in 2017-18, the number was as high as 56; and in 2018-19, there were 23 child deaths.

UNDER SCANNER

UP’s adoption homes, run by state adoption agencies (SAAs), are already under scanner. In Mirzapur, two homes run by the district SAA were inspected and subsequently closed because of unhygienic conditions and inadequate facilities for small children.

“Nine centres have been shut down so far due to different kinds of complaints. However, none of these was found to be at fault for death of children,” said a state official, requesting anonymity.

Officials said that there were 18 SAAs in UP and 393 children were registered with the Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) for adoption till January 31, in 2018-19. “Overall, in the past five years, 1,772 children were enrolled with CARINGS,” said an officer.

Sources said that the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) had earlier raised concern over the death of children in adoption homes.