“Every year in the State, the number of orphans and abandoned children getting institutionalised in government and private Child Care Centres is increasing. This is not a good sign,” said Arundhati, programme manager, Directorate of Child Protection, Karnataka.
Speaking on the ‘Status of the Family Based Care in Karnataka’ during a ‘Consultation on Family-Based Care and Nurturing for Children in Karnataka,’ here on Friday, Ms. Arundhati said there are 711 child care institutions in the State, including 108 government Bala Mandiras. Currently, there are about 19,000 to 20,000 children in these institutions. Of these, 350 are adoptable children in the ‘Orphan Abandonment Surrendered’ (OAS) category. The rest are in the No-Visitation or Unfit Guardian category , she said.
“According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2025, institutionalisation of children shall be a last resort. But we are promoting institutionalisation without properly understanding the Act. As per the rules, children registered with the Child Welfare Committee and the Children’s Welfare Board should be re-integrated with their families as a first priority. If there is no family, they can be re-integrated with the extended family. If this is not possible, steps should be taken to provide them with a permanent family through adoption. When none of this is possible, arrangements should be made for them in Foster Care Family. We all need to work more in this regard,” she said.
