Mother's Missionaries won't budge, decide to discontinue adoptions
Himanshi Dhawan
New Delhi
The Missionaries of Charity on Saturday made it official that it was discontinuing adoption work in India, as it would be “difficult“ to comply with all provisions of the new adoption guidelines if it were to continue the work of Mother Teresa.
The 65-year-old organisation has applied for de-recognition of 13 of its 16 institutions from the Central Adoption Resource Authority in opposition to the new guidelines that allow single people to adopt children. The guidelines were notified by the ministry of women and child development in July.
The clarification on its controversial stand comes days after Union minister Maneka Gandhi said the organisation had been following its own “agenda“ and had balked when asked to follow the “unified secular agenda“.
“Our adoption work, started by Mother Teresa, has been arewarding experience which has changed the lives of thousands. We are grateful to God for having allowed us to serve Him through this work for so many years. It is clear to us it is the will of God to discontinue this work,'' Sunita Kumar, MoC spokesperson said in a statement. She added, “It was two months ago that we decided to discontinue our adoption work in India.“ We have voluntarily giv en up our recognised status to run adoption centres. If we were to continue the work set up by Mother Teresa, complying with all the provisions would have been difficult for us,'' Sunita Kumar, Missionaries of Charity spokesperson said in a statement.
The decision was taken by the Missionaries of Charity headquarters in Kolkata soon after they received the new “Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children, 2015'' issued by the WCD ministry .
“The Missionaries of Charity is synonymous with helping the needy and the afflicted.Since it was started 65 years ago by Mother Teresa, we have been serving the poorest of the poor, free of charge, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. Our adoption centres have been providing homes to thousands of children. We trust that God will take care of all the children in need of love from parents,'' the statement said.
