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Orphaned by the cyclone, spurned by prejudice

Bhibuti Mishra in Bhubhaneswar

Even as Orissa struggles to rehabilitate thousands of children orphaned by the cyclone, adoption of these orphans by individual families is not going to be easy. There are proposals before the State Council for Child Welfare and the Women and Child Development department but considering the dismal record of adoption in the state things are bound to run into rough weather.

There are couples from inside the state and outside who have evinced interest in adopting the cyclone orphans. In fact, a few offers have come from abroad too regarding the adoption of the destitute children of Erasama. But since adoption by people abroad is not encouraged the focus is on the adoption proposals from inside the country. But the process is so cumbersome that it will take these couples anything between six months to one year to adopt the children.

As per the procedure the Hindu parents have to apply to the Juvenile Welfare Board of the districts if they are to adopt children from the agencies accredited by the Central Adoption Resource Agency. After getting a number of documents processed by the JWB they may get clearance and then they have to file an appeal before the district judge under the Foster Care Agreement Bond for parenthood of the children. Since most of the JWBs are defunct now, the foster parents have to apply to the collector and the process is painfully slow.

There are five agencies accredited by CARA in Orissa and the record of adoption is very poor. It had only 65 adoptions last year compared to the more than 1,000 children adopted every year in states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The reasons are not far to seek.

Says the secretary of the State Council for Child Welfare -- "Certain biases are at work here in Orissa. People want a male child, that too of fair complexion, whereas Bengalis, Maharashtrians and south Indians don't mind adopting a girl child. Besides, in Orissa the preference is for a new-born child."

Given such prejudices the cyclone orphans, most of whom are between three and 12, have a fat chance of getting adopted in Orissa itself. And if the child is physically handicapped chances are that it would not find a home anywhere in India. The secretary of the Women and Child Welfare department is, however, not bothered about all this. "Individual adoption will be our last option. We would rather promote community-based rehabilitation for the cyclone orphans," he says.

Meanwhile, Jagannath Kaul, president of the SOS Villages of India, and known as papaji to thousands of children, criticised the state government's community rehabilitation scheme. "How can a community take care of the orphaned child when every person has his own business to mind? What these unfortunate children need is emotional rehabilitation and that can be possible only in a homely atmosphere," said Kaul. He revealed plans of building the second SOS village in Orissa close to the cyclone affected areas to house 200 children.

Incidentally, the SOS village near Bhubaneswar has taken in 134 children from cyclone-hit areas and they are treated on par with the 167 children already there. "Because they should be made to feel normal like anybody else," says a teacher in the village. Kaul has appealed to the government not to separate the orphaned siblings as that would deprive them of vital emotional support. Since building the village is going to cost Rs 50 million the Orissa chief minister has been requested to extend help.

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