Campaign to Prevent Traffickking masked as Adoption

Transcription

Campaign to prevent child trafficking
masked as adoption
Gramya's Struggle from
19·97-2003
P. J amuna,~\
Dr. V. Rukmini Rao )
Gramya Resource Centre for Women
1-16-79/3, Sai Nagar Colony, Alwal,
Secunderabad - 500 015. India.
First Published in 2003
Any part of the publication may be translated or quoted with due
acknowledgement to Gramya Resource Centre for Women
Published by :
1-16-79/3, Sai Nagar Colony,
Alwal, Secunderabad - 500 015. India.
Tel: 00-40-27962007
e-mail: [email protected]
e-mail: [email protected]~net.in
Cover Design:
Ashima Roy Chowdhury
New Delhi.
Printed at:
Charitha Graphics
1-16-79/3, Ground Floor, Sai Nagar Colony,
Alwal, Secunderabad - 500 015.
Tel: 00-40-56371347
FOREWORD
We bring this report from Gramya to share our struggle to prevent the sale and traffick
ing of girl babies in Nalgonda district and subsequently in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
A response to an emergency call for help to save twin infants from sure death eventually
led to the discovery of international trafficking of girl babies in the form of adoption.
Over the last six years, Gramya staff faced many threats to their lives and were subject
to harassment from local traffickers. We were subject to obscene phone calls, threats
and intimidation of arrest on false charges. In spite of all the problems we could carry
the campaign forward due to the generous support offriends and colleagues who shared
their time, advise, financial resources and the spirit to continue the struggle till all the
traffickers were arrested and the children taken over by the government.
The late Vice President of India, Sri. Krishna Kant, then Governor of Andhra Pradesh
was a source of inspiration to carry on our work.
We specially thank Sri T.Purushotham Rao, Ex-Minister and Chandra Rajakumari,
A.P.Mahila Samakhya for their unfailing support throughout the campaign. Ms Santhaa
Reddy, member National Commission for Women was ever zealous in investigating
every case and provided a national focus to the issue. At Devarakonda we owe special
thanks to Sri. N. Sornanna, a prominent lawyer and his family who welcomed us to his
home and provided us courage to continue when we were tiring. Sri Kotaiah a retired
teacher upheld the value ofchild rights by providing a variety of support. The campaign
was sustained by Rama Shankar, D. Pavitra, Bhavani, Arundhati, Geeta, Manjula and
Valli .In spite of threats to their life they continued to mobilize the community and
organised women's groups to resist sales. K. Kavitha, worked tirelessly to bring infor
mation and hope to the women's groups.
When we started the campaign without financial resources, many friends contributed to
support the women's groups. We acknowledge the spontaneous and generous support
provided 'by John Cunnington, Lynette Dumble, annie Wilson, Peter Hofs, Deccan De
velopment Society, Shanta Sinha, Ganga Reddy, Rachna Mathur, Nukala Rohit Reddy,
Ranjana and Madhu. Dalit women leaders from Zaheerabad, Deccan Development So
ciety contributed their skills and insights to strengthen S~nghas.
Within the Government of Andhra Pradesh we specially thank Sri Samarjit Ray, then
Principal Secretary, Social Welfare who started us on this Journey. Dr. M. Sambasiva
Rao, Special Secretary to the Chief Minister and Sri.D. R. Garg, Commissioner and
Registrar of Coop. Societies.A.P. provided unfailing support throughout the campaign.
The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Sri. N. Chandrababu Naidu responded to the
Campaign demands and rescued the children from the clutches of the traffickers. He
ensured their survival and set up a Mahila and Sishu Janma Bhumi to educate the com
munity and society on the problems of the girl child. The Home Minister Sri Devendra
Goud took a bold step to arrest the VIP traffickers.
We continue the campaign to establish a safe environment for girl babies and children.
The effort to find Indian Parents for real orphans continues. We invite you to join the
Campaign.
In Solidarity
P. Jamuna
Dr. V. Rukmini Rao
Glossary 01 Terms
Angandwadi
Creche where a nutritious meal is provided by government
ANM
Auxilary nurse midwife appointed by the Government
Chenchu
Tribal
CARA
Central Adoption Resource Agency
Dai
Traditional birth attendent
Dalit
'Untouchable' community self named as broken people
DPEP
District primary education programme
Gorjat
Fair race
Ganja
hemp
GAWA
The Guardian and Wards Act, 1~90
G.O.
Government order
HAMA
Hindu adoption and maintenance Act
ICSW
Indian council for social welfare
ICCW
Indian council for child welfare
ICDS
Intergrated child development scheme
IPC
Indian Penal Code
Janma Bhoomi
Kottam
Campaign by Govt. of A.P. to send officials to villages to increase
Community Participation and Development
Cattle shed
MADA
Marginal Areas Development Agency
Masvan
Tribal healer
MLA
Member of Legislative Assembly
MPTC
MandaI Parishad Territorial Constituency
MVF
Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiah Foundation
Moksha
Attain eternal peace
NOC
No objection certificate
NGO
Non governmental organisation
Oli
Bride price
PHC
Primary health centre
RDO
Revenue Divisional officer
Sanghas
Womens organisation at village level
Thanda
Lambada hamlet outside main village
TLCH
Tender loving care home
VCA
Voluntary Co-ordinatng agency
Vetti
Free labour provided by woman when her husband is bonded
WD&CW
Women's Development & Child Welfare Department
Contents
Page No.
Chapter-l
Discovering Trafficking
Child Rights in India and their Violation
1
Discovering Trafficking 1997
3
Report of the FFC of Rangareddy & Mehabubnagar Districts
6
Report from Shadnagar Mandai, Mehabubnagar District
9
Report ofFFC visit to John Abraham Memorial Bethany Home
14
Report of the FFC to Shivampet Mandai, Medak District
18
Campaign to unearth Trafficking in Nalgonda District
20
State level Campaign
24
Media Support to the Campaign
26'
Support from the National Commission for Women
30
Socio-Economic Conditions ofthe Lambada Community
40
Status of Girl Child and Women in the Community
42
Case Studies
43
Gramya's Interventions and establishing the modus operandi of
the traffickers
48
Development Interventions in Chandampet Mandai
48
Modus Operandi of Adoption Agencies who Traffic Girl Babies
50
Recommendations
54
Legal Changes Required
55
The Structure of CARA & the loop holes in the law which
allow trafficking
56
Functions of CARA and their current practice & recommendations
56
Relinquishment Document
57
Issues related to choice of foreign adoptive family
58
Involvement of the Voluntary Co-ordinating Agencies
61
Scrutinizing Agencies
62
Safeguarding Children
64
Laws ofAdoption
66
HAMA
66
GAWA
67
AP Govt. GO Ms No. 16
68
Chapter -VI
Demands of International Adoption Agencies
69
Chapter - VII
The Campaign Continues
74
Chapter -II
Chapter -III
Chapter -IV
Chapter -V
Andbra Pradesh
e
Districts where girl babies sold for adoption
CHAPTER I
(
Discovering Trallicking
Child Rights in India and their violation :
The crime of girl baby trafficking in the name of adoption violates fundamental rights
enshrined in the Indian constitution and the UN Child Rights Convention, November
1989. The violation begins with the right ofthe child to survive and be breast -fed. Many
of the babies are taken away from the mother - "harvested" -when they are barely days
old. They are deprived oftheir family, language and culture and forced to live in an alien
society if they do survive their early separation and sale.
This criminal activity, has to be cleansed out completely from our society and the prob
lem related to "relinquishment" of children and easy conditions for harvesting of babies
tackled. This involves addressing the issues ofpoverty and gender discrimination squarely.
Addressing the problem by exporting a few hundred girls annually "for a better
future"turns women in poor households into baby making machines. While long term
development is taking place we need to ensure through appropriate rules and regulations
that girl children are not easily sold.
This booklet is an attempt to bring to the attention of policy makers and the public the
increasing crime of trafficking in girl babies, especially in the benign shape of adoption.
It is based on first hand experience of Gramya to stop the sale and female infanticide of
girl babies in Chandampet mandai in Nalgonda district ofAndhra Pradesh, India. Subse
quently we identified the problem as widespread in 10 districts in the state. The sale of
girl babies to adoption homes and their transfer for monetary gain to foreign nationals
was highlighted by Gramya through electronic and print media. Our study of the prob
lem showed the poor supervision of the international adoption process followed in the
country. We dialogued with the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Government of
India, represented by Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) to bring about changes.
To ensure that the traffickers did not benefit from the illegal activities, we demanded and
were successful in transferring the care oftrafficked babies to the Government ofAndhra
Pradesh. We intervened legally through the Family Courts ofHyderabad, High Court of
A.P. and the Supreme Court of India to ensure that the children find homes in India. This
is an ongoing process.
The Constitution of India recognised the Rights of the Child for the first time and in
cluded several articles dealing with their liberty, livelihood, development of childhood,
non-discrimination in educational spheres, and compulsory free education.
The Child Rights Convention, which enshrines the rights that inherently belong to chil
dren, including girl children, specifically upholds the following:
Article 7: The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right
from· birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality, and as far as possible, the right to
know and be cared for by his ·or her parents.
Article 8 (i): State Parties undertake to respect the right ofthe child to preserve his or her
identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognised by law without
unlawful interference.
1
Article 9: State Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or
her parents against her will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial
review determine, in accordance with applicable law and. procedures, that such separa
tion is necessary for the best interest of the child.
Article 11: States parties shall take measures to combat the illicit transfer and non-return
of children abroad.
Convention on the rights of the child adopted by UN General Assembly on 20 Novem
ber 1989, which was acceded to by the Government of India on December 11, 1992 also
states the following, particularly.
Article 35: State Parties shall take all appropriate national bilateral and multilat
eral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any
purpose or in any form.
Article 37: Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for
the inherent dignity of the human person and in a manner which takes into account the
needs of the persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall
be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so
and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspond
ence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances.
Relevant Articles from the Constitution of India, gives the child:
Right to Citizenship
Article 5: Every person who had his domicile in the territory ofIndia and who are born in
the territory of India, or
Either or whose parents were born in the territory of India or
Who has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years
immediately preceding such commencement, shall be a citizen of India.
Right to Freedom of Religion.
Article 25: Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions ofthis
Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to
profess, practice and propagate religion.
Directive Principles of State Policy :
Article 39 (e): that the health and strength of workers, men and women,
and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not
forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or
strength.
(f) that the children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a
healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that child
hood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral
and material abandonment.
Article 45: The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period often
years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compul
sory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen
years.
2
Discovering Trafficking 1997
Trafficking in the name of adoption was manifested in sporadic incidents for the past 25
years in Andhra Pradesh. Starting our work in 1997 and by 1999, in Chandampet Mandai,
Nalgonda district we were able to investigate and uncover large- scale systematic traffick
ing in several districts.
In the first week of March 1997.an anonymous caller* contacted Gramya Resource
Centre for women to help to prevent female infanticide and provide shelter for twin girls
of 3 to 4 days old. Gramya requested support from Deccan Development Society to
investigate the issue. The girls belonged to Theldevarapally a Lambada thanda (hamlet)
in Chandampet Mandai, Nalgonda District. Since the activists from the two organisa
tions did not have the facilities to house the babies, they approached the Principal Secre
tary, Social Welfare for urgent help. On his advice the team agreed to rescue the girls.
They approached several women's organisations and child rights groups for support
including the then Governor Sri. Krishnakant.
On the advice of Dr. Santha Sinha, MVF (Mamidipudi
Venkatarangaiah Foundation), an orphanage Tender Lov
ing Care Home in Hyderabad was approached to take the
children into their shelter. They were willing to do so. The
orphanage sent one Sister along with Gramya representa
tive to the village to bring the children to the city On 2nd
March 1997. In the village the parents of the girls refused
to give the children without payment. They were threat
ening and willing to kill the babies, rather than give them
away to an orphanage. Finally the team had to return to
the city without the girls.
Now in Spain according to TLCH Sister
Ms. P. Jamuna from Gramya informed the community that they would be fully responsi
ble for the welfare of the children. Any harm to the babies would be reported to the
police and treated as a crime. After a week the sister from TenderLoving Care home
reported that the parents had come to Hyderabad and handed over the girls to the orphan
age.
At the request of Deccan Development Society and Gramya, The Government of Andhra
Pradesh appointed a Committee to inquire into the issues that are leading to female
infanticide and sale of baby girls. A committee comprising officials from the department
of Tribal welfare, local elected representatives and NGOs was setup, which carried out
the investigation. It submitted a report with recommendations in May1997.
The Enquiry Committee studied the village and the area and made the following obser
vations.
The sex ratio of girls to boys was only 835 to 1000. This ratio is worse than in many parts
of Rajasthan (India) where female 'infanticide is known to occur. The community con
fessed that female infanticide was practiced widely. As reported by the community the
following methods were used for killing girl babies.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Suffocating child to death.
Burying girl baby alive.
Slashing the wrists of the child.
Drowning child in hot water.
Using poison" rupayi mandu"- one rupee poison.
Starving baby to death.
Umbilical cord not tied up after delivery allowing the baby to bleed to death.
* This anonymous caller was a-broker to adoption' agencies, working in the Life Insurance
Corporation at Hyderabad. This fact became known only a year later.
3
Dr. V. RUKMINI RAO
CHAIRWOMAN
4th March, 1997
Mr.S.Ray, lAS
Prl Secretary
Social Welfare Department
Hyderabad
Dear Mr. Ray,
Sub: Female infanticide and sale of girls in Theldevarapalli Thanda,
Nalgonda Dist.
I would like to bring to your notice the appalling conditions prevailing in Theldevarapalli
Thanda (this is a small Lambada hamlet) in Devarakonda mandaI, Nalgonda district.
The Thanda is situated on the Kambalapalli road, 20 kms. away from Deverakonda. Due
to utter proverty and several other factors the people in the Thanda are attempting to sell
their girl children. We understand that there have been several cases of female infanti
cide in the village in the past.
On 2nd March one of my colleagues Ms. P. Jamuna, Secretary, Gramya Resource Centre
for Women, and Member of the Board, DDS, was contacted and informed about the
condition of a pair of twin girls who are 10 days old. She was informed that the children
are going to be killed and her help was sought to "rescue" them. Ms. Jamuna along with
Sister Tressa Maria from the St. Therissa Hospital who run an orphanage and adoption
centre, visited the village to talk to the community. They found that men and women
alike were demanding money to sell the girls. they were offering various girls at various
prices. Some children had been given out in adoption earlier and the parents apparently
received money.
This year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of our Independence and it is time that
all of us actively stop these practices.
I request you to take immediate action on the matter and constitute an enquiry committee
to understand the socio-economic reasons for this inhuman state of affairs. I assume we
will need to make a plan to "rescue" some of the girls in the village immediately and at
the same time make an action plan to improve the economic condition of the whole
community to stop such barbaric practices I am requesting Ms. Jumuna to get in touch
with you so that we can chalk out an action plan. At DDS we are willing to house some
older girls (not infants) if necessary till suitable accommodation is found for them.
I do hope you will take action on a priority basis. I am also enclosing a possible terms of
reference for a fact finding committee. A mix of government and Non-government rep
resentatives would help us to gain a holistic picture of the situation.
With warm regards
Yours sincerely
V.t.~
V. Rukrnini Rao
Request to Government ofAndhra Pradesh for an investigation
4 '
Literacy levels for women were 4.7% in the village compared to 36.34% formen, Lambada
women work 17 to 18 hours a day. They do so called men's work such as ploughing,
watering the fields, and pesticide spraying in cotton farms, in addition to women's work
of weeding, planting and harvesting. In spite of their hard work they are considered
inferior to men.
.
As a response to the problem, the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh requested Gramya to under
take development activities in Chandampet mandaI. We as an organisation felt that socio
economic development of the area was the only long-term solution to prevent sale of
babies. We were also aware that in addition to poverty, gender discrimination caused the
sales. We planned to promote Gender sensitive development by setting up Women's
Sanghas (women's organisation at village level) and initiating all activities through the
sanghas.
Gramya decided to intervene in the area to stop the practice of female infanticide and
sale of babies. With partial financial support from Government of Andhra Pradesh it set
up 10 schools in 10 thandas for lambada children. At the sametime it promoted the
formation of sanghas' self help groups. Organised women were provided training and
financial resources to improve their agriculture and take up additional income genera
tion activities. To prevent infanticide, Gramya staff in the 12 thandas registered all births.
As a result of regular monitoring Gramya was able to unearth the sale of a girl baby by
Vali, a lambada woman resident ofNakkalagandi Thanda in 1999. This was reported to
the local police who refused to register a First information report (FIR) in Devarkonda
police station. Ms. P.Jamunaand Mr. N. Somanna, a local lawyer informed the Nalgonda
Superintendent of Police, Mr. Ram Narayan of this matter.
Gramya became aware that a large number of babies had been sold in the area. When the
sanghas were organised they agreed to monitor and report if outsiders came into the
village and offered to buy babies. With this system in place, Gramya started getting
reports about middle-men and women from the lambada community who were trying to
persuade women with 3 to 4 girls to give away their girl babies. The local sangha leaders
in several instances also stopped sales and threatened police action against buyers.
The field level campaign against infanticide and child trafficking went forward. The
reporters from local newspapers started visiting lambada thandas in the nearby areas and
uncovered a large number of sales that had taken place in the region. Over a period of
two years, Gramya took the lead in researching, organising fact finding committees in
several districts and engaging in a large-scale media campaign. Various newspaper re
ports in Devarakonda, as also the police in Chandampet .Mandal independently con
firmed the stories of ongoing sales. Mr. Peter Subbaiah and Mr. Sanjeeva Rao were the
first to be arrested. It appeared that several adoption agencies who bought children, were
operating in Rangareddy and Mehabubnagar districts. Gramya decided to set up fact
finding committees to investigate the problems in neighboring districts with large lambada
populations. Mehabubnagar, Rangareddy and Medak districts investigations conformed
the enormity of problem.
30th April 2000 Indian Express
5
The first Committee
in Rangareddy and Mehabubnagar districts. Following
members
comprised investigated
the committee.
Members ofFFC:
Ms. P. lamuna
Ms. Prem Pavani
Ms. Jaya Vindllyala
Ms Leela
Ms T Pavani
Dr. Rukmini Rao
Ms. Kavitha K
Mr. Ranla Shankar
GramYa Resource Centre for Women
AP Mahila Samakhya
People's Union for Civil Liberties
lana Vikas
Mahila Sangham
Deccan Development Society
Report of the Fact Finding Committee's trip to
R:!ngareddy & Mehabubnagar Districts 6 April, 1999.
The FFC's mission for the day was to find out
•
What is happening in Rangareddyand Mehabubnagar districts as follow up investi
gation on sale and purchase of girl children.
•
Visit to Shadnagar (Rangareddy district) to find out more about the activities of
Action for Social Development an NGO and its adoption centre there. This Was a
follow up of the recent newspaper reports about the 'Shadnagar Centre'. The FFC
took upon itself the task of finding out more about this Centre, to study a Centre in
Tandu- (Rangareddy district), which is yet to be investigated by the government, as
a follow up to Ourdemand for proper investigation into the functioning ofall centres
and not just the two de-licensed ones (two adoption centres were de-licensed by the
Govr, of Andhra Pradesh due to reports of their illegal activities)
Since the FFC felt that more information on the centre could be obtained byapproach_
ing the MVF office, the team Went first to Cheve/la ( Rangareddy district). And quite
unexpectedly,
the FFC stumbled into a case handled
by John Abraham Memorial Bethany
Home
in Tandur.
It
6
7
8
The FFC did not get any information from the Thandur S.1. Mr. Harikrishna either. He
said that the police never had any complaints about the Home, nor any information by
the Home about abandoned or dead children. In the case of Bhanu Priya, he only re
vealed that the two children were moved from Thandur to Gulbarga be.cause Mr. John a
local Physical training lecturer who had adopted the third child of Rukminibai had re
quested that the children be moved. He had adopted the third child of Rukminibai and
found it a nuisance that the older children came to visit him regularly because they were
close-by. He did not want to have anything to do with the family. He wanted to bring up
the adopted child as his own and found the visits by family members disturbing. The
Tandur S.l.informed, that he had not received any complaints about missing children
from the Gulbarga home.
Report from Shadnagar Mandai, Mehabubnagar district, 6th April, 1999
At Shadnagar the FFC met the C.1. Mr. Swami Narayan Pawar at around 7.30 p.m.
When asked about adoption centres in his jurisdiction, the C.l. only revealed the names
of four NGOs, which were development organisations and not involved with adoption.
He also used obscene language to intimidate the FFC members. It was the local police
constables who provided information about Action for Social Development (ASD) run
by Sanjeeva Rao one of the accused and arrested in the adoption scam. ASD ran a child
sponsorship program in 8 villages of Keshampet mandai of Mabubnagar district. The
C.1. said that the police would not take up investigation of any agency on their own,
unless there was a formal complaint. The FFC urged him to look into the situation since
the trafficked babies could not possibly complain. Since both parents and adoption agen
cies were colluding to work illegally it was the duty of the police to be proactive in its
investigations.
The FFC visited the local Shadnagar office of ASD and met the Field Coordinator Mr.
John Kennedy and the Education Coordinator Mr. G.ovindappa. Both of them had been
working for ASD in its CCF (Christian Children Fund) sponsorship program for the past
two -years. The two employees maintained that they knew nothing about the adoption
activities of their organisation and that its chief functionary Mr. Sanjeeva Rao took this
up directly through his contacts in the villages of that area. According to them, the
number of children who were given away in adoption (or taken for adoption, as the case
maybe) were only 4 from their 8 CCF villages. 3 cases were from Pragya thanda and 'one
case from Dattayipalli. All the four adoptions involved girl children and were reported
to have taken place five to six years previously.
FFC discovered following details about ASD:
•
Inter-country adoptions have been promoted since 1991.
• "The superintendent, Mr. Prem Kumar is another person (who was running VCA)
who was knowledgeable about all the activities of ASD
•
That the adoption centre is called " creche" and that its activities are different
from that of the Shadnagar office.
•
That most ofthe adoption cases would be from Kothur Mandal, Balanagar Mandai
and Shadnagar Mandai where the CCF programme is not being implemented.
Most of the babies are from Lambada thandas. Some of the villages identified as
a source oforigin for babies are: Aklaskhanpet, Vadagutta Thanda, Konga thanda.
•
ASD office was attacked by a group of 15 lambada activists after the activities of
the organisation became public.
9
Sanjeevi R80
remanded·
By Our Staff Reporter
The 17th
Metropolitan Magistrate remand
HYDERABAD. APRIL '24.
ed child-peddler, N. Sanjeeva
Rao, to [udlclal custody tiD May 8.
Rao was arrested on charges of
illegal confinement and child traf
ficking on Sunday. He had floated
an organisation, Action for Social
Development, to run the child
trafficking racket. A police picket
was deployed at its Gandhinagar
office.
711e Hindu 25th April, 200I
Overall impressions of the FFC:
•
The FFC found that the police had more information than it was willing to share.
Uniformly the police personnel appeared to avoid telling the truth or give informa
tion which may lead to exposure of illegal adoption activities.
•
The Tandur Bethany Home, has to be investigated thoroughly, regarding the fund
ing for the Home, especially in the light of the Bhanu Priya's case.
•
ASD activities in the 8 villages' adopted' by it have to be investigated further.
•
Visits to villages in Kothur, Shadnagar and Balanagar mandals for further investiga
tions with the communities is essential to unearth the truth.
•
The MPTC member Mr. Laxman Nayak of Inmulnarva village, who defended the
activities of adoption agencies as genuine may have tTIore information which he is
withholding and this must be thoroughly investigated. Mr. Nayak admitted that he
knew of five babies who were 'genuinely' given for adoption.
Enadu, 2nd May. 2001
•
•
•
•
•
•
10
•
•
•
•
Details of children procured by adoption agencies
from Mehabubnagar district collected by the Factfinding committee.
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1.
Angoth Kishen Naik
2.
Angoth Tulasi Ram &
Tulasi
- do
3.
Angoth Harya
- do
lppalla Palli village
Ragya Thanda,
Kesarnpet mandai,
Mahaboob Nagar Dist.
.::
:·:.:<r:.. ,.· .
1993
1 year
baby
ASD
1995
1 year
baby
ASJ)
1 day
baby
.Remarks
.••.. .. . :: .
Data finalised
by FFC on
14.8.1999
ASD
4.
Naunavath Parya & Maroni
Thirumalyam,
Kasya Naik Thanda,
Bala Nagar mandai
1998 1month
baby
ASD
5.
Pathlavath Valya & Shanthi
Gori gadda thanda
1997
15 days
baby
ASD
6.
N. Ramulu & Bujji
Gori gadda thanda
1997
2 years
baby
ASD
Data finalised
by FFC on
20.9.1999
7.
M. Desya Naik
Golla palli,
Jadcherla Mandai
1998 6months
baby
ASD
RTC driver.
Because girl
was born.
1998 8months
baby
1998 6months
baby
ASD
7,8 and 9
belong to the
same family
Less land and
more children.
8.
M. Linchya
- do
9.
M. Lacha Naik
- do
10.
P. Venkatya Naik
Gairam gadd thanda,
Kodangal
Jadcherla Mandal,
11.
N. Bhadru & Shanthi
Gori gadda thanda,
Trhirumalagiri village,
Bala Nagar MandaI,
12
to
15
Names not revealed
Pedda abbai thanda,
Kindangal village
16
P. Dasru & Rukku
- do
C<
ASD
Data finalised
by FFC on
29.9.1999
1998
15 days
baby
ASD
ASD
1998
2 years
Middleman
named Singh
has taken these
children to ASD
ASD
baby
17.
18.
P. Perya
19.
Mudavath Chandi
Vail gadda thanda
1998
Zmonths ASD
twins
Lakshma Naik thanda,
Kodangal village,
12
1999
Jan.
15 days
baby
ASD
Data finalised
by FFC on 30 th
Sept. to
2 nd OCt., 1999
SI.
Parent's
No~
Name
-:.: . . . .:,
"~ime
Place
• :Cbild's Agency
·A.ge
Involved
Remarks
20
K. Krishna
'Bibi Nagar Thanda,
Bala Nagar Mandai
1998
4months ASD
baby
21
Sapavath Takya
Rajapuram thanda
1998
Nov.
2months ASD
baby
22.
J. Badya
1998
23.
K. Kesya
Nancheruvu thanda,
Geetham pall i
Elugu thanda, Kalle palli,
Bala Nagar mandai,
3 days
baby
15 days
baby
24.
Bachayya Naik
Kethath thanda,
Veranna palli village
1998
2months ASD
baby
25.
Kista Naik
Kalle palli thanda,
Verannapalli village
1998
l month
baby
ASD
26.
Dharma Naik
1998
15 days
baby
ASD
27.
Sapavath Somla Naik
Nanya thanda, Geethapur
28.
Chandar Naik
Boda gutta thanda,
Veranna palli village
29.
Kistya Naik
30.
Chendri
31.
Lakshrna Naik
MPTC member
32.
Sapavath Bebya
33.
Sapavath Venktya
34.
P. Nasya Naik
Dharmiya Thanda,
Miralaguda panchayath
ASD
Parents
migrated
35.
Runavath karya
Bothabai thanda
ASD
Parents
migrated
36.
Details not known
Koina palli,
Kesampet village
ASD
Dattai palli
ASD
37.
Details not known
- do
1998
ASD
ASD
Father went for
surgery to
Shadnagar, had
no money, came
back to village
and sold the
baby for Rs.500
25 days
baby
1998
15 days
baby
ASD
- do
1998
1month
baby
ASD
- do
1998
ASD
1month
baby
ASD
- do
l month
baby
ASD
- do
2months ASD
baby
Immanuel Thanda,
Kothru mandai
This data is collected by P. Jamuna & Chandra Raja Kumari
13
The baby was
returned within
15 days and
died within 2days.
Data finalised
by FFC on
10.10.1999
Data finalised
by FFC on
1.4.2000
Report of the Fact Finding Committee's visit to John Abraham Memorial Bethany
Home at Tandur, Rangareddy district, on 15th.April 2001 after the intervention of
the National Commission for Women.
Ms. Santhaa Reddy a member ofthe National Commission for Women, visited Hyderabad,
to review the condition ofgirl babies who were being sold to so called adoption agencies.
She had visited the Bethany Home on 10th • April 2001 and sealed the office after finding
several problems in the Home. She found children who were very sick and referred them
to Niloufer Hospital.
The FFC comprising Dr. Rukmini Rao, Director DDS, Ms. Chandra Rajkumari, Presi
dent Mahila Samakhya, and Ms. PJamuna, Secretary Gramya Resource Centre for women
went to the Horne as a follow up to ascertain the condition of children in the home.
The staffmembers working there Ms. Susheela (a Nurse) and Ms. Susheelamma a care
taker informed the FFC that out ofthe 5 children sent for treatment, two children Amrutha
and Rekha had died. On that date, 58 children were present in the Home. One child
Shyamala was suffering from TB. The baby was not segregated, but was sharing the bed
with other children putting them at risk.
The child on left is suffering with TB.
Karnataka Police Investigation:
At the time of our visit, a police team from the State of Karnataka was investigating the
Home. They had earlier intercepted 3 children who were being brought to the home. The
police informed us that from a small area around Chincholi, 18 cases of sale were re
ported. They had investigated the relinquishment documents and followed up the cases
in the villages noted in the documents. As per the team's oral report, they were not able
to trace a single genuine case. Clearly the papers were forged. The head office of the
home located in Padma Rao Nagar in Hyderabad was closed and the members of the
management of the horne were absconding.
NelVS
Timet April 200 J
Karnataka police case against Amala
Ne~
Bangalore:-·- Konchav4ra~
police in Gulbarga. district of
K&rnataka has filed a case
aga.lnst
former
aotreas
Amala Akkinen.1 in connec
tion with child running
episodes.
about
which,
Karnataka. government has
ordered a. CIO enquiry.
Police confirmed about regis"
tration . • case agalnst
Hyderabad·based
actress,
who runs &0 org&nlsation
called 6t Theresa Adoption
~.entre, Mary Then.os&.who is
incbarge of the centre and tho
Jeop driver Gopi, who would
pick up childron from th6
local 'thanda.'.
The
CASe
a4!&inst Am&la is
=
~El.oUTiN(tRULES .j(f ~~D ~~~S~ABROAD
that 'abe flouted some of the
rules And -regul'ations in
adoption IUld seDding Ulem
abroad. W'Ifile the enquiry is
on. "no mosts have been
made ·w jhia case," police
said,

·AIDlC~~OUS. BASELESS'
Hydorabid:
Meanwhile.
Ama.la Akklneni clarified
hero on -'.Thursd~ that she
had not been organising any
orphanago.
Dismissing all UW! rumours
"bout her alleged ownerahtp
of the adoption centre &S
ridiculous and baseless, the
former film actress said tha.t
14
homo. -The home had govern·
:iIlient recogniUon:· she clurt
·.tied.
:;:~~: s~d~~ . -,
she was work:1ng only for the
protection 01 animals and
ruled out ~ chance of Ciling
a esse against her.
She, however, said that she
WU, honorary member for
advlsory council or St
Therlssa Tender Loving Care
Home in Hyderabad. But she
had no role to play in the
.organlsational actlvitic:> of
the home. she' said.
Stating that a Christian nun
was organising the home.
Amala said that there were
no allegations against the
66 KIDS ~ESCUED
CODtinu,ing tlic ~rackdown
on
cfutd trafhcklng., in
A.ndhra Prad~h; aUlhontl~s
on Thursday rcs~cd .61 chll-
~~~~oa:8I1:'1~~ ~n:~~
outsa1X1.s,rb'eing run by the
wile 01 a senior IPS officer
&.nci another five infa.nts from
a Non-govcmmcntal orgaOl'
satton (NGO)-run orphanage
in Mahabubnagu.r town,
according to PTl reports.
As murky dimensions oCmer
chandise in adoptions unfold
..
... TURtoU:~.P.AGL1....
Problems identified at the agency:
In the office at the Home it was found that several documents were strewn around. A
perusal of the documents showed the following:
1. Replacing dead children with freshly acquired children· fdr adoption:
There were 18 files of children who had died. The documents showed that permission to
adopt the dead children was given by the VCA several months after the baby had died. It
appears from this that children bought illegally are replacing dead children. Perhaps, the
photographs are changed. This process of replacement allows a continuous flow of chil
dren to be available without following the necessary condition of keeping children in the
Home for two months, so that the natural parents can reclaim the child if they want to.
This takes away the right of natural parents who may rethink their situation if given time,
The documents also showed that though the babies were dead, immunization was noted
to have been given to babies several months after they had died. This once again shows
that false records are being maintained. The Home appears to be using a range of doctors
to issue death certificates. The police from the State of Karnataka informed us that,
records of the death certificates issued were not maintained by the doctors. The cause of
death varied from Pneumonia, Diarrhea to one case of HIV positive. When the babies
were admitted into the Home they were all noted to be ' healthy and normal'
Several local doctors had issued death certificates on a regular basis.
We could find following addresses.
Dr. C. Srinath,
Dy. Civil Surgeon,
A.P. Chest Hospital,
Tel: 3814421 (0),3814422,3814423,3300437 ®
He had issued several death certificates.
/
Even·.(lead .
.'
,- ...
"
..... :-.
'.
.
"
"
r
bableswere
avallablefor.
...
.
~
.
.
'.'
adoptiom
Dr. E.Arjun,
Apoorva Pediatric Centre,
Mehdipatnam, Lungar House
I'el: 3328086 ®, 6503232 (0)
He had issued the death certificate for Baby Sampoorna
Dr. Mukunda,
Superintendent,
Mukunda Maternity Nursing Home,
Station Road, Tandur, Tel: 72085
SySGopi~ath'ReddV
i\prjI2~'--
THE activities ofchild.adopti&ri cen
are more
tres -in the state
'nefarious
than what meets the'''eY~'~~as'':lt was
revealed.' on Thursday. tliaf.tlie. ~olL~
Abraham Memorial Bethany"-l,iome in'
Tan.dur even .in9ud~:Qead~.~hildren
in the list 6f those available for adop
tion..
.
.. . .
.The records of .4~~
HQme'·;elre· .pt~
ample proof of, the .sheer lies
passedoffasfacts
by
.
. .
.. .the~tor
.... ofthe
.
~."iding
'.
Enadu 25th April, 2001
Healing Touch Hospital,
9-1- 7/83/844, S.P. Road,
Secundrabad 500026
Police team from Karnataka
H. Krishna Murthy,
Sulepeth Circle, Taluka Chincholi,
Tel: 08475 - 75090.
Ref: Alok Kumar, IPS,
Superintendent of Police, Gulbarga, Karnataka.
Tandur police station contact.
Police official met at Tandur.
Hari Kumar, S.I., 75256 ( R), 72033 (0), Tandur.
Dead baby in Bethany Home before being buried
15
Details of some of the death cases collected from files in the Bethany Home, Tandur
81. Name of Name of
No the Cbild· Parents
1. Karuna
·lliitage,::~··
': . • •.
District
Susheela
Hoshapur
bai, Maruthi Ranga Reddy
nat~:·:':'tJ·I!·.:.:·.·: ::{I~te::·uf:·:· ·l)ate:Of
Witness on
Date ofVCA·
i\dD1:iss"ion·..:·~:~,at.fi; :1·mmiunjz3,fion relinquishment Clearance
.<
19.5.2000 1.6.2000
20.8.2000
Raju, S/o.
Sayanna,
Seetharam-pet,
30.09.2000
Tandur
2. Indira
Kamlibai & Dharuvagu
Lalya Naik Ranga Reddy
3. Akanksha Bali, W/o.
Seviya,
S/o Somla
4. Kareena
5. Suvarna
6. Ratna
-
22.6.2000 27.7.2000 28.8.2000
-
Sathyamrna, Tandur
Jangaiah
Ranga Reddy
Sowbhagya,
W/o. Bhaskar
Achampet,
18.5.2000 27.6.2000 28.8.2000
Mehabubnagar
Sunitha,
Kodanalli
Rain Mohan Ranga Reddy
--
20.8.2000 5.10.2000 20.8.2000
10.5.2000

29.5.2000 20.8.2000 14.9.2000
Rao, Kistaiah,
Tandur
-
Prakash,
S/o. Bhadranna,
Tandur. Ramdas
S/o Subash,
Kodangal
--
Istri Ramachari, 28.11.2000
S/o Ramachari,
Seetharampet,
Tandur.
Eerappa,
S/o.Lakshmappa,
Chengol
--
-
-
-
7. Rezwana Naseemunis: , Tandur
10.5.2000 22.8.2000
Asgar
Ranga Reddy
--
Ramulu,
23.09.2000
S/o Ananthaiah,
Shantinagar.
Lakshmaiah,
S/o Rajappa,
Resident of
Maniknagar
8. Sampoorna Parvathamma, Ravulapalli, 08.5.2000 12.5.2000
Bhikshapath Ranga Reddy
-----
Pratap Reddy
S/o Lakshma
Reddy,
Basheerabad.
Shanta,
W/o Vasath,
Tandur.
9. Kalyan -
--
Referred by
Priest
Chitti
Boy
10 Maheswari Chitti &
Pedapadu,
6.9.1999
Kalur MandaI,
1/24 Kurnool
7.1.2000
3.7.2000
8.8.2000
-
03.02.2000
Birth date
was given
on
03.03.2000
-
16
9.9.2000
Ramdas,
Gopal, Adanur
Tandur, Sivaram,
S/o. Satish
Vikarabad.
--
SI. Name.of·· ·~~ilie:O·~:··
No. :tbeC.I1·il<)" palen'ls.
11 Ameesha Resident of
Foster care 100,
Vayupuri.
Date·of:;V:CA
·:)J)i·sJln~~:·.::·... :~q.ftii§~l.Qi:!l;.
Secunderabad
:;meal·Jji. ·: .• .• l.mfriuniz3finn ··r~~l~t]ulsllmell~
3.7.2000
Expired
Agreement R. Raji
Reddy
12 Prema
Yellu bai,
Kanaka mamidi 20.7.2000
WID. Shankar Ranga Reddy
25.9.2000
13 Akasha
Jumanibai
5.9.2000
Kerrelli,
4.7.2000
Clearanee
4.8.2000
Usha
Rani
28.8.2000
Ellaiah,
Maisaiah,
Ramulu,
SID. Somaiah
Ramulu,
SID. Narsimaiah.
Jakya,
S~O. Bokaiah Naik
Kerrelli
14 Alekhya
Chitiki,
Baida
Khammam
Khammam
1.7.2000
16.7.2000
9.9.2000
Narsimhulu,
S/o. Venkaiah,
Tandur.
15 Sneha
Kesli,
Maria
Palamur
Ranga Reddy
5.7.2000
20.7.2000
18.9.2000
Bai,
Narsaiah,
Basheeramaiah
Thanda.
Basmaiah,
S/o. Lachaiah,
Rio. Mehbubpur.
16 Miriyam
20.4.2000
30.9.2000
Congress Leaders led by deputy leader Channa Reddy at the Niloufer Hospital in Hyderabad where children rescuedfrom
the John Abraham Memorial Bethany Home at Tandur are undergoing treatment
Times of India, Hyderabad, April 24th 2001
17
2. High rate of infant mortality:
The staff working in the home reported that 26 children had died in a period of two
months last year. The death toll continued tobe high. The reason for this high rate is the
separation of two to three day old babies from the mother. Since the children are de
prived of breast milk they become vulnerable to all kinds of diseases. Institutionalizing
a large number of babies is bound to spread infections rapidly. After an examination of
these conditions, the team recommended government intervention immediately to safe
guard the interest of the girl babies and ensure their survival.
Report of the Fact Finding Committee to Shivampet Mandai,
Medak District, 18th April, 2001.
Members of the Committee:
T. Purushotham Rao,
P. Jamuna,
Chandra Rajakumari,
Prem Pavani,
Pasya Padma,
Babu Reddy,
Mohammed Abdul Khayum,
D. Subhash Goud,
P. Suhasini,
Ex.Minister
Gramya Resource Centre for Women, Hyderabad.
Mahila Samakhya, A.P.
K.S.R.Meln.orial Charitable Trust.
Samskara Vedika.
Samskara Vedika
Local Women activist.
The FFC visited Shivampet MandaI in Medak district to study the local conditions,
which have led to sale of girls from the Lambada community. They visited following
villages:
1. Brahmanpalli 2.Hublo Thanda 3. Biliya Thanda 4. Reddiya Thanda 5. Roopsingh
Thanda 6. Tikiya Thanda 7. Samya Thanda 8. Chandi village.
The Fact Finding Committee spoke to a large number of village people. They confirmed
the sale of25 children. The conditions leading to the sale were reported as poverty, lack
of schooling, rampant child marriages, lack ofwomen 's organisations or self-help groups.
The Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) meant to promote child and mater
nal health did not cover most ofthe thandas because the nutrition centres were located in
the main villages.
The team assessed that local sales had become possible due to the loopholes in the
available law. Sections ofpeople demanded that the law should be strengthened to clearly
prevent purchase and sale of babies even by their own parents. People reported that the
local landlord Krishna Reddy (who is no more) had received and sent more than 50
children abroad. Please note that Mr. Krishna Reddy was a private citizen and did not
have permission to receive children or give them out in adoption. His wife Ms. Joan an
Australian is reported to be continuing with the practice. An employee Ms. Meerjunissa
gave the information, that this un-licensed adoption agency had been purchasing and
selling girl babies since the last 25 years. Previously they used to give children for
adoption to Tender Loving Care 'Home in Sanat Nagar but subsequently shifted their
business to Precious Moments. Children were passed on to an agency called Precious
Moments, who did not have a license to give children in adoption. This agency is now
using the cover of a new Juvenile Justice Act to keep children in its Horhe. The local
police needs to verify all the above information. The chief of Precious Moments is Ms.
Anitha Sen, wife of an Indian Police Services officer of the rank of DIG in the state of
Andhra Pradesh,
18
List of children procured by adoption agency from Medak district collected by the Factfinding committee
'Sl~':
Patell.l':s
'No.
Name
'i
'.,."
.>"
Place
'l1ime
1
P. Pakeera
Usirika palli,
Medak Dist.
1997
2
Hathiya
Gullapalli
1997
3.
Raju
- do
1997
4.
Kishan
- do
2000
5.
Mohan
- do
2000
6.
Lalu
- do
1998
7.
Dupla
- do
1993
8.
Vasuram
1981
9.
Lakshman
Samya thanda,
Chandi village
- do
10.- Poolya
Samya thanda
1990
11.
12.
13.
14.
Ratnapoor
Sitharam thanda
- do
Devammagutta thanda
1997
1997
2000
1992
Madawath Redya
M. Bicha
Gangiya
Chandha
15. Chatru
"::~g:~nQY
',,'
2000
Tukya Thanda
2000
17. Pandu
- do
1992
Precious Moments
18. Balya
19. Rajya
- do
- do
2000
2000
20. Maroni
- do
2000
~:..r.
21. Hanuma
22. Chakriya
Remarks
.Inyolved:.
1992
- do
16. Lakshman
..:' '<
1998
Madagatta
';
2000
23. Konya
- do
2000
24. Badriya
- do
2000
25. Sarvan
Ramulu thanda,
Nawab thanda
2000
19
4
1 Female baby sold
out of 5 female and 1
male children.
1 Fb sold out of
6Fb & 1 mb.
1Fb sold out of
4Fb & 1mb.
1Fb sold out of
3fb & 1 mb
1Fb sold out of
3fb &3 mb
IFb sold out of
5fb & 1 mb
1Fb sold out of
6fb &2mb
IFb sold out of
4fband 1mb
1Fb sold out of
5fb and 1mb
1fb sold out of
3fb and 1mb
1fb sold out of 3fb
- do
1fb sold out of 6fb
1fb sold out of
4fb and 2mb
1fb sold out of
4fb and lrnb
1fb sold out of
lfb and 1mb
1fb sold out of
4fb and 1mb
1fb sold out of 1fb
1fb sold out of
4fb and 3mb
1fb sold out of
6tb and 2mb
1fb sold out of
Sfb and 2mb
1fb sold out of
4fb and 1 mb
Ifb sold out of
3fb and 1 mb
1fb sold out of
3fb and 1mb
1fb sold out of 2fb.
The campaign to unearth trafficking in Nalgona District.
After our initiative in Chandampet mandaI it was clear that children were being pro
cured and sold in many thandas in Nalgonda district. Along with our development work
in Chandampet we continued to monitor the status of pregnant women and followed up
reports of sales. On 15th .March 1999, Ms. Jamuna, Ms. Ratnamala and Dr. Rukmini Rao
visited Yellamalamanda village to meet Ms.Vijaya and Ms. SaIki. When the women's
group were organised here, the group decided to stop female infanticide as well as sales.
A local teacher Ms Valli employed by Gramya supported the group. Ms. Vijaya had
three daughters. When the youngest was born, there was an attempt by her family rnem
bers to force Vijaya to starve the baby by denying it breast-milk. When this was known
several people intervened and during our visit we counseled Vijaya to feed the baby. We
discussed the matter with her in-laws and other village women. It was finally agreed that
Vijaya would look after her baby. Gramya provided her Rs500 and rations to ensure she
had enough food to eat for the first month after her delivery. We heard the report that one
broker had tried to take away Vijaya's baby. The local women's group intervened"and
took the baby away from the broker and chased him out of the village.
In the case of SaIki, once again brokers who tried to take away her child failed in their
attempt because of the vigilance maintained by the wornens' group. Altogether five
women were approached to sell their babies and refused.
In 1999 the case of VaIi whose baby was taken away came to light. Gramya was moni
toring the health of newborn babies. In a routine check-up Vali broke down and in
formed that a woman broker brought by her husband from a near by village had taken
away her baby. Her husband had also disappeared for a few days after that. This matter
was reported to the Deverkonda police who did not take action immediately. Instead
they arrested brokers for a sale reported by the MRO in Halia thanda. The police infact
requested the MRO to register a case.
Salki ofYelmalmanda in Nalgonda district who was preventedfrom
selling her week-old baby. Another ofher daughters.is sitting in her lap
From R. Akhileshwari
Deccan Herald News Service
20
Subsequently Peter Subbiah and Sanjeeva Rao who were running adoption agencies
were arrested for their illegal activities. It was found that children were being bought and
sold in the weekly markets,
On 5th.April 2000 another FFC comprising Sri. N. Somanna an eminent lawyer, Sri.T.
Purushotham Rao, Ex-Minister Roads and Buildings, and local leaders went to Boddupalli
and surrounding thandas accompanied by ajoumalist from the Indian Express. The com
mittee noted the extreme hardship of the people living in the region. Due to drought
ITIOre than 200 bore-wells had dried up in one village. Lack of employment was driving
families out of the villages. Due to the economic crisis, child traffickers were flourish
ing. The committee noted the sale of a baby by Hemli and her husband Ramlu in
Nakkalgandi thanda. This news made National headlines. As a result the district admin
istration tried to cover up and visited the area with the intention to prove that the situa
tion was normal. The then District Collecter, Sri. Manohar Prasad toured the area.ac
companied by Ms. P. Jamuna ofGramya and the local MLA Sri. Ragya Naik. During the
tour two cases of infanticide came to light. As a result the District Collector directed the
local tribal leaders and Sarpanchas of the village to maintain vigilance in the villages
and stop infanticides as well as sale of babies. He also discussed the setting-up of a
MandaI level Area Development committee to ensure development in the region. He
appointed a special officer to be stationed at Chandampet to monitor development ac
tivities.
On 5th.August 2000, Ms. P. Jamuna and Dr. Rukmini Rao
from DDS received a report that a girl child being traf
ficked from Devarkonda was rescued by the police in
Chintapalli. When we arrived at the police station the S.1.
informed us that he was under pressure from local leaders
to release the traffickers. He requested us to transport the
child and the traffickers to Deverkonda. The traffickers
named 18 people who were part of a ring. This information
was passed on to a local journalist who independently veri
fied the story.
Under police escort the traffickers and the child were taken
to Deverkonda and handed over at the police station. How
ever, when we made enquiries the following week we were
told that no case had been booked. The child had also mys
teriously disappeared from the police station. To-date we
do not have information on this child who appeared to be 6
to 7 years old.
On 28 th.November, 2000 another FFC comprising Sri T.
Purushottham Rao, Dr. G.R.S. Rao, Director, Centre for
Public Policy, Lok Satta member Ms. Thuraga Janaki Rani,
along with Ms. Rlamuna and Dr. Rukmini Rao visited the
Deverkonda police station. The committee found that the
DSP was evasive and refused to give information. He was
willing to discuss cases from Miryalaguda but refused to
admit that sales were continuing in Devarkonda. He did
not acknowledge that local leaders were pressurizing him
to release criminals.
21
Child who mysteriously disappeared from the
Deverkonda Police Station
The FFC in their various visits in Nalgonda collected data on child sales. This is provided below.
.... jl,~nf~s:
81.
J(arne
:'No.
Remarks
I.
Sapavath Perya & Maroni
Teldevarapall i,
Chandampet mandai,
Nalgonda Dist.
20 days
baby
TLCI-I
Parents say that
the baby died.
2.
Kethavath Sakru & Patani
Bolaram thanda,
10 days
baby
TLCH
Baby was sold
for Rs.l 0,000,
they migrated.
3.
Hemli & Ramulu
Nakkalagandi thanda,
7 days
baby
TLCH
Husband & wife
statements are
different.
Wife says she has
not given birth,
but accepted
when villagers
told about the
birth.
Data finalised by
FFC members on
13-15 April, 2000
4.
Mudavath Dharma & Ramili
Chandra naik thanda,
Moola vazu
5.
Katravath Ramkoti & Ambali
- do
2000
10 days
baby
Sold third daugh
ter for Rs.2000
1month
Sold third daugh
ter for Rs. 5000
to middleman,
but say the baby
died at Devara
konda hospital.
baby
6.
Ramavath Ramulu
7.
Poorva & Hambi
8.
Devli & Chakriya
Wife died. Son &
daughter say their
sister was sold by
father.
- do
3 years
Danj ilal thanda,
Channaram
baby
11. Ramavath Kotya & Bujji
12. Jamli
Baby was bought
for Rs. 7,000 by
VRO employee
Mr. Raj.
Parents migrated
Bapanmod thanda
9.
10 Ramavath Ranjya
VRO
Data finalised by
FFC members on
19.6.2000
Ganya Naik Thanda,
2 babies
- do-
10 days
baby
- do
22
Sold for Rs. 4000
each.
Sold for Rs.4000
-Sold her sister's
daughter.
13. Gathamya & Doli
14 Lakshmi
15. Ramavath sakri & Lalu
16. N. Suvali & Lakshma
17. Dharma & Chandi
18. Jigini & Moti Ial
19. N. KomIa & Govind
20. J. Bal a & Sakri
21. Lichi & Lavurcha
22. Vali & Gunya
23. Sakri & Pandu
24. Mudavath Dole & Ramu
25. K. Dholi & Soma
5 days
baby
- doKotya Bridge thanda,
Mainam palli,
Devara konda
Gudi thanda, Mainampalli
Devarakonda mandaI
Narasanna bavi thanda,
Devarakonda mandaI
Kotha thanda,
Tavakla ur,
Teldevarapalli,
Chandampet mandaI
- do
- do
- doNakkala gandi,
Teldevarapalli
Hankya thanda,
Murunuthala Teldevarapalli
Katravath thanda,
Teldevara palli
Katravath thanda,
2000
June
3 year
bab
2000
20 days
baby
20 da s
2000
2000
2000
1month
baby
1month
baby
Sold for Rs.4000
1tb sold out of
4tbHusband died.
1tb soldout of 5tb
because husband
deserted her.
2tbs soldout of
7tbs.
Itb sold out of
3tbs Dindi Mandai
1tb sold outof 3tbs.
2 twin tbs sold
out of 4tbs
1tb sold outof 3tbs
1tb soldout of 4tbs
1tb soldout of4tbs
1tb soldout of Jfbs,
1tb soldout of 4tbs.
Teldevarapalli
26. K. Rajoli & Bodya
27. K. Vikri & Doseiah
28. G. Kesachari &
Ramalingamma
(BC community)
29. Ramavath Ramulu
- do
- doKothapalli, Teldevarapalli
Lives in Hanuman Gudi,
Hyderabad.
Wife died.
He also acted as
a broker in sale of
a child in
Mulavagu thanda
30. Katravath Ramkoti &
Ambali
Kothapalli, Teldevarapalli
Sale mediated
by Ramavath
Ramulu
1 tb sold with th
help of Ramavath
Ramulu
31. Nadavath Dhrama &
Ramili
- do
23
State level Campaign
To sensitize the voluntary sector, Government officials and the general public, Grarnya
decided to undertake a state level campaign to share information about the existing
adoption laws, CARA guidelines, which mandate national adoptions and the issue of
sale and trafficking of babies. We planned to work with interested NOO's to identify the
problem in their work areas and to provide protection to girls. Since a large number of
voluntary agencies work with Lambada and dalit communities we hoped they would
take up the issue by setting up "watch"groups and prevent trafficking. They could also
join the campaign to pressurize government to implement suitable development pro
grams.
The campaign was carried out in ten districts. These
were Ranga Reddy, Warangal, Medak, Mehabub
nagar, Nalgonda, Khammarn, Kurnool, Anantapur,
Chittoor, Vishakapatnam and Nellore. Through the
campaign and interaction with local NOO's we
learned that trafficking of babies had been ongoing
since 1992 in Nellore district. Action For Social De
velopment had been involved in sales through local
contacts. In Chittoor .local NGO's produced infor
mation about sales in the district. In Kurnool it was
found that girls were sold to families in Hyderabad
to work as domestic servants. The working condi
tions were appalling and the children
were not paid any wages. The parents were given little. The traffickers were making
money through debt bondage. In Anantapur district it-was found that teenage girls were
trafficked to red light areas of Bombay and Calcutta. In Warangal district young women
farmers were used as carriers by drug cartels to transport Ganja which is grown locally.
The women would travel to towns and fall into the hands oftraffickers. Occasionally the
women would themselves act as pimps and procure girls for the trade. In Krishna and
24
Guntur districts young children were bought to act as pimps and bring customers to
women, who did not want to be seen publicly. Most of these children were from dalit
families. In Vishakaptnam it was noted that a child had been sold in a public auction at
the local government hospital. At the district and regional meetings information was
shared and strategies to stop trafficking chalked out. As a result of the campaign several
NOO's started to prevent child sales and female infanticide.
In Nalgonda district we worked closely with Lambada community leaders organised as
the Nangara Bheri. Collectively we mounted an educational campaign to reflect on the
negative influences on the community. The lack ofdevelopment and acceptance of main
stream customs such as dowry were seen to be destroying the community fabric' and
increasing gender violence. Community mobilization was possible through organizing
street theatre and cultural programmes. The need to self reflect and change more to
retain good community practices and gender injustice was discussed in a month long
campaign. This helped to create a group of volunteers to work with Gramya as teachers
and monitors of girl child health.
A National "Workshop was organised in April 2001, at Hyderabad, Child Rights groups
and Women's Rights groups from Orissa, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkand,
Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh attended the meeting. Ms. Andal Damodaran, CARA
chairperson, Dr. Lynette Dumble, University ofMelboume and activist with the Global
Sisterhood network and Sri T. Purushotham Rao, ex-minister contributed to the discus
sion. Ms. K. Malli who had sold her daughter and snatched her back with support from
Gramya volunteers shared her experience and insights on how to stop the trafficking.
The workshop discussed the loopholes in the laws and rules for adoption and prepared a
set of demands for change. Participants also demanded that CARA should carry out a
study to find out the welfare of the children who had been given in international adop
tion during the previous years. As a result of the better understanding of the issues, an
institution in Nagpur was cleaned up
Nangara Bheri Campaign with Gramya
25
o
Media Support to the campaign
The print and electronic media played a critical role to support the cam
paign. Initially, when the problem of infanticide and sale was discovered
by Gramya, the local journalists did not report the cases or issues. The first
two babies were saved by Gramya intervention. The community was warned
that action would be taken in case the children were harmed in any way.
Subsequently the children were handed over to Tender Loving Care Horne
(TLCH) either by the parents or traffickers. Gramya established that the
children were in the custody ofTLCH with photographs. This made a small
news item.
Subsequently, Gramya found that the children in the home were given
away in international adoption. The local media which was hostile to Gramya
initially reported that Gramya itself was involved in the sale and adoption
racket. To counter this, Gramya invited journalists from Hyderabad to
study the local problems.
Ms. Lalita Iyer from "THE WEEK", Sri Lakshmaiah and Sri J. Gouri Shankar from
"VAARTHA" toured the area and visited thandas and investigated the cases of infanti
cide and sales. At the time, the community aggressively advertised their discrimination
towards the girl child. They insisted that infanticide or sale was their own business.
Outsiders were not to intervene. They often offered the babies for sale to Gramya and
the journalists. The cooperative and shared work ofthe journalists resulted in systemati
cally documenting the problem in the region and establishing the truth of sales.
As a result of Gramya providing information, media investigations established the truth
that led to political leaders from different parties taking up the issue. The government
was therefore moved to act and intervene in the matter. The Media played a critical role
in creating a body of evidence and maintaining the focus on the issue. Due to the sus
tained media campaign, the government arrested the managers of several adoption agen
cies. Many of them were VIPs such as an Ex-minister and various other well off people.
In the second phase of the campaign, when Gramya mounted fact-finding committees,
the Indian Express used the information and made the issue a national headline. Editori
als were also written about the issue. This led to the district administration in Nalgonda
to set up a second enquiry in the district. The district collector started special area
development programmes, set up a mandaI development committee, and posted a spe
cial officer to prevent sales and address the problems of under development in the re
gion.
Gramya continued its campaign in 10 districts. It investigated sales, sensitized local
NGOs and police and highlighted the deplorable conditions in which girl children lived
which led to their sales. This campaign was again highlighted by the media. As a result,
the state government started a review of the adoption laws, CARA guidelines and thor
oughly examined the loopholes in the guidelines. The media campaign promoted a
healthy debate among intellectuals and bureaucrats. Gramya exposure ofthe working of
the adoption agencies through their fact-finding committees and media focus, pressu
rized.. the Government of Andhra Pradesh to change CARA guidelines. For example,
the procedure of giving away the baby through a relinquishment document was
scrapped. The comprehensive media campaign moved the issue of child sales from an
individual crime to an examination of the system and established international traffick
ing. Grarnaya's demands were taken up and the problems examined in depth. Once
again, the government acted and took over the children from the adoption agencies. in
2001, high level arrests were again carried out. The Government of Andhra Pradesh and
26
UNICEF together published a research study highlighting the various aspects of child"
sale and trafficking.
Gramya took up the campaign to ensure the children who were in government homes
were given in adoption to Indian parents. Gramya's demands were to ensure socio
cultural rights ofthe children. It was in the best interest of the girl babies to be provided
Indian homes. This was in line with the existing legal norms. Media once again played
a significant role to promote the rights of Indian couples to adopt the babies. By investi
gating the dubious claims of foreign parents, it established the violation in procedure and
collectively demanded that the children be provided Indian homes.
From the beginning of the campaign in 1997 to date in 2003, the print and electronic
media has played a critical role in establishing child rights. By working together with
Gramya, the socio-economic conditions which led to sale and infanticide were exposed.
Following information provided by Gramya through their fact-finding committees and
in many cases exchanging information which they had, we were able to identify the
problem, establish the root cause for sales and look for solutions which safeguard the
rights of the girl babies.
The national press and electronic media turned the issu.e from an obscure problem
into a national and international issue.
Friends who have helped us in this campaign in the electronic media are - Zee TV,
NDTV, Star TV, Gemini TV, Teja TV, ETV, AAJ TAK, SITI CHANNEL, Australian
Broadcasting Corporation and BBC who reported the issue and made it international
news. Panel discussions organized by Doordarshan and the Priya Teridulkar's show
created debate and sensitized the middle classes to the issue. International media cover
age brought about some awareness among foreign parents and foreign governments
who are recipients of the adopted children. The overall support provided by the media to
the Gramya campaign established truth of the matter and forced the Government of
Andhra 'Pradesh to review the rules related to adoption. It has also raised issues at the
national level forcing CARA to review their rules and regulations.
Courtesy:
The Times of India, The Hindu,
Deccan Chronicle
27
12 infants of '$parsh' shifted
t o · ar
/'
Courlesy: The Times of India, The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle, Indian Express
29
SUPPORT FROM THE NATIONAL
COMMISSION FOR WOMEN (NCW)
As part ofthe campaign, Gramya invited the National Commission for Women, Delhi to
Hyderabad, and presented the case of illegal sales and adoption of girl babies. I~ April
2001, a national workshop was held with NGO participants from Voluntary organisa
tions to discuss the issue. The Chairperson of CARA Ms. Andal Damodaran was also
invited to the meeting. The campaign highlighted that influential people were involved
in the sale of babies. Gramya and other NGOs appealed to NeW to take immediate
action to stop further sales.
An enquiry committee was constituted on 4th.April200 1, comprising of Smt.K.Santhaa
Reddy, member National Commission for Women and Sri Sadiq Jilani, Assistant Pro
fessor, Indian Law Institute. The terms of reference for the committee were:
1) The Committee shall investigate into this alleged sale of girl children in accordance
with procedures laid down under section 10 (1) read with section 10 (4) of the NeW
Act 1990 and submit the recommendation to the Committee for taking such action as
deemed fit against the culprit/accomplices involved in the case referred to above.
2) Recommend remedial measures and strategies to punish and prevent recurrence of
such incidents.
3) i. The Committee shall meet at such time and place as it may think fit.
ii. The committee shall regulate its own procedures.
The NeW Report:
The enquiry committee toured extensively in the effected region in Nalgonda District
from April 9, 2001. They had meetings with the district administration and NGOs. Dis
trict officials provided data of sale of girls in the following areas.
Ammula -6
Chandampet MandaI - 25
Devarakonda -11
Gundia Pally - 1
Nidamanur - 1
Peddavoora - 2
The committee visited Minampalli, Bridge thanda, Moodudandia thanda, Nakkalagandi,
Theldevarapally, Osmankunta thanda, Miryalaguda, and Nalgonda Revenue Divisions
and Tandur in Ranga Reddy District.
At Bridge thanda the committee met village men and women. The villagers reported
that one Lakshmi had sold her daughter for Rs 1500/-. Bichi mother-in-law of Lakshmi
said that girls were being sold due to acute .poverty and dowry related problems. The
community had shifted from a system of bride price (Oli) to dowry devalueing girls.
The village administration informed that ration cards were issued in 1987 and
renewed in 1993. Since then no fresh cards were issued because the government
had issued a ban. No primary school was located in the thandas. Children had to
travel to Minampally village to attend the primary school. No industries were
located in the region and agriculture lands were barren due to lack of water. No
health facilities were available nearby. The Angadwadi worker and Dai were non
functional.
In the shodow. Out ofschool.
At Moodudandla thanda , Ambali reported that she had sold one daughter to a
person with the help of middlemen. Three names of middlemen were provided,
Ramkoti, Ramulu and Dharma, Another woman Gimmi, mother of 3 children
30
Visit to old Thel Devarapally
nChll1isil,,,
1handas
In Osmankunta
At Nakkalagandi
31
Near Mududandla
reported that her husband had threatened to throw her out if she did not have a son,
which was confirmed by her husband.
In Nakkalagandi, Hemli reported that out of seven children, she had buried one girl child
after her death. However NGOs contradicted this and cited that she had sold her child.
Another woman Vali had sold her daughter to take care of her sick husband.
In Osmankunta, Malti reported that she had four daughters and two sons. She had sold
her daughter for Rs. 20001- but changed her mind immediately because the agent was
using foul language and was drunk. The agent was an elderly Lambada woman. Malli
took her child back and returned the money. While the village elders were supporting the
agent, the women's group in the village had supported Malti, and thrown out the agent.
In Pollepalli village, V. Lakshmamma, a Chenchu woman had sold her daughter. The
authorities rescued the baby and the police have registered a case under Section 372
IPC. Four persons were arrested. 1) Ramawath Kisha~ Kheeriya aged 35years, 2)
Ramwath Bicha S/o. Jikidi aged 45 years, 3) Amboth Lakshmi wlo Bojya aged 45 years
and 4) Raslawath Peepli, W/o. Lakshma aged 40 years. The rescued baby was 4 months
old and malnourished. The baby had been injured severely on her shoulder.
In all the Thandas it was found that women had a
large number of children. They were unwilling to
practice family planning. The local Anganwadi work
ers and Dais had failed to sensitize the women and
men to practice small family norms. A majority of
the children in thandas were out of school. Children
were found working in hazardous occupations such
as stone quarries and in agriculture. Eight children
were found working in the quarries. Women and girls
were paid Rs. 20 per day as wages and were living
in virtual bondage. In some villages children were
reported to have bee~ enrolled in Ashram schools,
but were found at home. In an official inspection the
previous year it was found that out of2000 children
enrolled in social welfare hostels only 200 were resi
dents. (This is an indication of corrupt practices in
the area where food meant for children is siphoned
out),
Unending Drudgery
The enquiry committee visited Devarakonda District sub-jail and met two accused
Ramwath Kishen and Ramawat Bicha. The two reported that when they had gone to the
market, one Lakshmamma had offered her daughter for sale. They had introduced her to
an elderly person who in turn came with Peepli who supplied children to Hyderabad.
They also claimed rivalry with Peepli because ofwhich they may have been involved in
the case. The team met Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Miryalaguda, Mr. Hari Singh
the DSP Devarakonda and Circle Inspector Mr. Mushtaq Ahmed and asked them to take
necessary action.
The committee met NGOs to ascertain their views. After detailed discussions the NGOs
gave their submissions. They informed that many orphanages engaged in adoptions were
in effect buying and selling children. The committee was requested to take immediate
action to stop sales.
32
NCW VISIT TO TANDUR AND RANGAREDDY DISTRICTS
On 1Oth.ApriI2001,the committee met Mr. Ajay Jain, District Collector, Mr. Balakrishna
Dep~ Commissioner of Police and Mr. P. Bapu Reddy Circle Inspector Tandur. The
officials informed the committee that the current sections 372 and 373 of IPC which
deal with offences of buying and sel1ing children for the purpose of prostitution do not
cover the sales for adoption.
The Committee recommended the incorporation of a new section 373A to cover these
offences. The committee proceeded to visit John Abraham Memorial Bethany Home at
Tandur, Police officials and staff from the department of Women and Child Develop
ment, NGOs and media met the committee. The committee was informed that after a
raid by the Karnataka police, the management body of the Home had run away. The
children at the orphanage had been left without care. The committee inspected the
premises, the condition of the children and the official documents. The inspection of30
available files showed that in the previous year 16 infants had died.
It was found that the VCA had given clearance for foreign adoption in the name of
children who had already died. The files also showed that in a majority of cases the
adoption agencies had resorted to a simple procedure of procuring children by asking
parents to sign a relinquishment deed typed on a stamp paper without following court
procedures. The police and district authorities seized the files. Children were shown as
immunised after death according to the records of Bethany Horne,
At the orphanage 64 children were found in a state of utter neglect. Five babies were
critically ill and had to be hospitalised immediately. There was a shortage of milk pow
der. The committee arranged for the care of the children and notified the Chief Minister
of Andhra Pradesh to take immediate action.
21st April, 2001
Deccan Chronical
Visit to St. Theressa Tender Loving Care Home, Hyderabad, 9t h April, 2001
Inspections of records showed that they were not maintained properly. There were dis
crepancies in data provided, related to in-country and inter-country adoptions. Police
officials had also established that the home was buying girl babies and had paid Rs.4000/
- to a fake couple.( The police trapped the interaction). In-spite ofthis clear evidence the
police expressed their inability to take action against the organisation because it was
paying money as "transport" charges to the procurers.
33
As noted by the DCP from Hyderabad on 12-04-2.001 regarding the report on the kid
napping of minor girl by name Kumari B. Priya.«" The persons in-charge of orphanages
say that they give money to the parents of the child out of compassion. It is sometimes
called transportation charges etc. Hence no local offence is made out. In this case Rs
4000, was given to the fake couple. This offering of money encourages kidnapping of
small children, especially from maternity hospitals, bus stands etc.
As a safe guard the orphanages should be strictly prohibited from giving any money,
(even Rs10) to the couple offering the child. The child should be taken only after due
verification at the residence with the neighbours etc. And at the hospital where the deliv
ery took place. If a child wandering on the streets is taken in by such an orphanage
publishing the photograph of the child in the newspapers with full particulars can be
made mandatory".
Tender Loving Care Home advertises availability of children for International adoption,
which reads as:
To Prospective adoptive parents
Greetings to you/rom Tender Loving Care Home
A message/or 'everycouple wanting a child
Somewhere
A child is waiting for
A home
Somewhere
A couple is waiting for
A child
No child is born unwanted.
While international parents are eagerly sought, Indian parents who request a child are
told that they must try to have their own children by the agency.
Savitri kept Bethany mewhers in thetlflrk~
The Tim" of IndiaNe. . 8eMce
abou,t the happenings there," he' ~{d adding . ~As vice-~esident, aliI knew was that Sav- procuring babies from tribals for monetary
HYDERABAD: The most-wantedwoman, ".~ vbited the Home in Tandur two y~rs ago 1~r1 was ~itlg:aD orphanage and an adop- gain only through newspaperreports,"Gibbs
Sa'?tri .~e~i, no~ on!y kept the local public and'e.verythingwas well then," he said.
bon centre. I came to know that she was said.
The Times a/India, 5th May, 2001
34
CID arrests ASD director
The Times of India News Service
racketeering.
Meanwhile,
HYDERABAD:The Crime Inves- ,
. . . . ~ _¥
.. .. . L
.ports about two agencies- Action
fOf Social Development and John
the
_~_
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~
..
" .
....
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Indian Express, 21st April, 2001
fSAVITRI
SURRENDERS,
.. ' .
[0. iudicial custody till AUg. ,Q",
·.'
7~.
hOM
OUR BUREAU
Deccan Chronicle, 27th July, 2001
. ~te\\S~
. ,~ \la"~
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'1 2001
'
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ress, 29thj\pr~t
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Cases slappedagainst
Precious Moments
Top cop's wife faces possible- lmprlsonment
Ex9ms"Ntws S£M'lKE
8.1\
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·s \\1.S\. ~~*~~
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her assistant. Saritha, under Women andChildWelfare Department, Wl1 have to obtain
Sections ,11S (~mlis~jon t~ prod,
·Uyderabad. April 27: Follow- uce document to public serviug ua. on yesterday's raid on ant). 100(disobedience to an
0:'
and verify them before procee·,
din~ agamst.the accesed," he
Indian Express, 28th April, 2001
35
.if!!JgIhL~_.
>:
,
INQUIRY INT9 THE FUNCTIONING OF
THE VOLUNTARY CO-ORDINATING AGENCY (VCA)
The Inquiry Committee heard the depositions of Mr. Premkumar, Secretary of YCA.
The committee found gross irregularities in the functioning of~YCA. It had completely
failed in its task to protect child rights and give direction to adoption agencies to func
tion within a legal framework. The YCA had condoned illegal actions and covered up
irregularities.
The committee found that there were discrepancies in the statistics provided by St. Theresa
Tender Loving Care Home, and the YCA. The Secretary of the VCA admitted that he
had not verified the information provided by the orphanage. The \rCA is part of the
.nexus of adoption agencies, who are selling babies. Members of the VCA show that
they are influenced by the adoption agencies.
o
o
YCA consisted of 8 members. Five of them are adoption agency representatives. 1.
Roda Mistry (ICSW, involved in adoption), 2. Sr. Tressa Maria (Tender Loving Care
Home), 3. Mrs Anitha Sen (Precious Moments, does not have CARA licence), 4.
Mr.Y.Paparao (Mission to the Nations), 5. Mr. Anand Rao Mudaliar (ICSW represent
ing scrutinizing agency). Apart from these 5 members, one from government and two
persons as Chairman and Secretary ofYCA who 'were trained and guided by Mrs. Roda
Mistry. It should be noted that Mrs. Roda Mistry, and Mrs. Anitha Sen were both ar
rested for criminal activities. Charges have been framed against Sr. Tressa Maria,
According to the data provided by YCA secretary Mr. Premkumar there were many
Indian parents willing to adopt children. The table below clearly shows that from 1997
to 2000 there were more parents than children available for adoption. It appears that in
the year 2000-2001 when the International market for babies had increased, the adop
tion agencies were indiscriminately buying children. This can be seen from the sudden
spurt of available children increasing from 236 to 607. There were no major calamities
in Andhra.Pradesh to increase the number of orphans.
Number of children available for adoption and adoptive parents registered:
o
1997-1998
146
198
1998-1999
122
230
1999-2000
236
385
2000-2001
607'
417
Major Observations of the Committee.
1. Gender Bias vis-a-vis sale of girl children: Sale of girl babies is widely prevalent \
among the lambada community in Nalgonda, Rangareddy, Medak and Mahboobnagar
Districts. As per the official statistics 46 cases of sale were identified in Miryalaguda
Revenue Division alone in Nalgonda District. Newspaper reports and NGOs esti
mate the number to be around 200. During the depositions before the committee, men
and women in the villages visited confirmed that girl children were sold for as little
as Rs.l 000. No sale of male child was reported. Gender bias in addition to poverty is
clearly leading to the sales. Men in the community blame women for the birth of a
female child and are totally ignorant of the exclusive male .role in the birth of a girl.
o
Dowry system has developed in the community, Earlier bride price was practiced.
Because boys have some education and are getting government jobs they are entering
mainstream society and copying anti-women social practices. It has now beconle
36
customary for educated men such as teachers and government employees to demand
huge dowries. This is causing severe stress to families with several daughters.
In all the hamlets visited, families with large number of children specially girls are
known to be resorting to fetTIale infanticide or sale. The women are reluctant to un
dergo family planning operations fearing ill health and loss of livelihood.
Very low wages for women, lack of access to education for
girls and complete denial of land rights gives women in the
community very low status. Though the women work very hard
they face severe domestic violence. Illicit brewing and con sumption of alcohol leads to constant violence in the villages.
The overall atmosphere in the village is restrictive to women.
All these factors contribute to the low status of won1en.
2. Poverty vis-a-vis sale of children: Majority of the lambadas,
are living below the poverty line, particularly in Chanadampet
MandaI. Though some posses land, lack of irrigation gives poor
returns in agriculture. Families living here were displaced un
der the Nagarjun Sagar Dam project. Many of them continue
to live in huts. Many of the villages are not electrified and
infrastructure such as roads are underdeveloped. A vast ITIa
jority of the families migrate seasonally in search of work.
Many of the families living below poverty line-have been denied ration" cards. This
has jeopardized food security for elderly women and children. When men work as
bonded labour they eat their meals with the landlord while the women and children
have to fend for themselves,
3. Prevalence of Child marriages: Child marriages are practiced widely.
Thecommittee found, that 14 year old girls already had children.
4. Prevalence of child labour: Bonded labour and wage labour of chil
dren is prevalent. Children starting from 8 years of age are employed in
hazardous occupations such as stone quarrying. Girlsalso work along
with their mothers in agriculture. They are paid Rs20 per day, which is
less than half the minimum wage.
5. Lack of Education: Most lambada children were found to be out of
-schocl. Since parents migrate for four months in a year they take their
children with them. While residential and ashram schools exist orr paper
they are non- functional. Parents are also not motivated to send their
children to school.
6. Insensitivity of Government officials: A number of Government programme such
as, ICDS Primary Health Care Centres, and MADA special area plan are operational
in the area. However none of the services
carried out properly. The indifference of
concerned officials has made the programmes defunct. Inspite of the advance notice
of the NCW committee visit, no Anganwadi worker or ANM was available in the
villages. Due to lack of transport the women were practically immobile and were not
fulfilling their job responsibilities.
are
7. Lack of access to health care: Due to remote location of thandas in general and
underdeveloped infrastructure the slogan " Health for all" is meaningless to the
Lambada community. The villagers are not able to access Government Primary Health
Centres or sub-centres. No lady doctor was available at Chandarnpet, The commu
nity relies entirely on so called quacks. No other care is available. People complained
that they have to pay bribes in government hospitals therefore they preferred private
doctors.
37
Invisible hands
8. The Adoption Process leading to sales:
Role of middle men in sales: Middlemen are playing a critical role to encourage sale
of girls in this region. Adoption agencies are paying money to parents for handing
over their children. This news reaches the vi Ilages Iike wild fire. Many village elders
have expressed their concern that paying money as "transport" charges would en
courage poor families to hand over their babies.
Relinquishment: The case history files of children maintained by the orphanages reveal
that in many of the cases there is no contact between the orphanage and the parents or
relatives of the child. Any person can bring a child to hand over to the orphanage. This
practice has encouraged kidnapping of children for financial gains.
No checks on the orphanages: There is no effective check on the organisations recog
nised by CARA for undertaking adoption-related activities. The death of 16 children
during the year 2000 alone in one orphanage highlights the problern. The health of chil
dren was not monitored and deaths were not registered. The adoption agencies are pro
viding conflicting figures of adoption and the concerned authorities have not taken any
disciplinary action.
Role ofVCA: The VCA is authorised by CARA to monitor adoption agencies and issue
international adoption clearance certificates. The VCA in Andhra Pradesh has issued
clearance certificate to dead children. It also provided misleading and conflicting fig
ures of in-country and inter-country adoptions. This is a serious offence.
Wrong composition ofVCA: CARA has assigned monitoring responsibility to YeA.
However the VCA comprises a majority of adoption agency representatives. This has
resulted in a complete malfunctioning of the system.
Lacunae in the existing laws: Currently the criminal law does not provide for punish
ment in case of sale of girls for adoption, The current penal sections 372 and 373 cover
selling and buying minors for purposes of prostitution. The police claim that they are not
able to make arrests since the clause is unsuitable in the present cases. One would agree
that it is totally unrealistic and palpably wrong to brand the infants who are merely one
day to one year old as children to be pushed into prostitution. There is clearly a need for
fresh legislation to stop this heinous practice to sell girl babies and to deprive them of
their mother's milk.
1,+1-+1 +~ 1,+1-+1 +~ 1,+1-+1 +~ 1,+1-+1 +~
~,.f}J1.f}~f"fJJ1JAf}A~lt.fJ~f};HJ,t,.fJDA\;;';A9"fI\11qJ"f,.fJD;,l;,;;.;~
38
Campaign against child marriages and
for girl child rights
39
CHAPTER II
Socio-Economic conditions of the
Lambada Community
As the process of Globalisation, privatisation and liberalisation continues unabated
from the past decade, the manifestation .of the, impact of these processes is becoming
clearer. The divide between the Global North and the Global South, the globalised con
sumer class and the impoverished masses is becoming stark. Nowhere is this phenom
enon more obvious and apparent than in the issue of trafficking of women and children,
mainly from the poorer countries into the 'developed' world. In the past few years,
in-creasing media and NGO reports have pointed out to the increased crime oftrafficking
in women and children. There has been a spurt in the 'export' of babies. In the past few
years, reports have emerged from many poor and conflict-ridden areas about how girl '
babies are being systematically trafficked. These have come from a wide expanse of
countries- China, India, Russia, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, war torn Eastern
Europe and Brazil. The story is consistently the same. "Export of babies from the poor
south to the richer north". These reports, clearly point out that trade in infants is inti
mately linked to poverty and gender discrimination. It is also linked to the development
policies adopted by the governments as well as their (lack of) commitment to uphold
women and children's rights.
The reports also clearly indicate that the children don't really make it to a better life,
though they are "exported" ostensibly for that reason. Often one or two day old girl
babies taken away from their mothers die in the adoption centres before they find new
homes. And in each case of agirl baby trafficked, the situation is systematically ex
ploited: women made into baby-producing machines, and the girl babies converted into
commodities to be commercialized, The current rate of an Indian baby is reported to be
anywhere between $10,000 to $50,000.
The Village and Lambada Community:
Lambadas also referred to as Banjaras or Sugalis (and self named as Gorjat) are a col
ourful and versatile tribal group inhabitating several districts of A.P. Banjara is the ~arg
est tribe in A.P. The sex ratio among the Lambada in the state is 945 females to 1000
males, Only 1.68 female births were reported for 2.85% male births, indicating a . likeli
hood of regular female infanticide and neglect of girl babies. Their literacy rate was
6.02%. Lambadas were basically a nomadic community till recent times. Due to chang
ing circumstances they have settled down to agriculture on marginal dry lands and have
also encroached on nearby forests. They have taken up cultivation as main occupation,
and rearing of cattle has become their secondary occupation. The people migrate sea
sonally due to lack of employment to irrigated areas in search of work.
The community has undergone rapid changes with unequal development. The Govt. of
A.P. plan for development of the state-VISION2020- premises development with rapid
change in agricultureand modernisation promotinggreen revolutiontechnologyand mecha
nisation. As a result, employment opportunities for the community have drastically re
duced. Men and women without access to regular employment have been forced to earn a
living through illegal means. Brewing of illicit alcohol, growing and trafficking Ganja is
common. Trafficking in girl babies is seen as another means to earn a living.
40
;4i J'iJk 6amilJ[ IiJU/'
i/'J'1l1l (IiJ'lJ
Socio-Economic conditions ofthe Lambaba Community
41
f;~~:1:
i
'
'poor shape'
FROM
OUR
BUJlF.AU
Ilyderabad, May 4: The State unit
of Lambada Hakkula PorataSamiti
will organise dharnas for n week
from May 7 in all the district head
quarters demanding that the State
government uplift the Lambada
community through development
works in thandas.
..::.
LHPS leaders T Ramdas Naik
and ... Danavat Badru Naik told
reporters that there had been no
development in thandas during the
past 50 years. None of the thandas
in the districts of Raugareddy,
~edak,
Mahbubnagar. and
Nalgouda had motorable .roads.
supply.
{jfinking water and power
re(\)~~,.pr~S8 reports that
La&nbadas~!¢\:.:~#lLing girl..chil
, They
drenor reSQffi:j.g:~9::female infanti
cide. "NoP8#:nt:S: will seH their
children. Some voluntary organisa
tions are deceiving Lambadas by
convincing them that better
prospects will be available for their
children abroad," they said.
The LHPS leaders warned that
they would mtensify the agitation
if the Slate government fails to take
up development works in Isambadu
thandas and launch a comprehen
sive scheme for (he socio-econom
ic uplift of the community, particu
larly Lambada women,
TIley also demanded that the gov
ernment take stern 'actjpn against
adoption agents.
:~
Deccan Chronicle, J May Z(J()J
Since the community lives in Thandas away from main villages, they are insulated and
deprived of access to roads, clean drin-king water, electricity and health care. Often chil
dren have to walk long distances to reach primary schools. When the Govt. attempts to
reach out and sets up rCDS or primary schools in remote locations they do not function
due to lack of supervision, monitoring by the state and lack of control by the community,
Because of the poverty and conditions of destitution, the community is dependent on
moneylenders who provide loans at exorbitant rate of interest. Money-lenders who are
also wholesale nl.erchants buy agriculture produce at low prices and employ Lambada
children and adults as bonded labour for a pittance.
Young men who access education and find employment either with Govt. or in the cities
ape mainstream life and start demanding dowry at the time of marriage, Traditionally the
community had a system of 'Oli' where bride price was paid at the time of tnarriage.
With increasing demands for dowry and lack of education among girls, the status of
women is further deteriorating.
Status of Girl Child and Women in the Community:
As per the survey ofthe"first Government Fact-finding Committee ofwhich Gramya was
a member, the average family size in the surveyed village was 4.62, among the 167
families,
At Teldevarappalli village in Chandampet mandaI, Nalgonda district, the team found
that in the 0-14 age group the sex ratio was 835 to 1000 boys. The committee noted the
lack of health facilities accessible to women of the community,
The villagers confessed that only female infanticide was practiced in the community. A
boy child was considered as yet another earning member or a fresh incumbent for bonded
labour. If it was a female child, there was worry of bringing up, security, marriage ex
penses, dowry, and blot on family prestige caused by elopement, The overall conditions
in thandas have created a sense of helpless insensitivity while making a decision to kill
the girl child on its birth, or to sell it a few days later. Women are forced to give away
their babies while their husbands take the cash.
The Gender Division of labour:
Lambada women work hard, and take up activities, which in main stream society are
considered to be men's work. They plough the land, water the fields, spray pesticide in
cotton farms in addition to women's work ofweeding, planting and harvesting. Offcourse
they continue to shoulder the burden of housework. The extreme hard labour that she
contributes to family welfare is not recognized.
Socially, women are considered to be inferior to men and
are at the mercy of husbands and male leadership in the
villages. Resistance to injustice or 'talking back' to hus
bands is met by violence. Women, who want to keep their
daughters alive, are told that there is no place in the marital
home for them along with the newborn. As a result, women
are forced to comply and acquiesce to the killings and sale
of girls. In effect the result of the unequal gender relations
is that.
42
• Girl children are unwanted and dispensable- for paltry amounts of money.
• Girl children's rights are violated in every possible way- their right to survive
and develop is not considered important.
• Women continue to be treated as baby-making machines- their reproductive rights
are not respected or upheld. Worse, a poor women's womb becomes a source of
livelihood.
• Feminization of poverty is reflected in limited choices available to women in an
impoverished situation- forcing them into being drawn into the rings of traffick
ing.
In this distressing macro-situation are located particular communities whose en
demic poverty and gender values make them all the more vulnerable. Lambada's of
Andhra Pradesh in India are an epitome of all of this.
Vali's testimony highlights the anguish of Lambada women:
Vali's Story:
My name is Sapavath Vali. My husband's name is Sapavath Manya. I was born in
Chitlamkunta in Mahbubnagar District of Andhra Pradesh in India. I was married to
Manya at the age of 13. I caIne to Nakkalgandi in Nalgonda district, which is across the
river from my village. I got my first period six months after my wedding. I became
pregnant the following year and had a daughter. One after the other I had four daughters
in a row. After that I had one son. My son drank my breast milk for seven days. On the
8th he became listless and stopped sucking my breast. I was afraid of black magic and
took him to the "masvan" who breathed some spells. But the child did not survive. After
that I had another daughter. I tried to have a son and became pregnant again but had a
miscarriage in the seventh month and lost another son. I tried to take care of myselfwhen
I was pregnant, but I was unfortunate. My husband and daughters had migrated for sea
sonal work. I stayed back at home to take care of the goats. Everyday I took them out
grazing. I don't know why I had the miscarriage. After this for 4 years I did not conceive.
I thought I had become too old to conceive so did not have a family planning operation
(tubectomy). But then again I became pregnant. I wanted to have an abortion, but my
family insisted that I should continue the pregnancy so that I could have a son. But a
daughter was born. My husband was very upset. The whole village started faulting me
saying that it was another girl. I decided that I was not fortunate to have a son and this
would be my last child. I called her Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth). My daughters are
called Vidya, Saroja, Sona, Vari, Valli and Lakshmi.
Lakshmi was fine for three days. But there was pressure on me to dispose of the baby. I
started getting to know that people were coming around to buy babies in our thanda. My
husband went away to visit my eldest daughter in Sherpally because he was unhappy and
did not want to be around me.
In the afternoon, Kavitha came and gave rne Rs. 200/- to help me buy food and asked me
to take care of my daughter. I did not want to take the money but kept it with me. After
six days my eldest daughter came to see me. My husband had been drinking a lot at her
home and had met a "broker" there. The broker (I don't know her name) came back with
my husband and saw my daughter. She was a middle-aged woman from our community,
She said she had 5 sons and would like to take my daughter and look after her.
The broker promised to buy my eldest daughter new sarees and to educate the baby. I
refused to give the child and said I could look after Lakshmi as I had looked after my five
older girls. I shouted at my husband and daughter because I was angry. The broker was
from Mallepalli, she had information about my baby from family members.
43
Never ending work
When I shouted at her and my husband they both went away. I thought the broker had
left the village, but she seems to have gone into the village. I was exhausted and fell
asleep with the child. When I woke up I found the child was missing, The broker had
got into the bus and left. When the bus conductor asked her who she was and why the
baby was crying, she apparently told him that the baby was her granddaughter.
The following day Kavitha madam came to the house and asked me where the baby was.
I could not answer. I told her the truth. My husband may have taken money. The police
came after six days to make enquiries. Other government officials came and carried out
an enquiry. The District Collector also came to our area. I spoke out and shared my
troubles. The Collector advised me to have a family planning operation.
I started running high fever because my breasts were clogged. The local ANM visited
me and advised me to have an operation. After two months I had a laproscopic surgery
to prevent child- birth. After the operation I was given Rs.l 000/-. I had to spend Rs.600
on medicines. The doctor wrote out prescriptions and I had to buy the medicines from
the local shop.
I think about my daughter and wonder where she is. I cry when J am sad, but I know I
can't see her ever again. When I see girls going to school now, I feel I could have sent
her to school too. Whenever I go to Hyderabad I think about her and wonder where she
is. I wish I could meet her or at least see her.
My family is very poor. My in laws also worked as labourers and migrated to Guntur
seasonally. My father in Law had two wives. The first one died because of black magic
and left behind two daughters. To look after them my father in law married again. The
story goes that my mother in law was pregnant when she died. In our community we
believe that if a pregnant woman is cremated the village is cursed and there will be no
rains. My father in law cut open the dead body and buried the fetus separately.
When I first started working I used to earn Rs.5/- a day as wages. In our village today we
earn Rs.20/- a day. When we work in the landlord's house they allow us to live in the
"Kottam", The buffalo is tied to a side and we live on the other side. On my first trip to
Guntur after working for six months, my husband and I were able to save Rs.600/-. I
used to take my baby daughter to the fields and made a cradle for her under a tree. The
landlord's wife used to look after my daughter well. My husband worked as a bonded
labour for 5 years. He had taken a loan of Rs.2000/-. I also did "vetti" worked for 2
months after my wedding. Later I had to earn daily wages and also feed my husband.
The landlord to whom he was bonded gave him little food.
I took my children and worked in Miryalaguda. We brought back food grains in
one season and cash in another season. My eldest daughter was married when she
was 14. We spent Rs.15,000/- for her wedding. I had to take a loan ofRs.9000/- at
36% interest per year. It took me 3 years to repay the loan.
Val;
My husband was ill. Though we tried many medicines he did not get well. Finally
we got to know that he had TB. I borrowed Rs.l 000/- from my father and brought
my husband to Hyderabad for treatment. At the government hospital we could not
get in because it was late. My husband was suffering a lot and my brother decided
to take him to a private hospital. We had to take another loan. It cost Rs.6000/- for
treatment. My brother helped me. I only repaid Rs. 5000/-. The doctor advised that
my husband should not drink, but he continues to do so.
44
Now I am still in debt. The debt has grown to Rs. 20,0001-. I had to take a loan of Rs.
10,0001- to marry off my second daughter. The wedding cost me Rs. 30,0001-. This year
I fell sick and could not migrate to work. I am worried about how I will repay my loans
My husband hardly works these days. I had to pay Rs. 5000/- to my daughter, because
she had a difficult delivery (operation).
I have no land and did not have a plot for a home either. After many years of struggle I
was able to buy a small plot and build a home but the debt has to be repaid.
~ ~
Hanmi's Story:
Hanmi is from Osmankunta and has struggled through
out her life of 27years. Her mother died soon after her
birth and the stepmother mistreated Hanmi. Her tender
childhood was spent in performing household chores for
her stepmother's satisfaction and facing her extreme ire
whenever things were not to her expectations. She was
once thrown into the fire of an open stove and her burnt
arm is a witness to this.
When she was just 11 or 12 years old she was married
off to Pandu in Rekya thanda and hell began all over
again. Pandu claimed that he was forced to this mar
riage and communicated his displeasure to Hanmi in no
uncertain terms, He would abuse her in many ways by
beating her regularly and there were times when he tried
to kill her in anger or in drunken state.
Hanmi
He also started living with another woman. By this time Hanmi gave birth to her daugh
ter Swathi, and they had nowhere to go. Her second stepmother as well as her father
convinced her that her place is with her husband and not in her natal 'family. In a mar
riage that lasted for nearly 10 years, Hanmi left, and went back to her husband at least
five times since she had no other place to go and start her life again. She often thought
about suicide. Things only became worse as days passed. When he nearly killed her in a
great rage two years ago, Hanmi decided that enough was enough, and along with her
daughter moved back to Osmankunta for good. She began living with an aunt's family.
Gramya invited Hanmi to start working .in the residential bridge course being run for the
working girls in the area. Now, Hanmi is a much happier women and does not feel
suicidal anymore. She wants to live to fight for her daughter's share ofPandu's property.
as told by Hanmi.
She says that her scars have begun to heal now
45
Tara's mother:
Tara is the sixth daughter born to her parents on April 6th • 1999. Like many families in
their village, her parents also live in a hut. They still do not have a government sanction
for a concrete house. They do not have enough food and the father always has to migrate
for seasonal job. At the time of her birth also, her father had-migrated for work.
When Tara was born, her mother was very afraid of her husband returning and discover
ing that she had again added another girl to the family. He might scold/beat her or he
might stop speaking to her for delivering another baby girl. The worst part was that she
had seen men in the village having affairs with other women and neglecting their wives,
she was afraid that her husband would do the same. This was making her very tense and
distressed. At the same time the neighbours were suggesting that she kill the girl either
by stopping breast-feeding or dumping her in a waste yard, or face the wrath of her
husband.
/
This village gossip was conveyed by on~ of the Sangha women to Gramya staff. The
staff immediately visited the mother and motivated her. for the child's survival. The
mother was provided with Rs.500/- to fulfill her immediate needs. A community meet
ing was called and the members agreed to take responsibility to convince the father to let
the child live.
When Gramya met them in November, 1999 Tara was a cute girl happily crawling on
the floor and sucking her mother's milk.
Malli's story:
In 1998, Malli gave birth to her fourth daughter. By sending her son into bondage, she
was able to get her first daughter married. But Mal1i's daughter's marriage was not suc
cessful as she could not fulfill dowry demands. She was physically abused and could not
tolerate it longer and returned to her parental home with her baby daughter within a year.
After two years Malli took another loan ofRs.5000/- and got her married for the second
time. The story was repeated.
46
When Malli's fourth girl was born, within a week an old lambada woman trafficker
visited Malli and asked her to sell the baby for Rs.2000/-. The father was happy to give
away the baby for monetary gain, but Malli was very sad. Though Malli did not wish to
give her daughter a~ay, she had to do so under pressure. On receipt ofthe baby, the agent
said to the baby" Now I have bought you, I can do anything I like, and your parents have
no more rights on you." Malli was weeping for having given away her baby girl.jmd
when she heard the broker's statement, she could not bear it any longer and snatched her
daughter and ran away into the jungles.
The broker demanded her husband to return double the amount, which her husband was
not able to do, as Malli still had the money with her. The broker got the village elders to
intervene, who agreed with the broker. During this time, one of the Gramya staff was
visiting the village and reached Malli's house. After heated arguments, Gramya staff
insisted to settle the case only in the police station. This scared both the traffickers and
the village elders who agreed to the return of original amount of Rs.2000/-. On hearing
of Gramya's presence in her house, Malli came back and paid the broker Rs.2000. Ac
cording to their custom, Malli served Rs. 400/- worth of liquor to the village elders to
settle the case to keep her baby with her.
.Why did this happen ?
Malli's son along with her husband was pushing her to sell the baby because it was a girl.
His question was" I worked as a bonded labourer for 2 years to marry offone sister, with
four sisters how many years will I have to work in bondage?"
47
CHAPTER III
Gramya's interventions and estabUsbing
the modus operandi of the traffickers:
The problem of female infanticide was brought to the notice of Gramya by an anony
nlOUS telephone call and as a result Gramya decided to intervene in the area. Our demand
to the Government.of A.P. to set up a fact finding committee and its report highlighted
the dismal living conditions of Lambada community and p.articularly of women. Gramya
is of the view that the living conditions of the community can be improved only when
the community is organised and women are able to articulate their demands. To enable
this Gramya decided to take up a two pronged approach to strengthen the community
and eradicate the practice of infanticide and trafficking of girls. After the first fact find
ing committee report Gramya started its interventions in the area. One, it started organ
ising women in the community and took up area development activities. It campaigned
for Government intervention to address the problems of lack of infrastructure, access to
education and health and focused attention on the need for investment in the area to
improve dry land agriculture through watershed development. Secondly, it started inves
tigating cases of reported female infanticides and mysterious disappearance of girl ba
bies. We sought the help of local and state' media to make public reported sales of girl
babies.
Development interventions in Chandampet Mandai:
1. Education:
Bridge school
Our visits to the area showed that children in 12 thandas did not have
access to primary school. The government ofA.P. supported Gramya
to set up schools in the area. The government provided partial finan
cial support while Gramya raised additional funds. 12 single teacher
schools were 'set up. The 12 thandas were surveyed and out of school
children identified. We were able to enroll 400 children in schools.
We started a training centre for girls in the age group of 12-14 who
could learn sewing along with literacy. After two years these schools
were handed over to the DPEP. Gramya continued support to these
schools by not only providing teacher training but supported the teach
ers to act as change agents in the village. Teachers took on the re
sponsibility of carrying out annual surveys of out of school children
and bringing them to school. They identified children to be enrolled
in government social welfare hostels. Once the children were en
rolled they ensured that there were no dropouts. The teachers' were
trained to support the women self-help groups. With the teachers help
Gramya was able to organise' regular meetings in the villages to dis
cuss social issues and the needs of the community. It was found that
when access was provided to school the community enrolled boys. A
large number of girls continued to remain out of school. Gramya
raised resources from friends and international donors to set
48
up a residential bridge-school in Deverakonda and enrolled girls. From 2001 girls study
at the bridge-school and are subsequently enrolled in government hostels. To date 452
girls have enrolled at the bridge-school and joined mainstream education. Over the. last
six years the importance of education for all children has been established.
2. Organising Women:
Gramya held a series of discussions with women in the 12 thandas to understand the
problems they faced and discussed possible strategies to bring about changes in the
conditions of women. Women came forward to share their distress stories and informed
us that they were coerced by their husbands to kill girl babies or to give them away.
Many women gave testimonies of the severe violence they faced at home. During the
discussions it became clear that individual women would not be able to solve their prob
lems. To change the status of women in the community women would need to support
each other and create a platform where male elders would listen to them and begin to
respect their views. Since most ofthe women lived in abject poverty they also wanted to
access government development programmes and find new livelihood opportunities. To
ensure this Gramya supported the women to set up self help groups. As a result, 750
women are now organised. The women were provided training and financial resources
to take up income generation activities. Once the groups were organised they took up
thrift and credit activities and set up a revolving fund for income generation. The funds
were mostly used to invest in agriculture. At present the groups have a revolving fund of
Rs14lacs and have managed to access bank loans. This has helped families to reduce the
exploitation of moneylenders.
3. Health Interventions:
Gramya staff started monitoring births to ensure mother and childcare.
To prevent infanticide, Gramya staff in the 12 thandas of the project
area registered all births. Gramya invited women herbal health healers
from the Deccan Development Society to share their knowledge. They
trained a group of local women to identify traditional herbal medicines
available in the area and to use it. This would reduce the cost of health
care by avoiding dependence on quacks. Gramya arranged training of
Dais by the local PHC to ensure safe deliveries. Each Dai was provided
a safe delivery kit. In addition, immunization of infants was encouraged
by accessing the services of the local ANM. Health camps were organ
ised for women and free distribution of medicines arranged. This con
certed effort led to a change in the self- perception of women. They
realised the need for self-care, care of each other and care for girl ba
bies. When some families were too poor to provide post-natal care to
women, Gramya provided rations for the mother to recover after the
child birth.
49
4. Agriculture:
Dryland agriculture in the region coupled with promotion
of cash-crops such as cotton has led farmers into serious
debt. To promote women-centred agriculture with the fo
cus on food security, Gramya has undertaking soil and
moisture conservation. It has supported women's groups
to undertake bunding on 100 acres of land, destoning of
120 acres and has deepened 30 wells to ensure support ir
rigation. Seed was provided. Gramya is promoting organic
agriculture and providing farmers training in vermi
composting and other organic methods. Seosonal crop loans
are provided to help farmers to keep away from money
lenders and enable them to sell their produce at a fair price.
Learning Vermi-composting
5. Initiatives to stop trafficking:
As a result of organising and working closely with the women Gramya started receiving
information about the illegal activities carried out in the area. Brewing illicit alcohol
was a major problem. This issue was discussed publicly and men in the community
engaged in the discussions. While some men were furious at what they saw as interfer
ence in their livelihoods, others started supporting the women's groups. Regular moni
toring of new born infants by Gramya led to unearthing the sale of a girl baby by Vali in
Nakkalagandi Thanda in 1999. This was reported to the local police who refused to
register a FIR in Devarkonda. The field level campaign work against infanticide and
child trafficking went on.
Gramya took the lead in researching, organising fact finding committees and engaging
in a large-scale media campaign. Various newspapers reports in Devarakonda, as also
the police in Chandampet Mandai independently confirmed the stories of ongoing sales.
This was followed by further fact finding reports from other districts- Mehabubnagar,
Rangareddy and Medak districts which highlighted the enormity of the problem.
Gramya was able to recover approximately 200 children illegally bought and maintained
in two adoption centres in Hyderabad city. The Government took custody ofthe children.
MODUS OPERANDI OF ADOPTION AGENCIES
WHO TRAFFIC GIRL BABIES:
The United Nations General Assembly, 1984 has defined trafficking. "Trafficking is the
illicit and clandestine movements of persons across national borders, largely from de
veloping countries and some countries with economies in transition, with the end-goal
of forcing women- and girls into sexually or economically oppressive and exploitative
situations for the profit of recruiters, traffickers and crime syndicates and other activi
ties. (e.g. forced domestic labour, false marriages, clandestine employment and false
adoption)"
WHO ARE TRAFFICKED FOR WHAT?
"
Two-three days old lambada babies, were bought by adoption agencies from poor vul
nerable families in remote drought prone areas of A.P. Agencies also bought kidnapped
children. When kidnappers brought childrenand offered them to the adoption agencies,
the agencies did not check the antecedents of the baby or establish the identities of the
children and so called parents. The identities of babies and children are erased when
they are abandoned on the street. When the police takeover such children or send them
50
to juvenile homes they are placed in adoption agencies. The agencies then own the chil
dren legally and process them for adoptions. A constant supply of children is maintained
to families in U.S.A., Spain, Italy, Canada, Ireland,Austria, and the Netherlands, from
Andhra Pradesh at a price paid by the foreign adoptive parents. A fee is paid to the
companies who assist adoption in their countries. In some cases, money is transferred to
commercial accounts and later transferred from them as donations to Indian adoption
agencies. In this big business a voice less infant becomes a commodity in the hands of
traffickers.
Analysis ofthe process ofadoption in Andhra Pradesh.
Adoption agencies appoint agents for Rs50 to Rs 100 who scout around the poverty stricken
areas ofthe State and lure poor mothers to sell their baby daughters. They merge into the
community or often are a part of it. They influence men to think about their daughters as
a burden and then offer theln a way out by buying the babies. Normally the victims are
landless, who depend on daily wages, and have a large family comprising several daugh
ters. The agents buy babies for as little as Rs.500 to Rs.1500. These agents identify
pregnant women who have several daughters and enter into an agreement to buy a girl
child by paying a small amount as advance. They also motivate mothers to give away
their babies with the promise that the child will be looked after well and will receive
"English medium" education. In the lambada community mothers have few options.
They feel it is better to allow a girl child to survive in a distant place rather than to kill
her. The sudden increase in the number of girl babies available for adoption clearly
indicates the business arrangements being made. The agencies after buying the babies
propagate the view that the children were abandoned or found in dustbins, They how
ever do not have the records to prove that the majority of children were found aban
doned.
Earlier, poverty
led Lambada
women to kill
their unwanted
baby girls, Now
with the
opening up of
an adoption
market they
have resorted
to selling their
daughters to
ward off
poverty
Agents eye pregnant Lambada women
Youth ill Thandas act as touts; give information to adoption centres
Deccan Chronical, 24th April, 2001
A baby changes several hands moving from one agent to another. Sometimes as many as
ten agents handle a baby before it is handed over to an adoption agency. This transit
operation is well planned and executed in a two day time frame to escape police detec
tion. Even when detected the police are not able to prosecute because of jurisdiction
problems. The brokers appear to know how to hoodwink the police (local police often
state their inability to prosecute brokers even when they catch them red- handed with
. babies). This transit operation also makes it impossible for the biological parents to trace
their child if they want to take them back in the stipulated period of60days set by adop
tion rules.
Shifting ofchild from one city to another within the country before adoption:
The adoption agencies are affiliated to juvenile homes and acquire an increasing number
of children for adoption. Children from one juvenile home are shifted to another within
the country. Sometimes they are shifted to a far away place (e.g. Peter Subbiah, who ran
an adoption home, shifted children from Jaipur to Hyderabad). Because of this children
suffer in an alien atmosphere, among alien people and alien language. This is all done
with a hidden intention of erasing a child's identity. The process of affiliation to a j uve
nile home can be misused by the adoption agencies. They can bring a child from any
place and leave her/him near a juvenile home or a police station. Vagrant children are
picked up by the police and sent to juvenile homes. Since the adoption agencies now
have legal access to juvenile homes they are able to use all the children for adoption.
51
One father
sold his
daughter and
bought three
goats to
generate
income
To prevent misuse of the existing system, every effort should be made by the adoption
agencies to identify the origins of a missing or abandoned child. The police andjuvenile
homes should take responsibility to publicise the details of a missing child using the
printed and electronic media.
Shifting of babies from one adoption agency to another .or from one place to another
should be banned. Since there is no restriction on shifting, some adoption agencies, who
do not have licenses to promote adoption are selling children using another licensed
agency as exposed in Andhra Pradesh. The current practice makes a mockery of the
present norms that adoption should be carried out under the supervision of CARA &
YCA.
Adoption agencies should be audited and their annual statement of income and expendi
ture published. Foreign adoption agencies and parents are reported to be paying large
sums of money to the relatives and friends of management committee members of adop
tion agencies and contributing to commercial business run by them abroad. These peo
ple and institutions are getting tax concessions for earning foreign exchange. Subse
quently while transferring the same amount to the adoption agency as donation under 80
G (tax exemption), once again monetorily an illegal transaction is effected.
Andhra Jyothi, 20th March, 1999
Nalgonda District
¥ot:,
~ 19(~~~):
et'lr~ elJaecJ ~ro C;I~MJ
·ti1)u~· ..~. :3o-z,lS)
~i:JI
lIfJ"'.
;$JtlS~
i1i uoxe6'1 'ar-lS :J~~i
o;$Jto'b6 ~a
~ floJrt:tJ' eI~
..~~ ~~. ~ do.:5>$I.):J
.:sx.u lies,
52
u!lf) iJ:f.J ~!/o.:s.x,*SJ
~!/Q;U~
~(h. ua~:5J
J-~ iJI)
-01
,.,
,., &.~~o':
s~§vo~
•
~~r~.
:>oiJI~~;SlSo ~
Il
~oa
:xJf:'If)~
3~~lJ't.»lI~:J'
l
Campaign to promote Indian Adoption:
As a result of the pressure from National and International agencies the State Govern
ment caved in and started the process of international adoptions for recovered children
in the family courts. The case of baby Anusha is a clear example of the violation of
existing norms. The State Government had banned relinquishment of children in April
2001. The Tender Loving Care Home prepared handing over this child to international
parents though her relinquishment document was dated 07.07.2001 clearly making the
procurement ofthe child illegal. The child was not abandoned and did not come in to the
home via Police intervention. The child had been promised to American parents also
violating the age limit for eligibility (combined age eligibility 90 years, current age of
couple 95 years). The same agency is known to apply very strict rules to Indian parents
who come forward to adopt. CARA was also found to have given NOC' in this case. The
discrimination between local and foreign parents can only be attributed to the monitary
gains from foreign parents.
Since most of the adoption agencies in Hyderabad were found to be carrying out illegal
activities they could not process further children for international adoptions. The Gov
ernment instead used Guild of Services to process children. To contest this Gramya and
another NGO Divya Disha along with a number of child rights activists decided to inter
vene in the court cases. The National Commission for Women promised to join the
campaign to stop the illegal processes.
We demanded that the children be provided Indian parents. At the time there was a list of
1500 Indian parents waiting to adopt children. 300 home studies had already been car
ried out while the Shishu Vihar (Government Home) housed 126 children. Another ex
ample of the discrimination shown to Indian parents can be seen in the case of Haseena.
Haseena was promised to American parents inspite of the fact that there was a long
waiting list of Indian parents. Since the CARA guidelines clearly stipulate international
'adoption only when Indian parents are not available the above arrangement violated
norms. The American parents took up the case at the family courts. When they lost the
case they went up to the high court. They lost the case once again and went up to the
Supreme Court which referred them back to the High Court. The High Court ruled that
a group of 19 children should be given to Indian parents. Haseena was one of them.
Inspite of this, Government officials were unwilling to proceed on the premise that the
Indian parents had a grudge against TLCH and does not have any love for Haseena.
With Gramya's intervention the Court has now ruled that it will personally hand over the
child to Indian parents after ensuring their suitability.
50 parents turn up. for Haseena
FROM PAGE
1
Hemalatha Devi had sent let
ters to all the parents in the
waitinglist who are willing to
adopt Haseena to appear
before Justice B S A Swamy
and Justice G Yethirajulu, fol
lowing an earlier order.
GraceWilliam, who came to
court just a week after her
operation,_ said; ."We thought
officials and lawyers who
gathered at 15th court, Justice
B S A Swamy said he would
not be hearing the case.
Justice Swamy asked, "Where
is the American lady (Sharon
Van Epps, who has applied to
adopt Haseena)." When there
was no answer, he said, "See
how powerfulshe is."
Before announcing that the
Chief Justice had shifted the
Pasha. SeCIetary to Chief
JusaKz, wt.o pided' the pareaI5 to abe Rqi$trar (Judicial).
I8cbarF registrar S
SutHtalMsbmi assuredall the
parents that the file would be
brought to the noticeof Chief
Justice- and action would be
taken according to his instruclions.
Around 2 pm, Chief Justic:c
Devender Gupta asked a111be
the contempt case against the
Director
(WD&CW).
Balagopal was absent during
these proceedings and frantic
efforts by the associates of
Jamuna
and
the
Subrahmanyam couple [0
bring him to the court room
did not succeed as he was
8IIuing a batchof writ appeals
ill criminal proceedings in
aaoda court.
Deccan Chronicle 2nd Aug, 2003
53
Recommendations
On the socio-economic front, several efforts have to be ini
tiated so that poverty and socio-cultural beliefs do not in
duce parents to give up their children, especially girl ba
bies. The government needs to invest in:
• Tribal area development. Especially areas inhabited by
Lambadas.
• Poverty eradication. Due to natural resources degradation,
livelihoods of communities are eroded. To ensure liveli
hoods and incomes the government needs to take up pro
grammes which will improve the productivity of agricul
ture land and forest areas. Employment generation pro
grammes must be specially planned for the Lambada com
munity and dalit communities. The members of the com
munity find themselves migrating season after season in
search of livelihoods. Adequate budgets have to be set aside
on a priority basis to create local employment.
• Gender bias. The uneven development in the lambada community has led to de
mands for dowry overturning the traditional practice of bride price. Child marriages,
lack of education and development all contribute to gender bias. To overcome this
economic self reliance for women is essential. In addition awareness raising pro
grammes about the law and community action to develop women's leadership is
essential. Education for the girl child which is now compulsory in the country must
be implemented.
• Child development schemes. Nutrition and healthcare provisions available through
government schemes must be supervised by local governance bodies. This will en
sure that planned programmes are implemented according to norms and needy chil
dren ensured access.
• Women reproductive and general healthcare is totally "lacking at present in the re
mote locations where lambada communities live. Inspite of the stress on population
control we find that women do not receive any attention to their health. To change
this, self-help and community healthcare programmes must be implemented. Ap
propriate financial provisions need to be made by the State.
• It is strongly reco~mended that the Government of India and Andhra Pradesh imple
ment Special Area Development Programmes in places where Lambada communi
ties are settled. Long-term measures should include provision of development infra
structure like roads, electricity, safe drinking water etc.
• There is a need for Special Education programmes for the girl children ofthe Lambada
community. Residential school facilities for girls must be increased. Focused and
committed 'Back to School' programmes for the older girl children may be imple
mented. There is a need to include Lambada language and culture into the curriculum
so that a sense of respectful identity can be built around Lambada women and the
community.
54
• Improvement of registration of births and deaths is es
sential to prevent female infanticide or sales. The local
panchayats must be mandated to collect ful1 informa
tion.
• Girl child protection scheme has to be re-designed in a
fashion that it actually protects the girl child and is not
only used as a population control measure.
• Special efforts must be made to recognise the self- help
groups of Lambada women. There is a need to expand
the programme to reach the poorest.
• Lambada women need reproductive healthcare services
to be provided and improved urgently. Without this,
women have very few options and end up being con
verted into baby-making machines. Control over their
own bodies is lost, and in many. ways, their livelihoods
and affection for their children is also lost.
Legal Changes Required:
• At present CARA provides the guidelines for the adoption process to be followed.
These are only guidelines. We need to enact a legislation, which will make adoptions
possible for all the citizens in the country. At present since only Hindus are allowed
to adopt, the law is discriminatory to communities belonging to other religions. Child
rights are endangered when a family takes custody of a child under the Guardian And
Wards Act (GAWA). The adoption law should give equal opportunity to all citizens
of India irrespective of class, caste and religion.
• The procedure. of relinquishing babies by parents must be banned, throughout the
country as has been done in Andhra Pradesh. This will prevent coercion of poor
mothers by their family as well as by procurers.
• Any agency violating the law must be immediately blacklisted. Such agencies should
not be allowed to renew their licenses. Individuals who are involved in trafficking
should not be allowed to get licenses to run adoption homes by any means.
• The government must provide special attention and institutional care to children with
disabilities. It must also encourage Indian parents to adopt children with disabilities
by undertaking awareness programmes.
• Place a moratorium on international adoptions for a period of five years. This will
immediately stop the current practice oftrafficking children. In the meantime CARA
must undertake to find out the well being ofthe children who were given in adoption
since its inception. This information must be placed before parliament and made
available to the public.
55
CHAPTER IV
The 8truetare 01 CABA 8 the loop bote.
iD the law wbleb aDew tralBeldal
·
.
-.
;;..
I
t
t
~
Adoption is guided in the country by rules and regulations framed by the Ministry
of Social Justice. From time to time the Supreme Court has given directions on the
adoption process and procedures to be followed. Citizens in India have to follow
their Personal Laws to be able to adopt. As per the Personal Laws only Hindus are
allowed to adopt. There are restrictions on adoptions if the couple already have a
child. Muslims and Christians as per current Personal Laws are not eligible to adopt.
At the very root of the problem lie the CARA guidelines, which privilege inter
country adoptions. The guidelines do not lay the framework to enable in-country
adoption by Indian parents in a fair and open manner. The guidelines do not make
a reference to the rights and duties of natural parents and the Consitutional rights of
natural parents to retain and rear their infants. CARA does not refer to the rights of
children to be breastfed and live with their natural mother. The CARA guidelines
do not refer to socio- cultural rights of children to grow up in their own culture.
Without this framework CARA promotes inter-country adoptions and privileges it
over national adoptions. This has led to the pitfall of supplying babies on Interna
tional demand and masking trafficking has adoption.
CARA is mandated to carry out following functions. A review of their functioning high
lights the following problems.
56
Structure of CARA:
In the 12 member CARA structure, only four are government officials, while the rest are
from the adoption agencies and belong to Voluntary Coordinating Agencies (YCA).
These members have tenure of two years on rotation basis. They can be re-nominated
after a gap period of two years. The structure itself is built on false principles. The
agencies, who are in the adoption business & the beneficiaries of CARA, are also con
trolling CARA and there is no one to question the decisions they take. The adoption
agency members are given authority to check the credentials and working of adoption
agencies. This self monitoring is clearly inadequate.
It is essential to have an independent structure to scrutinize the functioning of the adop
tion agencies. ICSW & ICCW are recognised as independent agencies by CARA but
they hold the status of scrutinising agencies. The representatives and Board-Members of
these sister agencies are also involved in adoption through adoption agencies, flaunting
all norms of the structural guidelines.
CARA is the nodal agency for both in and inter-country adoption, yet most of its guide
lines concentrate on inter-country adoption neglecting in-country adoption.
Relinquishment Document :
When the campaign against trafficking started and procedures at adoption agencies in
vestigated it was found that people brought babies to the adoption centres and handed
them over. A document relinquishing the child was prepared. This document signed by
the so-called parent's hands over the child to the care of the adoption agency. This sur
render document is crucial, which actually transfers the right of the biological parents to
the adoption agency or adoptive parents. It consists of biological parent's name and
address. The Supreme Court has pronounced that there should not be any compulsion or
payment of compensation of any kind on the part of adoption agency when they receive
a child. The relinquishment document should be executed on a stamped paper in the
presence of two responsible witnesses whom the adoption agency should be able to
produce if necessity arises. In the case of surrender of a child, the biological parents/
parent should be counseled and duly informed by the agency concerned of the effect of
their consent for adoption and the alternative available for the care and maintenance of
the child.
This crucial process has become a ground for trafficking. While a relinquishment docu
ment is expected to be executed on stamped paper in the presence of two witnesses, who
the recognised agency is expected to produce on demand, it was found that the so called
witnesses were employees of the agency. They were not members from the community
to which the children belonged. Though biological parents have a residence they were
not asked to produce a residence and birth certificate to authenticate their statements.
For all other formalities in government, such as enrollment in school, marriage, employ
ment, eligibility to subsidies, accessing reservations in education and jobs etc., the pro
cedure stipulates a birth certificate, as well as a nativity certificate. Since this is not
stipulated to support a relinquishment document, there is every possibility that even a
kidnapped child can be handed over to adoption agencies.
57
Regular news paper accounts and police investigations have proved that indeed this is
the case. This process endangers the right of all children in society to a safe environ
ment. The current process lacks legal sanctity and can lead to all kinds of misuse.
The parents/parent are expected to be informed by the agency of his/her/their right to
reclaim the child within 60days from the date of surrender. He/she/them should be made
aware that after the period of 60days, the relinquishment deed will become .irrevocablc
and the agency will be free to place the child in adoption or guardianship within or
outside India. This is not the case at present. The adoption agencies should be mandated
to inform the parents in writing.
Maintenance ofsecrecy from biological parents: (Su
preme Court judgement- Writ petition (CRL) No. 1171/
1982). Justice Bhagwati in the above case had ruled
The Tlme\,.o.Undia.HeoNs-service send their demand and home adoption agencies and the foreign
parents. On getting a favourable
HYDERABAD: The process of study report of the parents inter
adoption (before framing of the ested in adopting children. Anned reply.the familycourt releases the
that
when an application for guardianship of a child is
new rules) began with a mother/fa with the home study report and children for adoption. after which
ther relinquishing the children to the Noe issued by the VCA, the a 'passport and \isa documents for
babyare
obtained.
'
made
to it the notification need not be made to biologi
local
adoption
agency
approaches
the adoption agency.Arter the ad
And this entire process, if one
vent of the new rules. relinquish
has the rightconnectionsat all lev
ment by the biological parents
cal parents of the child. This clause is meant to protect
cis, will rake about four to six
without
consent of the Women
months.What now assumessignifi
and Child WelCare Department
cance in the entire process is that .
the
adopted child, biological parents and adoptive par
has been prohibited.
CARA is the licensing'authority
After obtaining an unwanted
for adoption agencieS.VCA. and
baby rr~m the parents forsaking
ents
from social stigma and emotional trauma. It was
scrutinisingagencies,
'The Iollowing is '!!~. J~t 9$
~~~~~~'~nf,~:~.~v~~u~~~~t;~:
CA RA approved ,agencies in- :
also expected to prevent extortion by biological parents
volved in adoption in the'S!3te- .
~~~nn;(\,~p~~~~~;I~~a~
Guild of Services, Vijayanagar
agency Cor al~k:"8doption agen
of the adoptive parents. But this protection is fictitious
Colony;
Tender
Loving
Care
cies certified W~he Child Adop
Home, Erragadda; Indian Council
tion ~~ Resource AgenCj'
for Social Welfare, Red Hills; Ind !
in case of foreign adoptions. By physical appearance,
{CA
. a state. TheVCA will
Mission to the Nations,Kakinada.
then
ch for people interested
The VCA Basheerbagh is the .
in adopting children
the
in any foreign country both child and the society easily
overall agency.
'
country. If no requisition for adop
Following the adoption racket,
lion within the country is received
even after 60 days, the VeA wilt is the family court to release the the licence' of John Abraham
recognize
the origin of the child as adopted. In such
Memorial Bethanv Home in Tan
sue a 'no-objection certificate' to child Corforeign adoption.
The family court sends the de dur has been canCelled.while the
the adoption agency for adoption
cases,
the
secrecy
clause is irrelevant. On the other hand,
high
court has stayed the cancella-
tails to a scrutinising agency,which
outside the country.
TIle' adoption 'agency contacts also has a CARA permit. for veri tion of licenceto the Actionfor So
fordgn adoption agencies. which fication of the claims of iudividual cial Development.Gandhi ~a~ar;,..r
it denies the adopted child the right to know her/his bio
logical parents and also prevents biological parents from
The 1imeso[lndia, 25th April 2001
reclaiming the. child if they have changed their mind.
• This secrecy clause only protects the adoption agency and denies the child, the op
portunity to go back to his/her biological parents in case of any problem with adop
tive parents.
.New rules for adoption
th~
t~e
e
!
I
$C .•
'N!~hin'
L----:.,.;;...,~:........:.:...---...;.".~=~
• Adoption agencies are not following the priorities as mentioned in the guidelines
while choosing the adoptive families. The placement agencies are required to adhere
to the following order of priority (descending order) while considering the adoption
of Indian children.
• National parents in India.
• Indian parents living abroad.
• One parent of Indian origin living abroad.
• Totally foreign parents.
Adoption agencies appear to prefer foreign parents.
Issues related to choice of foreign adoptive family.
As per the Supreme Court guidelines, every application from a foreigner desiring to
adopt an Indian child, must be sponsored by a social or child welfare agency. These
should be recognised or licensed by the Government of the country in which the for
eigner is resident and enlisted by CARA, Ministry of Welfare, Government of India.
Social workers ofthese agencies have to do a careful evaluation of prospective adoptive
parents_and prepare home study reports and send the same to the Indian agency.
58
In the Home Study Report, 'family' has not been defined clearly. All Indian Laws project
a man and a woman as key members in making a family. But CARA is giving children
for adoption to Lesbian couples in foreign countries. Gay couples may also be eligible.
Ifforeign lesbian & gay couples are considered suitable to adopt children and defined as
a family, will couple's with the same status in India enjoy the same rights?
The Times ofIndia,3rd May, 200 J.
• Period of no objection certificate: At present, biologi
cal parents can reclaim their child within sixty days from
the date of surrender. Originally the period was ninety
days. Adoption agencies are lobbying for further reduc
tion in this time for reflection of biological parents to
thirty days. Reduction in the time frame to allow natu
ral parents to rethink their situation only provides a short
cut to fake adoptions, e.g. women who are coerced by
their husbands to give away children may regain her
ability to protest if given time. Similarly if children are
kidnapped it will give parents time to lodge police com
plaints and search out their children. Adequate time is
essential to ensure that every effort is made to find bio
logical parents in case of missing children. It is also
important to have adequate time to counsel biological
parents to keep their own children.
~ .'.
dt
· reterrec
Sahvrya
0
DNA fmgerprijl,png
ceiebritc.
Instead of reducing the waiting time to 30days, it should be increased to 180days. While
documents are in process, a mother should have the right to take back the child.
When CARA gives a No Objection Certificate this must identify the court closest to the
placement agency to process the papers. It has been found that if cases are processed by
courts close to the adoption agency and the Voluntary Coordinating Agency (VCA),
irregularities can be detected and presented to the court.
rescued from kidnapper
1~4ucted after parent's refuse to give her in adoption
'>if\oM OURBliR}:AU
:;:~~; .
.
.,:~If.~erab~d, Sept. 9: A ~ ~~o
being beate~ up by a man in a
park.near AlfatahHotelin New
Bh«;>lg.uda. Th~ two cons~le~
fniits amdlO)ts. When inteiTOgaU;d~"''';OD Augusl30, ioOJ. FlutbCf···......,,·..
the·man who claimed himselfto
enquiriesrevealedthat Rama.Rao
be Rama ~o told policethat the
was a friendof the girl'sfather
Deccan Chronicle 10th Sept. 2001
• Fixing responsibility for illegal activities: The current guidelines do not stipulate
any punishment in case the management of adoption agencies indulge in illegal ac
tivities and violate guidelines. It is important to recognize that buying and selling
children is a criminal activity and should be punished as such.
• CARA does not follow proper procedures for issuing a license to adoption agencies
and their cancellation in case of violation of guidelines. The license of any agency
once cancelled should not be renewed under any circumstances. Agencies with a
dubious profile should not be given a license since ensuring child rights is the pri
mary aim of CARA.
59
raises mother's
_~~~:..~ ..
planned to
the miracle HYDEl{AB~D: The good forreunion and ·inVited friends and tune of Ka~r .Begum who
HYDERABAD: Sahviya Begum, relatives to l~c)J. but since they found her .mlSSlOg daughter
..... ..:.. _o_ar_"M ';rI whn w,,~ had to 1.0to COFD. the celebraaJ!10n, the childrenr~u~ fr?~
By ShalkAhmed AI
The TImu of IndiaNewsServIce
If the waiting period is very short, it is easy to prepare fake documents, giving fake
names and details. It is not possible to verify the authenticity ofthe documents in normal
circumstances within thirty days since the agency would need to work together with the
police to locate the parental homes. The current practice of reducing the waiting period
makes it convenient for adoption agencies to sell the babies. It reduces the rights of
biological parents and the child.
~irl
Miracle reunion
• If records related to admission and surrender, or taking custody of an abandoned
child are not maintained accurately, this should be treated as an indication ofcriminal
offence and appropriate punishment given.
• Monthly list of parents and children available for in-country and inter-country adop
tion should be submitted to CARA by all agencies.
• CARA is mandated to follow up the well being of children given in foreign adoption.
As per the Supreme Court guidelines progress reports of the child along with the
recent photograph should be made available on a quarterly basis for the first two
years and half yearly for the next three years. This information is to be received by
CARA in a prescribed Performa from all recognised social or child welfare agencies
in foreign countries through India's Diplomatic Mission. This follow up is neglected
completely by CARA and the adoption agencies.
• CARA should send guidelines to family and district courts clarifying the child: Par
ent ratio and VCA should be consulted if Scrutiny agency raises objection. Scrutiny
should see that the cases of older children, twins andsiblings are placed on priority
basis before the courts for completing adoption.
Vaartha, Nellore Town, 19th Nov. 1999
~~6:e: ~t; ~~-;)u 3C:.f.~e.;e '~c6~cD~ 6
;5)(';~ Oo?t.tf'~~ a. ;s)K'~'6~~ :;~d;' C:>~ ~:.,~
~00J06o ~~ ~~~e~~
iJOmJoc ~
~~o. oo~ KOeJe; lP'o~od ast~~ 6J~6e»
~CJ~;5:J
~a#J
...t!f~ ~
e~ lf~54ioC . .)0
-t(
Co
Y
,..,
~~~! ~;S)
~eR i1tvJtJ:Joo~oo~~o~t9~~~;SO
c
.
;S~ etS.)lB eooo tpl)o~t~oaCJj ~f\c; U-Qc6~ e U
~ osl);S.)e>;5) e@aX>oOoO. CJ&f);S.)d> ($of{oC~ el\
Ci~ ~C).)~ l{otJC)~ ~;J~t;~ ~c~ ~~ ~e
~
~
~~
-
,~o ~~~.
C/'ll~J'l.n Hlisslnu 6J'''HI 6"i/' q"ol.J'nHll.ni &
"j)J'loail. +t"spUals
60
Involvement of the Voluntary Co-ordinating Agencies (VCA):
Voluntary Coordinating Agency is to be set up at the state level to monitor the adoption
process. It is an association of all licensed adoption agencies in a particular region and is
recognised by the Government of India. Such agencies are created in pursuance of the
Supreme Court direction. The main purpose of this agency is to ensure national adop
tions. It is expected to maintain a register of all prospective adoptive parents, receive
information regarding available children who are legally free for adoption. The VCA is
expected to actively locate Indian parents either within its own jurisdiction in the area of
its operation and if this is not possible co-ordinate with neighbouring VCAs to identify
suitable national parents. When this is not possible, it is expected to issue a 'no objec
tion certificate' within a period of two months from the date of receipt of application
for 'No Objection'. This enables a child to be placed in inter-country adoption. At present,
the VCAs have total responsibility for monitoring the adoption process.
The VCAs' are not able to fulfill their function to autonomously monitor the adoption
process. This is due to its nature of being a membership organisation. The members of
VCA predominantly comprise the adoption and placement agencies. Invariably the VCA
fulfills the needs of the adoption agencies. When the agencies undertake illegal activi
ties the VCA is not in a position to check these activities. The democratic membership
nature of the organisation allows its members to hijack the agenda. Instead of working
autonomously and monitoring the activities of the adoption agencies it becomes the
'servant' of the agencies.
VCAs should not be steered by placement agencies. The core concerns in an adoption
are the welfare ofthe child and the parents. The Executive committee ofthe VCA should
comprise neutral and independent persons not connected to adoptions. One representa
tive from the government and one from the Scrutinizing agency should also be part of
the committee. All members of the VCA should be given voting rights as required by
the Societies Registration Act. Presently these bodies don't function in a democratic
manner. Voting rights have been given only to adoption agencies and not other child
welfare agencies though membership is offered to them.
It is also felt that each VCA should have only 10-15 members for effective functioning,
participation and representation on the executive committee.
•
a'. ngl. e· .In
..- a op-
•
·
ril2001
The Times oflndJa, Ap
.,1999
. tdu 5th Apfl
The llu ,
61
Scrutinizing Agency (SA):
As per the revised guidelines for adoption of Indian children, CARA is expected to
maintain a panel of agencies, which according to it can satisfactorily perform the func
tions of a Scrutinizing Agency other than the Indian Council for Child Welfare and the
Indian Council of Social Welfare.
The criteria for recognition of an agency as scrutinizing agency are:
• The agency should be an independent, reputed social child welfare agency.
• The agency must be a body of experts in the field of childcare and welfare.
• The agency should not be involved in the placement of children in adoption.
• It should be a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• All office bearers should be Indian nationals.
•
The agency should run on a non-commercial and non- profitable basis.
The functions of the SA are:
CM'announces
review of
adoptions
The Times of India News Servi«:e
• To closely inspect the authenticity of all-relevant applications, documents,
certificates, reports, and cross check bona-fides of prospective adoptive par
ents/guardians.
• Ascertain whether the child has been voluntarily surrendered by the bio
logical parents/parent.
• Whether adoptive parents have sent applications to CARA and No Objec
tion certificate obtained from VCA.
•
HYDERABAD: Chief Minis
ter Chandrababu Naidu on
Wednesday ordered officials to
.track down Savitri, the central
.figure' in' the adoption scandal
and criticised 'them for not
placing ads in the newspapers
seeking information about her
whereabouts.
Speaking to ministers during
a teleconference on Wednes
day morning, Naidu also ex
pressed the opinion that offi- .
cials'of Sishu Vihar should not
have resisted Majl~.. 'MLA
Syed Sajjad's attempton Tues
day to restore a missing child
to her-mother. He also pointed
out that the National Sample
Survey had rated AP as 'the
number one state in the coun
try in tribal'welfare.
' .....
The Times ofIndia, April 2001
To see the child in person and verify the information given about the child
is correct (medical and physical status) and give correct information to the
adoptive parents.
• The SA has to satisfy itself that the prospective adoptive parents are suit
able.
• In case of older children verify the child's own views.
•
Ascertain whether the laws regarding adoption of foreign children in the
country of the prospective adoptive parents will allow for adoption within
the possible minimum period, but in any case within a period not exceeding
two years.
• To ensure that all precautionary measures are taken before handicapped or
special needs children are placed in a family who are really interested in
such children.
• The SA has to submit reports to CARA every six months of all the cases it
has scrutinized.
• In case of differences between the SA and adoption agency the matter is to
be referred to CARA and its decision binding.
• Reasonable charges are to be paid for this service. Rs 150 in the case of
Indian adoption or Rs. 450 to Rs.500 in the case of foreign adoption unless
the court awards a higher amount.
Identified problems in the process:
Investigations of the adoption process show that Scrutinizing Agencies are not follow
ing' laid down procedures. Documents are being approved without carrying out appro
priate investigations. The SA is acting as a rubber stamp rather than a monitoring agency
providing checks and balances to ensure the welfare of babies. Scrutinizing agencies are
62
expected to take preventive action against profit making agencies
and penalize them. Unfortunately the scrutinizing agencies them
selves are becoming money-making machines accepting a fee to clear
and endorse relevant documents. This fee varies from one organisa
tion to another. Violating existing norms the Scrutinizing agencies
themselves. are involved in adoption. A total disregard of the criteria
for recognition and violation of the guidelines has taken place with
the Chairperson ofCAR A who is also managing a scrutinising agency.
Won1an and child rights activists
The SA should send both used and unused clearance certificates to the VCA. Placement
agencies must return the unused clearance certificates to the VCA, even if charges are
not refunded. Only then can misuse of certificates be controlled. Scrutinizing agencies
should update all records after court orders with the VCA. At present the VCA do not
know which clearances have been used. Unused clearances are often misused by adop
tion agencies to replace one child with another.
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN:
Adoption Agencies (AA):
Adoption agencies, need to be supervised thoroughly by concerned government depart
ments and the mandated structures of VCA, SA and CARA. The police need to work
closely with adoption agencies to streamline the procedure for taking in abandoned chil
dren. Civil society in the form of media representatives and elected representatives and
NGO's should be involved in the supervision of the adoption agencies. Right now, there
are no genuine checks and balances since the current structures only involve agencies
who are involved in adoption, in violation of the existing guidelines. The adoption agen
cies need to be re-oriented to actively promote in-country adoption.
Every effort should be made by an.adoption agency to identify the origins of a missing
or abandoned child. Juvenile homes and the police should take responsibility to make
nationwide searches for parents.
Adoption agencies should not be allowed
to accept relinquished children. The exist
ing national guidelines have led to the prac
tice of poor parents being lured or coerced
to give away their baby daughters. The
Gramya campaign has resulted in the Gov
ernment of Andhra Pradesh withdrawing
this guideline. It is no longer legal for par
ents to sell their children to adoption agen
cies by receiving money in the guise of
transportation charges or helping poor
families.
Adoption agencies are not following the
guidelines while choosing families. The first
priority should be given to national parents,
followed by national parents living abroad
(NRI), then to couples comprising one Indian
national and lastly foreign parents. The adop
tion agencies choose the last option straighta
way for monetary gain.
eM for stringent
adoption laws
The Times of India News Service
HYDERABAD: Chief Minister N
OandFafmbu-mRhi has Instructed
-officials to hold a state-level work
discuss the problems relat
ie-8" to child adoption and asked
them to prepare a fool-proof action
plan and streamline the- existing
laws.
.$)Wfo
The chief minister was reviewing
the issue at a meeting here on
Thursday. He asked the officials to
convene a meeting with collectors
and superintendents of police of
Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Ranga
Reddy, Medak and Hyderabad dis
tricts to know the problems and cir
cumstances leading to the sale of
girls.
.
Naidu asked the officials to
strengthen the laws and provide for
relinquishment under C.A..RA
guidelines with regard to adoptions
by agents. Officials explained the
salient features of the AP Orphan
ages and Other Charitable Homes
(supervision and control) Rules
2001 and steps initiated by the gov
ernment t9 tackle the problem.
The Times ofIndia, 4th May 2001
It is observed that generally adoption agen
cies are not hygienically maintained and there
63
is overcrowding of babies. CARA and the State governments should provide guidelines
and restrict the number of babies to be handled by each agency depending on the avail
able space in the agency.
It is found a child is in normal health when admitted to the agency and is registered as
such with VCA. But after a few months without any reason, the child's health is shown
as deteriorating to an extent that it is proposed for foreign adoption, or as handicapped,
disabled, or malnourished. This is done as a ploy to place the children for inter-country
adoption. Strict action should be taken against adoption agencies if a child is shown as
malnourished after living in the Home for some months. In such cases, SA should make
it mandatory to place the child for in-country adoption.
To maintain the identity of the child, at the time of registering a child in the adoption
home, an identification mark should be specified and the VCA should verify the identity
of the child when it is being offered for in-country or inter-country adoption.
Transparency of law to check adoption
irregularities stressed
simple [0 detect irregU1ariti~s.l\5the children
tOO had their rights. ~'Who arc we ro decide to.
send them away to fOrf..ig.... countries if' rh~'
name oradoption when one hears all the time
By Our Staff Reporter
YlSAIUIAPA1'NAM.' - ' 1 7 . The
need to stop the
an~u~an rracnce. of ~vmg ~':':.ay_~~~~d.ren_ ~or
the uUffi. ane!" parerits-"tonsidefed··th·elrchit~
drenessees.sclltng cbtldren became the reality
for ~~al to!' th,. poor H;' wac wrong. then
who would ra~~ (~e re~ponsibility of these
The Hindu, 18th April, 2000
Improvements required:
• List of agencies engaged in in-country and inter-country adoptions should be pre
pared separately by CARA and updated regularly, These should be sent regularly to
the VCAs'. Documents should be available to the courts, to the police, and child
rights activists.
• Copy ofNOC sent by CARA to VCA must include the name of adoptive parents with
complete address.
• Copy of court orders should be sent to the VCA also.
• There should be a panel of doctors attached to the VCA who
will certify each child and visit adoption agencies regularly.
• There is a need for regular meetings among the VCAs to ex
change information on the situation across the country and learn
from each other's experience.
• VCAs must be given two months time to locate Indian parents.
Meeting with CARA representatives
• A copy ofthe follow up reports from foreign adoptive parents
sent to CARA by the foreign agency should also be sent to
VCAs. This will allow for independent verification ofthe well
being of the child by State government officials.
• Though the VCAs are required to maintain a register of Indian parents, they should
also publish a list of the parents periodically and this should be supplied to the inter
ested public and institutions. Scrutinizing agency and courts need to cross check the
information given in these published reports.
• Concealing the availability of Indian parents allows a flourishing business to enable
issue of No Objection certificates at a price to place children for international adop
tion.
64
In case of death, a death certificate must be obtained from a recognized doctor giving the
cause of death and a copy of the same given to VCA and CARA. This will monitor the
care being provided by the adoption agency or indicate any neglect. There should be
regular surprise checks of the adoption centre by vigilance committees consisting of
media persons, women and child rights activists, civil society members, elected repre
sentatives etc.,
Adoption agencies are breaking rules with regard to charging parents and are also over
charging theln. It is suggested that a copy of the sliding scale of payment developed by
CARA be given to the court and the parents. This information should also be promi
nently displayed in the adoption agencies.
Adoption agencies doing inter-country adoption take double payment, once from the
parents and the second time from the foreign agency, which does the home-study. In the
USA, a tax rebate is given on adoption, which is transferred to the orphanage giving the
child. This double payment should be stopped. The rebate should go to CARA fund and
not the adoption agency. False medical bills are being used as one way of Inaking money
by the adoption agencies. Appropriate systems to prevent this should be put in place.
Gramya Campaign
for Changes in
adoption laws in
Visakhapatnam
65
CHAPTER V
Laws 01 Adoption
The service of child adoption that we are familiar with today is a modern practice with
historical roots. In India child adoption is known to be an ancient practice sanctioned by
the traditional Hindu Law. The son oc~upies a place of special significance in the Indian
patriarchal society and this forms the basis for the age old practice of child adoption
among Hindus. The son is required for conducting the last rites of the parents, without
which it is believed, the soul would not attain 'moksha'. The son is also valued for
continuing the family name and care in old age. The lack of a male offspring, therefore,
was a matter of concern and the practice of adoption was allowed to enable a man with
out a son to adopt one.
In the absence of a direct male heir, there was a danger of the family property getting
transferred to next male relation within the family and therefore to protect the property
within the direct family line, a successor to this property could only be through adoption
of a male child. Close relatives have often given, and continue to give away a child,
particularly a male child to a childless brother or sister, thus securing the property not
only as an undivided property, but also expanding the property by joining two families.
In many ancient civilizations in both the West and East, adoption was practiced for the
same reasons. The post second world-war period saw a steep rise in the number of chil
dren displaced, abandoned or orphaned. There was worldwide humanitarian concern for
such children and their adoption into homes was sought as an answer. The emergence of
child welfare services in the West influenced the Indian approach to children's welfare.
Around this time the Hindu Law was codified into several separate Acts, one of which
was the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956. Thus, in post-independence
India, child adoptions were carried out under the codified Act as against the traditional
Hindu religious systems. In this changed context, child adoption was no longer the
traditional adoption within a known related group, but a welfare practice involvingI nonrelated individuals.
o
Adoption in India:
The process of adoption in India of Indian babies, is governed by the Hindu Adoption
and Maintenance Act. 1956 (for Hindus only) and the Guardian and Wards Act 1890 (for
others).
I
Adoption starts from the womb
I
The Hindu, 28th April, 2001
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act: (HAMA) allows any Hindu male or
female who is a major to adopt. Married women cannot adopt. A nlarried man can adopt
with the permission of his wife. If the adopter and adoptee are of different sexes, there
should be an age difference of 21 years between them. Section 17 prohibits any pay
66
ments to prevent trafficking in children. If the parents have a biological daughter, they
cannot adopt another girl.
The shortcomings of HAMA:
• It is applicable to Hindus only.
• It capacitates only the married male to take in adoption while the wife only consents.
This violates the right to equality. It restricts adoption to one son and one daughter.
Any other adoption is under the GAWA, which creates disparity amongst the chil
dren.
• The current law discriminates against married women. We recommend that married
women should also have the right and be an equal party to an adoption.
The Guardian and Wards Act, 1890: (GAWA) Indians who are
not Hindus,
do not have an enabling Law to adopt a child legally, hence the next best option available
to them is to take legal guardianship of the child under the Guardian and Wards Act. The
adoptive parent is court appointed. The court can revoke the order at any time till the
minor becomes of age. All non-Hindus and foreigners adopt under this act.
The shortcomings ofGAWA:
• It does not entitle a child to the family name or property.
• Family has custody only till the child is 18years old. Thereafter there is no legel
binding.
• Civil rights and privileges do not devolve upon the child in the event of the death of
a parent while in service.
• Hindu parents sign an Adoption Deed while guardians only sign a financial bond.
• It is not an enactment for foreigners but only a facilitating tool to take the child out of
the country. Foreigners need to adopt the child legally in their country of residence.
Guardian and Wards Act used
for adoption of children
By Our Staff Reportet
The Good Samaritan Evangelical and Social Welfare Association was using the provisions of the Guardian and Wards Act to
get the children adopted by foreigners. In the process they were found to be giving wrong addresses for procuring passports fo~
the children after their adoption, police enquiries revealed.
The Hindu, 26th March, 1999
All the above problems highlight the need for a common code. This will enable children
to be legally secured and adopted within the country.
Due to rapid changes in the socio-economic structure of society, the number of children
who need care, protection and rehabilitation is on the increase. During natural calami
ties, the cyclone of AP in 1977, the Orissa cyclone in 1999, the Earthquake in Latur, and
recently in Bhuj, Gujrat children became parentless and homeless. Wars between na
tions, religious strife and civil war, also lead to homelessness and destitution. In such
circumstances, it is everybody's duty to create a new family, a new home for a real
destitute orphan child. Adoption is a major tool toprotect the basic rights of the child. In
all matters concerning adoption, whether within the country or abroad, the welfare and
interest of the child should be paramount.
67
Andhra Pradesh Government order Ms. No. 16·:
Government of Andhra Pradesh issued Government order Ms. No. 16 on 23 rd.April,
2001. The G.O. mandated the following:
11.2. (VII) , Relinquishment' of child by 'Biological parents' on family grounds of pov
erty, number of children, unwanted girl child will not be permitted. Such children should
not be admitted in Homes or 'Orphanages' and if admitted the license and recognition of
Home or Orphanages shall be cancelled or withdrawn,
11.2. (VIII) It is mandatory that
a) if a child is found abandoned or picked up as a destitute or abandoned by un-wed
mother or children whose parents have expired in accident should get the child reg
istered by any civil, hospital authorities, police officials or any persons thereof, in
the registers maintained with the Project Director, District Women and Child Agency
of Women's Development and Child· Welfare Department ( nodal officer) in the
respective districts and obtain a certificate and also letter of direction to admit the
child in the Homes or Orphanages specified.
b) In case of Hospitals and Nursing Homes, they shall have to record details in a sepa
rate register and refer the child to the Project Director, District women and Child
Development Agency as indicated above. (Deviation of procedure will attract legal
provisions as per the directives of the Supreme Court).
11.2. (IX) The Homes or Orphanages shall have a regular Pediatrician or specialised
Doctor for the care of the children and Social worker on its 'staff The Name, Address,
Phone Number etc., of the Social worker shall be registered with the Project Director,
District Women and Child Development Agency of the concerned District and also with
the Director, WD & CWo
11.2. (XI) The institution shall maintain ' Growth Monitoring Charts, Immunisation
details, periodical health checkup details fully attested by the Doctor.
11.2. (XII) No institution registered under' Socities Registration Act, 1860' is permitted
to procure, detain, adopt children and if it is noticed, the Director or Project Director,
District Women and Child Development Agency of WD & CW Department shall have
the power to take the children into possession, seal the premises and prosecute such
institutions in a court of law. Provided that the institutions who have been issued' Li
cense' and' Recognition' accorded shall alone be permitted to keep the children subject
to condition and rules specified.
11.2. (XIII) When the institution receives a child its responsibility is to trace the biologi
cal' parents and restore the child to them, failing which as far as possible place the child
in ' Adoption' with Indian families following the procedures laid down for 'In-Country
adoptions' . On ly after exhausting 'In-Country Adoptions' the applications of Inter Country
Adoptions shall be processed as per rules subject to the institution having a valid ap
proval from CARA, New Delhi.
11.2. (XIV) There shall be 'FOLLOW UP' of children given for' Adoption' upto 6
years and also upto the stage of Primary School Education. In case neglect of child or
otherwise is noticed, the respective institution shall take back the child and take action
for prosecution against the' Adoptive parents'.
At present children are adopted using different legislations such as Juvenile Justice Act,
HAMA, GAWA and CARA guidelines. These rules and laws contradict each other and
create loopholes to encourage sale and purchase of babies, We need to legislate appro
priately to ensure a needy child has a home and prevent supply of babies on demand.
While several attempts have been made to introduce bills related to adoption in
Partliament, there has been little progress. There is an urgent need to bring in suitable
legislation to protect child rights.
We require a gender just law which allows all Indian citizens to adopt a real orphan.
68
CHAPTER VI
Demands of International Adoption Agencies
Who is buying the children from Andhra Pradesh? When children were recovered from
the adoption agencies indulging in illegal activities and brought to the government run
home Shishu Vihar, sixty six children were due to go to the following countries.
United States
Spain
Netherlands
Italy
35
13
5
4
Ireland
Canada
Austria
Germany
4
2
2
The international trends in adoption show the major receiving countries as follows.
United States
France
Ital
German
Canada
S ain
Sweden
Switzerland
Netherlands
16396
3777
2019
1819
1799
1522
1019
733
825
Norway
Denmark
Belgium
Australia
Finland
UK
Ireland
Iceland
Total
643
624
254
245
181
277
147
15
32295
Source: Peter Selman, Intercountry Adoption in the New Millenium: the quiet
migration revisited, June 2001, Paper presented at the European Population 'Con
ference, Helsinki.
When the scandal broke out in Andhra Pradesh, staff from the Canadian International
Agency, Children of the World came to Hyderabad allegedly with Canadian Police.
According to them the Bethany Home at Tandoor had promised them that 17 children
would be given in adoption. 16 children were supposed to be housed at the Shishu Vihar.
As per the documents available of the children recovered, 70 were supposed to be given
in International adoption. 66 children had already received a NOC (No Objection Cer
tificate). As per the records only four children were due to be given to Canadian parents.
This brings up the issue of direct linkages between adoption agencies in foreign coun
tries and the so-called homes here. Clearly CARA was being bypassed since they were
totally unaware ofthe agreement to provide 17 children to "Children ofthe World." This
also highlights the modus operandi of the traffickers. Bethany Home for instance ap
pears to make agreements without children. They then hire agents to search for suitable
children in the poor thandas nearby. Clearly the welfare of the child is not the motive in
such cases. Since all the laws are being flouted we have to raise the question as to
whether the foreign adoption agencies or the foreign parents are guilty? Do they prefer
69
not to know what is going on because it is convenient. The foreign adoption agencies
clearly because they are part of a money making racket and parents because they are
desperate for a child.
Worse than the Canadian reaction was that of the United States of America. Pressure
was brought to bear on the Government of Andhra Pradesh through a lJnited States
Senate Member. In violation of the existing laws the Senator not only asked that chil
dren with No Objection Certificates be processed for adoption but also children who did
not have this certification. Coming at a time when the Government of Andhra Pradesh
scrapped the process of relinquishment of children the disregard of local legislations is
clear. The fact that so-called relinquished children were bought from poor women is a
matter of no concern to the adoptive parents or their countrymen.
Haseena's case is an example in this context. Little Haseena was in the care of Tender
Loving Care HOITIe. When the responsibilities of the children in TLCH were taken over
by the State, the Women Development and Child Welfare department offered Haseena
for adoption to an Indian parent Mrs. Sandhaya and Mr. Subrarnanyam. They had earlier
approched TLCH for adopting a baby girl. TLCH offered Haseena to them, but with a
big price tag. Simultaneously TLCH had also offered to an American parent Ms. Sharon
Van Epps. Since then Ms. Van Epps has used every possible pressure tactics to bend the
laws of this nation to win over Haseena from an Indian parent.
Officials keep
parents guessing
FRO~t OUR BUREAU
(Ill
judgelJle8t in the evening and
wanted to tao, further course
of actioo.
While a 33-v-ear-old woman
was SU1!2ested Ibat she was
young e~gb to bear a child,
a couple from die city were
to ld that tbeiT case would be
processed as per the waiting
:.::::.:,6 ,
list.
-,\1.1 l\:e came to know from
'the officials was thai they
Hyderabad, Aug
1: The
Directorate of Women and
Child Welfare was at it again!
Following the High Court
judgement on the controver
sial adopboo case of Haseena
Deccan Chronicle, 2nd Aug 2003
FridaJ~ the officials at
D1fI1CVtr -..ere busy drawing
• A,irs to "eliminate" other
also from the Jist of
~"ti,"e
parents
for
IIiascaIa OIl the lines of the
:Sabnhmanyam-Sandhya couple-
\\:ouJd communicate to us
later. \Ie are not clear whether
oar case would be considered
only for 8aseeDa as per the
Some "eligible" parents, notices given to us or we
wbo received orders to appear would be offered other chil
before the He on Fridav, were dren for adoption,'" Raghavan,
given enough indications b}' one of the prospective parents.
the State officials .that they
would not be considered rO'r
adopting Haseena. Several
couples met Director G V
Hernalatha Dcvi after the He
70
said after meeting the director.
Srini vasa Rao and his wife
were suggested by the officials
that they were still young to
bear a child of their own.
Letter from U.S. Senator
{UL D.WELLSTON•...
f
MfHHIIOf"
,:ou ,"U Nu...."".
,tioHu....,
!'
Snlt, : 8}aa11n1 Mishra
D1reQt.Or or Women Oevelopment and Child ~'.lfax.
f~CU8l&lia.IClnur
',FAXI! QJ,1-91-40-J?-J2-S87
D.a~
•
fir We.,,,.,,, h, "'f'e,,,,.
I
, Uhild W,lr." ',,,.' Jr AI. 'it
Mat M1shrol
a
HVOERAOAO ~OO 041.
•
I am contacting you 011 behalf ot Iny constituents who are adopting
There are nineteen Hinn.,ota tan\111es that were
adQptlng through ICSW (Indian Council tor Social I-leltare) /Prec!ou.
Momen~. when the government ot Andllra Pradesh began their review of
orph~ages in tile state.
children trom India.
I
:;:". ~
Sinet the investigation began 1n late April, my constituents have had
qUI.tiona and concarns about the pODslbility of continuing the adoption
procell w1th the children who have been referred to them. Recently, rout:
gov.·rnment IUulowlced
it will., allow ':11888 to continue ·'where "No Object on
H
Ceftif1cates (NOes) have been iS8Uf!d. While· this is good news, there
are al,80 five families that do not have Noes. Thene families have had,
children referred to them and want to provide them with loving homes, It
18 our hope that 1n tho-cases where children have been properly
rel1nqu1shed and Indian adoption law and procedu~es have been met, theso
Minn.sota families will be able to adopt the children that have been
X'et8rr:ed to them.
,
Two' ot my constituents, Rob ROilier and Deborah McClaren, will be tJ:avel1ng
to India on Friday and will remdn Cor one month. During thi" period, I
Mr. Ramer and Ms. Meel.aren hope to meet ."ith /\ndhra Pradesh and auild of
Service of!1cials as representativen of the IUnnesota familiee adopting
from ICSH/Preclous I'loments. They hope to inquire about the process fer
cOll1plet1ng the adoptions that ha.ve HOCs and discuss the prospect of
pr~;~eS81n9 nou-Noe
cases.
My const1tuents would ba grlltcful for the opportunity to meet with you or
a member or your Btnff to discuss th1s matter.
If a meeting 1& pOSlible,l'
pl,•• e cent ace Mr. "Ramer and lois. McClaren directly via " ..mail atl
J2(1qh 7500 1lii Ql ! corn or contact Loren Olson, a momber of my Btaff, in my
St. Paul otfic:e. You may also reach Loren by e-rna11 at:
loren olgou,w,11stoua,seuot:e,9Qv
Tl\lU1k you for your -ass1stonco.
~~fw~
Paul David Wellstone
Unit d States Senator
PDW: lko
c.. W"""tH'\'9"~
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oc: ~o, '..no)
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"to
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HtHf,. 0 Off ". C"YC\ I "'AI'"
71
~tJtI'"
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~I". '41 ..tOU
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IIi
Interventions were also made by politicians from Austria & France through the Indian
Consulates. Foreign parents sent several emails to CheifMinister to give away the chil
dren to them.
As a result of this undue pressure the Chief Minister intervened in the matter as can be
seen by the correspondence between the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh and Sri S P
Singh, lAS, Secretary Women Development & Child Welfare.
Letter by P.V. Rao, Chief Seeretary
.11."'" 13 2001 12S2~P11 p,
IH'D(RAU"O • ~O.D . 02t~
Ofr:
'3452620._
. 3~~53~O:'
FIX f 040· ~537,oo'(
(' V R.lo, I.A. S.
~ j~4e15s~
Res
C~flEF
SECRE-I"ARY
·Q,~/~.aKlQLJ1:~.
Dear Sri Singh,
This is with reference to proceedings in the family court covering the
adoption case cleared by Cara, 9 in number. The Chief Minister has been
receiving a number of representations on behalf of children and their caring
parents. These are enclosed. The substance of representations is that
investigations/prosecutions against adults for prossible crime should not be
allowed to carry over to the children or the foster families, who are ceretainly
not party to the crime. Investigations into the crime can proceed along side,
Ms. Menaka Gandhi, Union Minister for Social Jostice & Empowerment
spoke to me yesterday on very strong terms that the decision taken by GoAP
in withholding the NOCs before the family court is creating an undue bad
image to the Govt. of India. GOI feels that in all cases cleared by Cara, the
GoAP should not seen to be obstructive.
I have brought these facts to the notice of the Chief Minister yesterday
evening and this morning when Prl. Secy. to CM was also present. CM has
agreed that in those cases which are covered by Cara clearences, we may
convey our NOC to the family court subject to any undertaking which the
court may like to impose. I understand from the Director, WD & CW that the
family court has asked for a meeting with the Director, WD & CW and the
Government today in the afternoon. You may please convey the instructions
covered in this letter to the court.
Please acknowledge receipt of this letter
y our:
!
"~el' ~~.
'.".~
•'
Sri S.P. Singh, lAS
Secy. WD & CW
72
,
(
.
·\..~ll) ~.~-t+f"""
-c •• J.
In this process it was also clear that CARA did not work for the benefit of children. They
continued to act as middlemen suggesting that the children be put out for international
adoption, violating its own norms, systems and procedures. CARA was even willing to
fault the State Government and pressurize it to give children in international adoption
without No Objection Certificates.
Letter from 0 Verman
,~~~:~~l=~hSfiilAdoptiOh~Isourc. AS.ticy
unlllflM ",
""I",n'HIUJlm~,~ ~ ta1I'Vf ~ ~
untlt.,. 'hi Minh'" .1
JUIUo. a fimpow.t..,lnt. GrM. Dt.lndI'J
zaur
I'ot.,
(An IUUtnomout bo&tv
lft'1'lt
AI) G'
t fll'1l~rff ~urw ~nt nrKllfflf~fl1 yt~rmt -' I1'tM ~I~)"
rf~dOVJ.2OQ.17c~RA
·tl~\~~W'
tJ·,
..
:Qb9~~
'I
".~, ~.\)
.
D.I,t~.~?R.~,t~.~.~.~
s..'~.
~~, ~ al~, '-\J~~, s...~\A. ~. ",~ ~tV\ItV
., \. .o..
.~~cJr,..J.~ Q ~ \'r.1. ~'-- Q~ Q""~"'N:2lr
\~o ~.
tlJJ. , h d
. t t·~,
You m.y kindly recalt U,.t (he couple OuancJ1lffiJlJont1* Dyr wori t1 t l'
,
tI
pror».8 of adopting S.r~amr" R.vl, when the re~nt h.pp6nlnb' In Andhra
Pradelh disrupted the" prooeol. The Govt. ot Andhro Pradeih ha. klnQly jgreod
to procelll the easel of the NOC oleared chlld,.,n lhrough tho Guttd of Qor\'lcO,
Hyderabod. Hov..-v,r, It wes .110 conveyed that the ~'a' of
non-NOO
children would not be prooo88etf and they would In.teld be offered to 'ridfll.~
farnlll•• "'rat. Whllu CAAA 8pt:>rt¢lalet the stand 01 the stilt. GaYl. It tnl1· be
noted that lome of U,. non-HOC children mny not bG adOtpUlbl& to IndIan
Parente due to vo,tOU8 racior.. In thft Inatant 0680. SenJamin Rdvl, whOle' dalo
of birth 10 22nd Oeoomb.r 1QQ3,. I, 8 year. old and It la votY unllkDly th$t on'y
Indlon femlly would oonle forwerd to adopt him. Normally ·Uldlln famlllfJJ
Incfudlng NRII ere reluotant to adopt allY child who 18 more than 3..... ~ year,' ot~,'
The Hon'ble Minister of stato had boon approached by the labove coup'. ta~lIow.
tham to czomplete BGnJamln'a adoption pr00888. After dUe coftatderaUon,· It hoi.'
bGen decided U'8t an IKCOpUon moy ploa~ be ",~do In tho naIl or b.r,~,nrn·
Rnvl, keoplng 'n mind the (aat that he I, 9 YOlUI old ond Ie unllkety to nnd au\
Indian fluntly 10 adopt him. In fact, he hat boon walUng for elmoat 3 yearl for
U,.
't
adoption.
Th. Stete Gavt. may IIko to k8fap the aue factor or thft non-NOe children
,olr''OtAdy malchld with their For(\lgn AdopUVB P~r,nl8 In milid befOl"l d.e{dJ~ la,
i,altar 'him to India" par.nla firal ~\ d~ ~~}:;:'. ~ ~ lb,'
-, ~ ~~~.4.t.u. ~N1 \\.l"\h-. ~Wl.,,\
"'.: ,
,.,
Yourt .In~.r.ly,
~'
(8.k. D.y Vlnn.'n)
8~tt_t'r1
She 8.P. SIngh
SeorQtory
Womon and Child Oovelopment
Oovt. 01 Andhr. Prado.h.
tjyg~MEl6Q"
73
Couple distraught with orde_
Subrahmanyams"fear State may reject childfor tJzenl
never come true. "The
Director (Women and Child
Ilyderabad, Aug. 1: "I may Welfare) already threatened
not get any child to adopt that she had 110 ways to
leave aside Haseena," said ensure that I will not get
Sandhya, who failed to get an Haseena or any other child,"
order in her favour from- the she said adding that her case
High Court in the sensational for even other children would
adoption case of Haseena on not be considered by the
Friday.
"revengeful" State authorities.
Crying inconsolably in the
The Special Bench compris
High Court premises after the ing Chief Justice Devender
Special Bench delivered the Gupta and Justice C V
judgement, she said her dream Ramulu dismissed the c~nof "making a home" would tempt of court case against
FROM OUR BUREAU
Director, Women and Child
Welfare filed -by the SandhyaSubrahmanyam couple. "We
are very disappointed over the
judgment which was delivered
without listening to our connsel who was not present in the .
court at that point of time,"
Subrahmanyam said.
Subrahmanyam, after getting
a job in a private chemical
company had. approached the
State authorities for adopting a
child. The coupl~. got into a
legal tangle with Tender
Loving Care, an adoplil4
agency, which was keea ..
handing over the baby for_
eign adoption. The couple . .
moral support from other -eli
gible" parents who " . .
called to court that they II
wanted Subrahrnnayam ~
ple be given first priority •
adopt Haseena.
"We are not keen 01
Haseena like the Subrah
manyam couple which under
Went a .10t of trauf!la," oee
prospective parent said,
Deccan Chronicle, 2nd Aug. 2003
Pressure from foreign parents
To the shock of the parents, officials and
lawyers who gathered at 15th court, Jus
tice B.S.A. Swamy said he would not be
~r-=--~-\--_-======--_ _"-----------::T=_hearing the case. Justice Swamy asked.
Where is the American Lady (Sharon Van
Epps, who has applied to adopt Haseena)
When there was no answer, he said, "See
how powerful she is"
Deccan Chronicle, 2nd Aug;{2003
Haseena contenders cut to 30
Express News Service
Hyderabad~-A-ug 5
I
THE
W~men Development and
Child WelfareDepartment has
already begun the process of
selection of prospective parents
for baby Haseena after the High
Court dismissed on August 1 the
contempt petition filed by social
activist Jamuna against the
'department.
The contempt petition contend
ed that the department was sid
ing with the cause of American
woman Sharon Van Epps to
adopt hriby Haseena,and that it
was not glving priority to Indian
couple lllllaiubramaniam and
Snndhyft.
'l'ho lIQloctton process will be
complotod In US days. Till then,
Hasocna wUl have to be in the
commissioned a special omcer to
verify the income status, reslden
tial and family background of the
shortlisted parents.
uIt is the department's respon
sibility to see that the kids lead a
comfortablelife and that parents
are able to provide them basic
requirements like education,
food and shelter," said
Hemalatha Devi, director of tho
department.
home.
'1~ department made it clear
Jamuna has decided to walt for
t.hat Sharon Van Epps, who
a couple of days to see how tho
department proceeds In
wanted to adopt the baby, could
go for any physically and mental Haseena's case.
ly-challenged baby in case no
The Women Development and
other Indian parents are willing
Child Welfare department reject
to adopt them.
ed Jamuna's allegation that it
This applied to all other foreign was siding with Sharon. "Sharon
nationals, added the department
has been fighting tho case on hor
own and the department has
officials.
The department has already
never sided with her" It is the
State home. Around 30 parents
have been shortl1stedout of more
than 166applications.
But this list does not contain
the names Balasubramaniam
nnd 8andhya. who wanted to
adopt baby Haseena but were
rejected by the department.
However, the department
sald that the couple can gofor
any other child in the State
or
department which has the priori
ty to select prospective parents
and wefeel the
Balasubramaniams are not
viable to adopt baby Haseena,"
maintained Hemalatha Devi.
When asked why the depart
ment had sent a letter to sum
mon Balasubramaniam to the
court when it did not find him
eUgibleto adopt baby Haseena,
·the director said: uWe thought ot
informing everybody so that the
Balasubramaniam couple
should not allege in future that
the department was-biased in
leaving them out whUe
sending letters to prospective
parents."
Meanwhile, Sandhya said that
tho couple Is willing to go for
any other kid though their flrst
priority was Haseena.
Indian Express, 6th Aug. 2003
74
CHAPTER VII
The eampaign eontinues
.
Our campaign highlighted the critical role community based NGO's could play to pro
tect the girl child and prevent sales as well as infanticide. At the local level following
actions can be taken.
•
Campaign to register all births and deaths at the Panchayat. Any suspicious disap
pearance or death of a girl baby could then be investigated immediately.
•
Set up committees to supervise the functioning of Anganwadis run by the govern
ment. This would enable the community to accesss nutritious food and promote
health among infants.
•
Promote setting up of bridge schools to enable girl's education.
•
Work to prevent child marriages and set up women's committees to prevent them
•
Set up committees comprising government officials such as teachers or revenue of
ficials and Panchayat members to prevent sales.
•
Supervise institutions such as Social welfare hostels to ensure girls were safe and
given adequate food and care.
•
Promote Adolescent girl child rights with special emphasis on right to education and
safety.
•
Through district and state networks lobby to change the existing adoption laws and
CARA guidelines to make them Gender Just and ensure the socio -cultural rights of
the child.
•
Create awareness of international conventions on Child Rights to which the Govern
ment of India is a signatory and work towards their implementation.
75
Thanks are due to
A large number of family and friends supported this' campaign we thank all of
them and specially:
Dr. Anita Srivasthava (Norway)
Arundhathi Roy
Dr. Anthony Stewart Peter thorsrud (Norway)
Nina Karlsen (Norway)
Roar Larsen (Norway)
Ronnaug Hartz (Norway)
Gyorgi Scrinis and friends from Global Sisterhood Network (Australia)
Elenid & Nora (Wales)
Leo Bashyam, Karen-oon-buffin & Ray Hasan (U.K.)
Jane Covey (U.S.A.)
Anil Bordia Rtd lAS,
Ajitha & Vanaja, Teja TV
Ashima Roy Chowdhury
Sri Bharatchandra I.P.S
Bhangya Bhukya
Bhoomika - Satyavati
CaVA - Old City
Dr. A. Prathibha
Dr. Nageshwara Rao
(R.M.O. Gandhi Hospital)
Dr. Jansi Laxmi
Dr. Visweswara Rao
Dr. V. Suhasini
Dr. K. Govardhan Reddy
Prof. G.R.S. Rao
Geetha Rama Swamy
Gandhi Babu
Girija
Irin
Jeevan Kumar
Human Rights Activist
Sri K. Subramanyam, Rtd.I.P.S,
Kalamani
Kameswari Jandhyala
Kalpana Mehta
K. Suresh
Smt Lalitha Joshi
Smt Lalitha Rama Krishna
Md.Abdul Khayum
Sri M.V.Sastry
Smt. Malladi Subbamma
Smt. Mallu Swarajyam
Mahendra
Mohan Chandra
T.Madhuri
Mahita-Ramesh
Osi Femandaz
Pasya Padma
A.P. Mahilasangham-Pavani
A.P. Mahilasamakhya-Prema Pavani
Prema Gopal
Punyawathi
POW-Sandhya
PUCL-Jaya
Divya Disha-Philip
P. Subbaiah
P. Uma Reddy, Ex M.L.A.
CRS-Rekha & Dr. Giridhar
Ratnamala
Late Srimathi Rajyam Sinha
T. Savitri Devi
Shamir & Shafi Unnisa Begum
S.K. Anwar
Suresh Reddy
Simon
Cry-Srinivas
Sikha
Santhi Rao
Sudha Murali
Shalini Mishra
Smt. Snehalatha Bhopal
Sadhana-Murali
A.Shyam Mohan
Vasudevan
Sri V. Krishna Rao
Smt. Vasi Reddy Kasiratnam
Sri Y.Sekhar
Usha Sri Ram
Usha Rao
Smt.V. Sarala, Smt. Vijitha Bhopal
Sri V. Hanumantha Rao & Vijaya
76
We are thankful to the sustained financial and moral support from:
Christain Aid
CWS
I.C. / S.D.C.
Action Aid
CRS
AEI
NEG
CRY
GMUCN
OXFAM
We are greatful to the support from local leaders
Late Sri D. Ragya Nayak
Sri Vasya Nayak
Sri M. Gangadhar
Md. Syeed Husain
Smt. Vanam Pushpalatha
Sri Palla VenkatReddy
Sri S. Dananjaya
Sri P. Bikshpathi
Dr. T. Sadhana
Dr. K. Harshavardhan
Smt. Bharathi Ragya Nayak
Sri D. Damodar Reddy
Sri N. Bajya Nayak
Smt. N. Sandhya
Smt. Palla Sulochana
Sri V. Rama Rao
Sri G. Anjaneyulu
Dr. T. Srinivas
Dr. Laxmi Narayana
Sri B. Ravindra Goud
Sri N. Balu Nayak
We are greatful to several Advocates for their committed support to the cause
K. Bala Gopal
Rahul
Conlin Gonsalves
K ..G. Kannabiran
Chandresh
K., Nalini Kumar
Apama Bhat
N. Gowri Shankar
Uma Devi
We are greatful to Media friends
Akhileswari
Juluri Gowri Sankar
Lakshmi
Lalitha Iyer
Sujatha
Gopinath Reddy
Lakshmayya
K. Venkateswarlu
Srinivas
Chandrakanth
Uma Sudhir
Late Priya Tendulkar
Sri Potturi Venkateswara Rao for giving critical support.
We thank all who reported in their daily columns and their efforts to investigate
and cross check facts from
Eenadu
Andhra Bhoorni
Siyasath
Vaartha
Andhra Jyothi
Deccan Chronicle
The Hindu
News Time
Hindusthan Times
The Times of India
Andhra Prabha
Milap
Deccan Herald
Indian Express
Our heartful thanks to all in Electronic Media E TV, Star TV, NDTV, Aaj Tak, Zee,
Gemeni, City Channels, Delhi Doordarshan for their sustained support. We thank the
docum.entary film makers who highlighted the issue.
Special Thanks to hundreds of voluntary agencies and their representatives who
participated and organized campaigns at State and local level.
Our special thanks to our families for their patience and support.
77