Report by Badal Tah, Rayagada: District Collector Manoj Satyavan Mahajan today handed over a baby girl to a Bengali couple. The long-standing hopes of the said couple, who applied to the authorities of the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) of GOI vide adoption rules promulgated in 2017, have been fulfilled. After waiting for a year, this couple has got the opportunity to receive the baby girl, who was taken care of for the last four months at a Child Care Institution(CCI) funded by the government & managed by IDS NGO at Rayagada.
The father, who adopted the baby, is an employee of the railway department working in West Bengal. He along with his wife, father and mother-in-law got overwhelmed while receiving the baby girl child from District Collector Mahajan. On the request of the Child Welfare Committee(CWC), District Child Protection Unit(DCPU) and Special Adoption Agency(SAA), Mahajan handed over the said baby girl.
It may be noted that on 27th September of year 2023, one newborn baby girl was rescued by Hari Kumar Das belonging to Magadha Sahi at Sikarpai of Singhpur block. When he came outside to pee at around 7.45 PM, he saw the baby on the roadside in between Dora Sahi & Adibasi Sahi. He then informed the GP President(BJP) T Chandrasekhar. He and his brother-in-law Tukuna Pujari rescued the child and brought her to PHC(New), Sikarpai and handed over the said baby to the hospital authorities for primary treatment. Chandrasekhar informed the police & SAA. The CWC, DCPU, SAA members received the baby in the presence of IIC, K Singhpur after initial treatment in the PHC. The child was produced before the CWC, Rayagada by the rescuing members including IIC, Kalyan Singhpur, Medical Officer, PHC-Sikarpai, CWC-Member, DCPU-staff & SAA-staff for restoration/rehabilitation before the Committee u/s 31(1)(i) of J.J.(C&PC) Act-2015. CWC ordered SAA(IDS), Rayagada under Rules-18(5), 18(19) and 19(26) for temporary placement of the infant in SAA, Rayagada till further order. She was named as Dharani. CWC ordered DCPU, Rayagada to initiate the process of tracing out of the biological parents or guardian/s of Dharani, if any, through advertisement in the newspapers for wider circulation.
As no legal guardian claimed within the stipulated period, the child was declared legally exempt from legal responsibility. During the handover of the child, CWC Chairperson Bidulata Huika along with other members, District Child Protection Officer(DCPO) Bichitra Sethi, Non-Institutional Protection Officer of the DCPU Pratap Kumar Das, Legal Aid Officer Nirakar Padhi, Secretary of SAA Devendra Kumar Behera, staff of IDS NGO and other staff members were present. “The concerted efforts of district administration is certainly laudable. Abandoned Dharani from an interior tribal pocket of Rayagada finding secured laps of a family is a safety net for her and her adopted parents as well. A girl child unwanted by someone for unknown reasons can be a boon for another. The message is crystal clear”, said Rasmi Ranjan Dora, a human rights activist in the region.
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