Govt to bring regulations to make inter-country adoptions under HAMA easier

In a bid to ease inter-country adoptions, the Central Adoption Resource Authority has framed regulations under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act on the direction of the Union government, an official said on Tuesday.

Till now, there were no regulations for the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) for inter-country adoptions under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA), which covers Hindu, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains.

"So, when a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) or Overseas-Citizen of India used to get adoption done under the HAMA, they faced a lot of difficulty in getting a no-objection certificate.

"That has been done away with now and CARA will issue an NOC based on the verification done by a district magistrate," the senior official elaborated.

He said so far, the NOC was issued by a court -- a time-consuming process.

The government has also introduced a new clause in the adoption regulations, under which when parents move abroad with their adopted child within two years of adoption they have to intimate Indian diplomatic missions of their departure and arrival at least two weeks in advance, the official said

He said the Women and Child Development ministry has directed CARA to frame regulations under HAMA on how intercountry adoption under the legislation can take place.

"The ministry has finalised the regulations and that will be issued soon," the official added.

HAMA deals with the rules for adopting children. It gives an adopted child all the rights enjoyed by a biological child.