Around 650 children were found abandoned in the capital during 2007-09. Sixty of them were relinquished in adoption homes, while 590 were found left in various places including roadsides and outside temples.
The Campaign Against Child Trafficking (CACT), a NGO, obtained this data by filing RTI applications in various adoption agencies.
“There is a lack of awareness about the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, under which one can relinquish the child legally. The result is that newborns are found on the roadside and outside temples,” said Aparna Sareen, volunteer, CACT.
The data, released on Wednesday, also reveals that as on June 2009, more than 1,266 couples were waiting to adopt babies from 11 adoption agencies in the capital. As many as 243 foreign couples are in the waiting list.