Preet Mandir, scandale après scandale... Mais quand est ce qu'ils comprendront ?

Article times of India

Probe ordered against Pune orphanage13 Jun, 2007 l 0147 hrs ISTl

Himanshi Dhawan/TIMES NEWS NETWORK

NEW DELHI: A day after Denmark announced it had suspended all adoptions from India, the Central Adoption Resources Agency (CARA) on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the Pune-based orphanage, Preet Mandir. Central Adoption Resources Agency chairperson J K Mittal said, "The matter is being investigated. I have given instructions to collect all paperwork regarding the institution." Denmark suspended all adoptions from India after a news report claimed that some of the children who have been adopted could have been abducted. Mittal added that the licence for the orphanage had been suspended in the past after CARA received complaints from various quarters. "We had renewed the licence on a temporary basis but there is an inquiry pending against them. We will take all steps to ensure that the issue is probed thoroughly," Mittal added. According to agency reports, Denmark's consumer and family affairs minister Carina Christensen had expressed concern over the "conditions" in which adoptions had taken place. Christensen had ordered the Danish authorities to investigate AC International Child Support, one of Denmark's two government-approved adoption agencies. The organisation was accused in a TV documentary of having received children from an orphanage in Pune without the biological parents' approval. In the documentary that was broadcast two days ago, Ramesh Kulkarne claimed that after his wife's death, he had temporarily put his two children in Preet Mandir orphanage. Kulkarne said that for years, he was barred from seeing his children at the orphanage. In April, Kulkarni learned that the pair had been adopted in Denmark in 2003 through AC International Child Support. The Denmark-based agency said it had stopped cooperating with Preet Mandir in June 2003 after repeated reports about the agency management's use of unethical methods. The documentary showed orphanage manager J Bhasin, filmed with a hidden camera, saying that a child costs $7,000. Indian children are 'popular' for inter-country adoption. The US tops the list of overseas adoptions from India with 945 Indian children having found homes in that country over the past three years. Italy comes next with 419 Indian children being adopted in the past three years. Spain follows with 301 adoptions and Denmark with 194.


http://www.indianexpress.com/story/33437.html

Denmark puts adoption home back under scanner
Nisha Nambiar


PUNE, JUNE 12 : Preet Mandir, a Pune-based adoption house, is back under the scanner after Denmark suspended all adoptions from India on Monday after a news report claimed that some of the children adopted in the Scandinavian country could have been abducted.
In April 2007, Ramesh Dattatray Kulkarni, a 35-year-old widower from Sangola in Maharashtra’s Solapur district, had complained that Preet Mandir had given his four children for adoption way back in July 2003. He said he had never given consent for the adoptions. A documentary on this case broadcast last week is said to have prompted Copenhagen to act against adoption’s from India.
“I had only sent my children to the agency for good care and schooling as I did not have a job. I definitely did not want them to be given for adoption,” he said in a statement. Kulkarni said a signature was taken on a Rs 20 stamp paper saying it was an “admission paper”. When Kulkarni’s parents went to get the children back, the agency demanded Rs 50,000 for each child, he said.
On April 26, Bombay High Court had asked the CBI to investigate suspicious foreign adoptions made through Preet Mandir and submit an overall report by mid-July. Mumbai-based Adwait Foundation and Pune-based child rights organisation Sakhee had filed a petition in the High Court against Preet Mandir for “malpractices in foreign adoptions”.
Anjali Kate from Sakhee said when Kulkarni went to meet his children in July 2003, he could meet only two of the four. “The authorities told him that the other two children were in hospital for treatment. He was requested to avoid visiting them often as it would disturb the children. Kulkarni returned only on April 12, 2007. It was then that he was told that all children were given for adoption,” said Kate.
When contacted a Preet Mandir spokesperson said, “It is totally false. He had relinquished his four children legally to Preet Mandir for which we have sufficient evidence. It’s only on the basis of the (consent) papers that the four children were given for adoption to the Denmark agency.”
The adoption agency first came in the news in 2006 when a private channel ran a sting operations exposing its practices. Preet Mandir, which has two homes in Pune and a branch in Aurangabad. The channel claimed Preet Mandir managing director J S Bhasin had been “selling babies to foreigners for years, breaking adoption laws in the country”.
As per rules, a child can be put up for adoption to foreign parents only if at least three Indian parents refuse the child. The rules also state that Indian parents should account for at least 50 per cent of all adoptions from a centre. However, in 2005-6, Preet Mandir put up 100 children for foreign adoptions as against 62 for Indians, something Bhasin then dismissed as misleading.
Today, J Bhasin was unavailable for comment. But a press statement issued by Preet Mandir said: “The allegations made are false, untrue and with malafide intention by someone who is constantly maligning the image of Balwant Kartar Anand Foundation (Preet Mandir). They appear to be bent upon damaging the rehabilitation programme of orphans and underprivileged children.” Preet Mandir is following all rules and guidelines prescribed by the State and Central governments as well as orders of the Supreme Court, the spokesperson said, threatening to take legal action against those “out to defame the fair name of Preet Mandir”.
Pune Police Commissioner Jayant Umranikar said he would immediately register a case if the “complaint by the parent is cognisable in nature”. In fact, the police had failed to file an FIR when Kulkarni initially complained about Preet Mandir.
Pune Cantonment Board CEO S K Sardana, under whose jurisdiction Preet Mandir falls, said: “Action will be taken against Preet Mandir and the same will be discussed in the cantonment general body meeting. We will cancel their license if need be”.
Meanwhile, Kate said Sakhee had ample proof against the agency. “The Bombay High Court has asked the CBI to conduct an inquiry into where they source the children from to donations taken during inter-country adoptions. The CBI was supposed to give a preliminary report in 15 days. This has extended to three months. Anyway, the full report is due in mid-July,” she said.


http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=480293

DENMARK-ADOPTIONS
PRINT EMAIL
Denmark suspends all adoptions from India
COPENHAGEN, JUNE 11 (AP)
Denmark today suspended all adoptions from India after a news report claimed that some of the children who have been adopted in the Scandinavian country could have been abducted.
"I am concerned about the conditions that have surfaced," said Carina Christensen, the consumer and family affairs minister.
Denmark temporarily suspended all adoption from India "until we feel totally safe that the adoptions from India can be made in a reassuring way."
Christensen also ordered Danish authorities to investigate AC International Child Support, one of Denmark's two government-approved adoption agencies.
The organization, known as AC, was accused in a DR1 television documentary of having received children from an orphange in Pune without the birth parents' approval.
In the documentary that was broadcast yesterday, Ramesh Kulkarne claimed he temporarily placed his two children at Preet Mandir orphanage while finding a job after his wife died. Kulkarne told DR1 that he for years was barred from seeing his children at the orphanage.
In April, Kulkarni learned that the pair had been adopted in Denmark in 2003 through AC International Child Support.
"If the Indian authorities' investigation show that Ramesh Kulkarne wrongfully had his children taken away from him, it is a very tragic case and a big tragedy," AC board chairman Anders Christensen said."We expect the Indian authorities will pursue the case and find out whether a crime has been committed in connection with the legalization of the (adoption) documents," he added.The western Denmark-based agency said it had stopped cooperating with Preet Mandir in June 2003 after "repeated rumors about the agency's management's use of unethical methods." Over the years, AC had found homes for 26 children from Preet Mandir. It was unclear when AC started cooperating with Preet Mandir.
The documentary showed the orphanage manager, J. Bhasin, filmed with a hidden camera by DR1 and saying a child cost USD 7,000.
Indian adoption authorities have a maximum USD 3,500 to be paid by per case, covering orphanage and caring costs and paperwork in connection with the adoption, according to AC.
"Children that are adopted to Denmark cannot be bought for money," Christensen said. "That is in violation of international rules."
The DR1 channel said Indian authorities earlier had investigated child trafficking allegations against Preet Mandir.
The broadcast did not indicate that DR1 had sought comment from India's adoption authorities, the Central Adoption Resource Agency - called CARA - or from the orphanage. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Preet Mandir and CARA after office hours failed.
The suspension of Indian adoption also affected Danadopt, Denmark's second adoption agency, which has not cooperated with Preet Mandir.
In 2006, 514 children born abroad were adopted in Denmark, of whom 34 were born in India.