Hyderabad: The Yousufguda Shishu Vihar in Hyderabad is flooded with applications for adoption as over 1,000 prospective parents are waiting to adopt children.

Officials say that 25-30 new applications are received every month. However, the number of children declared “fit for adoption” is not commensurate to the demand for adoption, they said.

Around 10-15 children are added to the state-run orphanage on a monthly basis.

“Only 50-60 per cent of the kids are fit for adoption. The remaining kids are those with special needs i.e. physically or mentally challenged, kids with HIV etc. Because there are fewer kids available, the time taken to process a request is longer. Parents shouldn’t go for illegal adoptions, treating the waiting period as delay,” said K. Shyama Sundari, joint director (schemes), Women’s Development and Child Welfare department.

As per the officials, three years is the minimum waiting period for a child in the age group 0-1 year. To adopt a child in the age group 3-5 years, it is only around six months.

Over 180 children were given to applicants from across Telangana in the last nine months. Seven kids with special needs were adopted by foreigners in the same time period. “It is usually foreigners who opt for kids with special needs as they have the resources to take care of the expenses,” Ms Shyama Sundari said.

“The ministry is working to reduce the “procedural delay” by bringing an integrated online system to streamline the details of the available children and the prospective parents,” she added.