In a poignant upturn of events, what was seen as a messiah of justice and harbinger of reform has been concealing a dark truth.

Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation established by Mother Teresa in 1950 have been embroiled in unfortunate events. Although established with aim to aid the aged, mentally ill, unmarried mothers, sick abandoned children that are often left to fend for themselves, the functioning of missionaries has rather become inconspicuous.

India is a land of virtues, of religious ethics that guide the daily lives of millions. The Hindu societal fabric vows to the concept of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ wherein, the emphasis is laid on two factors of primary importance, the ‘World’ and the ‘Family’ An immense amount of significance is catered to the familial values and the binding glue is that of motherly love, fatherly protection. Yet tales of those that are deprived of this core value are blemished with controversies that are beyond their own understanding.

Children are considered to be the universal epitome of love and yet in these homes where they are promised a better future, their lives lead an uncertain trajectory.

Due to corruption of agencies and mechanisation of the modern day institutions, a great deal of ethics has been lost to the wind. At these homes where unmarried pregnant women are given shelter, and newborn children a ray of hope, a topsy turvy administration has paved way to child trafficking.

Unmarried mothers are given the option to either take their children with them or leave them in the charity houses.

However, the missionaries are to follow a strict protocol and maintain a registry of the babies thus born.

It is rather upsetting that such institutions with the endeavour to save lives are themselves not immune from contemporary social evils.

The matter came to light when a couple in Ranchi approached the Child welfare committee, complaining that after having spent a sum of 1.2 lakh, the staff that promised to deliver the baby didn’t stick to their word. Naïve as they seemed to be about the formal procedure of adoption, or maybe they were circumventing laws of adoption, owing to the misfortune of its inconvenience and delay through the legal route, the matter is yet to be probed.

Sister Koshlenia and staffer Anima Indwar of Nirmal Hriday have been arrested. Unsettling confessions were made during the interrogation, which revealed that about 4 babies had been sold. It’s a bleak day for humanity, as the pious and seemingly self righteous have committed an unforgivable sin.

The Child welfare committee has issued instructions that all state governments must inspect Missionaries of Charities immediately. 12 centres of congregation in the state are under scrutiny.

Apart from the blatant violation of protecting the children, the Missioners are under the scanner for a probable violation of the FCRA Act (Foreign contribution regulation act)

As missionaries receive a score of foreign funds, it is probed whether these funds have been misappropriated for godforsaken reasons.

The unfortunate malfeasance brings to surface twin issues.

While child trafficking has been cemented in the constitution as a punishable offence, adoption certainly needs an overhaul.

In India in order to adopt, one has to go through an entangled web of civil courts and family courts and painstakingly long procedure, which may at times take up to years. It has lead to wretched consequences such as illegal adoptions, sex racket, child trafficking.

Although rules and regulations have been set in place, the bone of contention remains implementation of these regulations and the need to take cognizance of the loopholes.

According to the law, childcare institutions must be registered and linked to the federal adoption authority, CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) CARA is ttatutory under ministry of women and child development. It is the nodal body to monitor and regulate in country adoptions.

In December, the Supreme Court ordered mandatory registration and since then 2300 Childcare institutions have been linked to CARA. As many as 4000 are still pending.

Juvenile Justice (JJ) law mandates that the courts have to dispose off adoption cases within 2 months from the date of filing of application, although it seldom happens.

The ministry of women and child development has proposed to amend the Juvenile Justice care and protection of children act 2015 It suggests to incorporate a clause to allow courts of DM to pass the adoption order, as DM is the on the ground implementing agency

Verification of prospective parents is done by the Child welfare committee which come under the DM

Thereby enhancing efficiency and reducing time.

An inter ministerial panel headed by the External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj has cleared the proposal. This is likely to unburden the Civil courts, fast-track the adoption process and in due course make it crime an improbable occurrence.

While a lot more murk needs to be clear, the urgency of the situation cannot be overseen.

The children of our country, the future of our nation deserve first class treatment. What better place to begin than here.

Before their dreams are shattered and hope smeared with vile blood, before their throats strangled and lives discoloured with ghastly truth, we must rise and live through our motto, make the ‘World’ a ‘Family’ indeed.