The Cabinet minister of women and child development (WCD) is dissatisfied with the progress made on the inquiry into the alleged child marriage racket being run at the Mahila Swikar Kendra orphanage in Baramati, India and has therefore ordered a high-level inquiry into these offenses, says the article.

This study was aimed at assessing growth and developmental outcomes of children living in orphanages in Odisha, India aged birth to 72 months and to make recommendations for “possible remedial measures” for addressing poor growth and developmental outcomes for children in institutions.

Local authorities in Kathmandu, Nepal have removed 16 children from a children’s shelter where they had been living in “horrible conditions,” according to the article.

A Parliamentary panel in India has recently rejected a proposal for intercountry adoptions of orphaned children, according to the article.

OVERVIEW

The Indian government has launched Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the reunification and rehabilitation of children separated from their families at 20 big railway stations in the country, according to the article.

A recent police investigation in Baramati, India has revealed that a local girls’ orphanage has been running a child marriage racket, according to this article from Pune Mirror.

A correspondent from the Daily Star in Bangladesh investigated an “orphanage” at Angaria village in Dumki upazila that was receiving government funds.

30 children from West Bengal, India were recently “rescued” by police during a child labour raid in the Old City. The children are now being lodged at a rescue home “with little hope of returning to their native place” as they await a First Information Report (FIR) to be issued, according to the article.

The ultimate message of a recent national adoption meeting in India was that all stakeholders should do their utmost to ensure the best interests of children are given priority and first consideration in all matters related to adoption, according to the article.