Arun Kumar | September 25, 2015
An NGO called ‘Palna’ has been cradling abandoned, destitute, physically or mentally challenged children for decades. Set up in 1978, the NGO is run by the Delhi council for child welfare (DCCW). A cradle is kept near the entrance of the orphanage in north Delhi where parents leave their unwanted newborns. The infants are usually in precarious health with low birth weight, hypothermia, trauma and congenital defects. Embracing these children, the NGO nurtures them by providing round-the-clock medical facilities, healthy diet and, as they grow up, non-formal educational sessions. On average, Palna looks after 90-100 children daily ranging in age from new-borns to eight-year-olds. The NGO also has an adoption centre and children are given for adoption only after a thorough background check of the prospective parents. Palna also has a special centre to look after differently-abled children. Children with special needs find a safe haven in Palna as they are unlikely to be taken up for adoption. Others, when they turn eight, are sent to an orphanage if they are not adopted. So far, Palna has placed over 2,800 children in loving families. Aware of the social taboo in the country regarding adoption, Palna is also open for adoption by foreign families.
The other side
Despite revised guidelines which make the adoption process hassle-free and transparent there has been a decline in the adoption rate in the country.
5,693
Children adopted in 2010
5,964
Children adopted in 2011
4,694
Children adopted during 2012-13
3,924
Children adopted during 2013-14
3,988
Children adopted between April 2014 and March 2015
Source: CARA
Photos by Arun Kumar
Health is a State subject, and the primary responsibility for providing healthcare services, including cancer care, rests with the respective state governments. However, the Department of Health and Family Welfare provides technical and financial support to States and Union Territories across the country
The capabilities and aspirations of India’s youth are limitless, prime minister Narendra Modi said in his remarks to the media at the start of monsoon session of the parliament on Monday. "In the past month, the country has achieved many milestones, filling citiz
Prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation various development projects worth around ₹14,700 crore in Jind, Haryana. The PM positioned the city as a shining reflection of the good governance model. Emphasizing that the entire Haryana
Climate change has at least doubled the temperature-related sleep loss across 1,338 major cities worldwide over the past five decades, highlighting an emerging but often overlooked public health consequence of rising global temperatures. A new study by Climate Central estimates that between 2020 and
The union cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has approved the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) with a budgetary outlay of Rs 62,500 crore. It aims to further scale up the production, deepen domestic value addition, strengthen supply chain resilience, enhance global competitiveness. It
Recent stories of stolen railway wires, disappearing communication towers and missing public infrastructure are often treated as bizarre law-and-order failures of India. Yet they raise a more fundamental question. Why does the State often discover the disappearance of a public asset only after it has alrea
