The state government on Friday promised a probe into the activities of an NGO that had given away children for adoption even after the licence allowing it do so had expired.
Parents of the adopted children had approached the government after failing to secure from Scotlane Poverty Eradication Scheme (Spec), the NGO, documents needed to make the adoptions legal.
According to the Central Adoption Resource Agency rules, a child can be legally sent for pre-adoption foster care — lasting two months — after a clearance from the Child Welfare Committee and filing a petition in the high court.
Spec, giving away children for adoption since 2002, allegedly did neither. Complainant parents said they only had to sign on a stamp paper.
Sumanta and Rina Banerjee of Dum Dum, who had adopted a girl through the agency in January 2009, are still to get her birth certificate.
“Our daughter should be admitted to school now but we cannot do that as we do not have her birth certificate. The NGO has cheated us. Not only did they not follow the procedures of adoption, they charged us Rs 2.35 lakh, much higher than the government prescribed adoption charge of Rs 35,200,” alleged Sumanta, who met women and child welfare minister Sabitri Mitra on Friday.
The agency allegedly duped at least 72 couples like the Banerjees.
The minister said: “We will conduct a thorough probe into the activities of the NGO. This is about the future of these children and we will not allow any foul play.” After the probe, the government will decide whether to “blacklist” Spec.
Manoranjan Chakraborty, the secretary of Spec, said the NGO gave away for adoption children left with it by their biological parents.
“We send the children for the new parents’ foster care and give them away formally only after the court validates the process,” he claimed at Writers’ Buildings on Friday.
“Seventy-two kids are not getting birth certificates as they were given away for adoption by us when we did not have the licence,” he added. He could not explain why the NGO did so.
After its licence had expired in March 2009, Spec was granted a provisional licence by the women and child welfare department that did not allow it to give away children for adoption. Chakraborty denied overcharging the parents but acknowledged that the NGO “accepted payments in cash”.
