India orders all Mother Teresa care homes inspected

NEW DELHI - India has ordered an immediate inspection of all childcare homes run by the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic order founded by Mother Teresa after a nun was arrested over an alleged adoption racket.

Illegal adoption is big business in India, with more than 100,000 children reported missing every year, the government says. Many are given up by desperately poor parents but others are snatched from hospitals and train stations.

Police earlier this month arrested the nun and a worker at one of the Missionaries of Charity order's homes in Ranchi, the capital of eastern Jharkhand state, over allegations that at least five infants were sold for potentially thousands of dollars.

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 distress.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said in a statement on Monday that she had also instructed states to ensure that all childcare institutions be registered and linked to the federal adoption authority within the next one month.

"Taking cognizance of the recent cases of illegal adoptions carried out by Missionaries of Charity in Jharkhand, Gandhi has instructed the states to get childcare homes run by Missionaries of Charity all over the country inspected immediately," the statement said.

In December, India's Supreme Court had ordered mandatory registration of all childcare institutions and bringing orphanages under the central adoption system.

Since then, about 2,300 childcare institutions have been linked to the Central Adoption Resource Authority and about 4,000 are still pending, according to the government.

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 repeated.

Afp - Reuters