The Women and Child Development Ministry would be bridging the legislative gap between the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 that has so far forced adoptive parents under HAMA to move court for permission to take their child abroad, WCD Ministry sources said on Tuesday.
For adoptions through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), parents can receive a no-objection certificate (NOC) for getting passports for their children to travel overseas. But, in the case of adoptions under HAMA, parents were forced to move court to obtain the NOC as there was no other mechanism, a top Ministry functionary said.
The Ministry would be bringing a notification to set up a mechanism for NOCs for adoptions under HAMA soon, the functionary said. This would be in compliance with the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoptions meant to prevent child trafficking and is governed through the JJ Act, a senior official said.
Model rules
The Ministry would also be notifying model rules under the JJ Amendment Act, 2021, which was passed by Parliament in July, within a month, the Ministry functionary said.
The Act expanded the role of the district Magistrates in matters of child welfare and adoption processes in their respective districts as well as set educational and qualification standards for prospective members of child welfare committees. The functionary of the Ministry said States and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had been asked for their suggestions for the rules and some States had already indicated what they would like to see in the rules.
