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Child sale: India probes Mother Teresa homes
News & Trends •
in december indias supreme court had ordered mandatory registration of all childcare institutions and bringing orphanages under the central adoption system1 india has ordered an immediate inspection of all childcare homes run by a religious order founded by mother teresa after a nun was arrested over an alleged adoption racket1 police earlier this month arrested the nun and a worker at one of the missionaries of charity orders homes in ranchi the capital of eastern jharkhand state over allegations that at least five infants were sold for potentially thousands of dollars1 the scandal blew up after local child welfare authorities informed police about a newborn missing from the home which is meant to care for unwed pregnant women and mothers in distress1 in a statement late monday women and child development minister maneka gandhi said all state governments have been asked to get child care homes run by missionaries of charity all over the country inspected immediately1 she also said all childcare institutions should be registered and linked to the central adoption authority within the next month1 illegal adoption is big business in india with over 100000 children reported missing every year the government says. many are given up by desperately poor parents but others are snatched from hospitals and train stations1 since then some 2300 childcare institutions have been linked to the central adoption resource authority and about 4000 are still pending according to the government1 in the aftermath of the adoption scandal the missionaries of charity had said it would carefully look into the jharkhand case and ensure the incident was never repeated1 the charity was founded in 1946 by mother teresa a global symbol of compassion who was canonised as a saint after her death in 19971 headquartered in kolkata in eastern india the charity runs several institutions across the country1 missionaries of charity was previously involved in providing legal adoption services in india but in 2015 said it was closing down its adoption centres citing new regulations that made it easier for single and divorced people to adopt children1