CARA and India’s Adoption System

795 adoption agencies across India now run through one shared digital system. It is built to close the gap between waiting parents and children who need homes. This article covers CARA, India’s adoption authority: its history, how a case moves, and what “waiting period” really means.

1Chapter 1: CARA and the Legal Framework

Must Know

A 1990 authority, now statutory

• CARA was set up in 1990 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• It became a statutory body under Section 68 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
• See The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Two adoption laws

• Adoption runs through two separate laws.
• The JJ Act, 2015 is the main pathway, covering orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children.
• The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA) is a separate route.
• HAMA is administered by the Ministry of Law and Justice, not by CARA or the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Who does what

• Child Welfare Committees decide which children need care and protection.
• They also monitor Child Care Institutions.
• States and UTs are advised to set up at least one Specialised Adoption Agency in every district.
• That comes under Sections 65 and 66 of the JJ Act and the Adoption Regulations, 2022.
• CARA is also India’s Central Authority for intercountry adoption under the Hague Convention, which India ratified in 2003.

2Chapter 2: How Adoption Moves

Good to Know

Mission Vatsalya funding

• The Mission Vatsalya Scheme gives financial support to set up and strengthen SAAs.

“Legally free for adoption”

• A child cannot be adopted the moment they arrive at a shelter.
• A Child Welfare Committee must first declare the child free for adoption.
• That confirms no parent or guardian can be found or will come forward.
• Only then does the child enter the pool CARA and SAAs match with waiting parents.
• This step protects a child’s right to the birth family first.

Digital process and timelines

• As of 29 July 2026, 795 SAAs have been approved nationally under Mission Vatsalya.
• CARA has digitised the whole process through the Adoption Module on the Mission Vatsalya portal.
• It covers referral, matching and documentation, and is integrated with the CARINGS system.
• All SAAs must be onboarded onto the integrated CARINGS–Mission Vatsalya system.
• Real-time dashboards at Central and State level, plus review meetings, monitor compliance.
• Schedule XIV of the Adoption Regulations, 2022 sets timelines for every stakeholder.
• Fixed timelines only work if compliance can be tracked. That is why digitisation is an anti-delay tool.

3Chapter 3: Why Parents Wait

Great to Know

Demand exceeds supply

• Prospective Adoptive Parents often wait, but not because children are stuck waiting.
• More parents want to adopt than there are children declared LFA.
• Parents’ preferences for a state or age group narrow the pool further.
• An online referral system still places LFA children promptly.

A wider family-law pattern

• Two laws reflect a broader pattern in Indian family law.
• A general child-protection route sits beside a religion-specific personal-law route.
• Different ministries run each.

4Chapter 4: Current Affairs

Current Affairs

795 SAAs, fully onboarded

• On 5 August 2026, MoS for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur gave a written Rajya Sabha reply on CARA’s digitisation.
• She confirmed 795 SAAs approved as of 29 July 2026, all mandatorily onboarded onto the CARINGS–Mission Vatsalya system.
• The reply said waiting periods come from demand exceeding LFA supply, plus parents’ own preferences, not delays in placing eligible children. (Source: PIB.)

A wider child-safety portal

• In a separate Rajya Sabha reply on 22 July 2026, the Ministry detailed a wider Mission Vatsalya Portal integration.
• The TrackChild portal and Khoya-Paya app, for missing and found children, now sit on one unified portal.
• It links to CCTNS, so police can match missing-children FIRs against its database.
• The Go Home and Re-Unite (GHAR) portal is integrated too.
• State and district nodal officers handle missing-children cases. (Source: PIB.)

Quick Q&A

• CARA set up? 1990.
• Statutory under? Section 68, JJ Act 2015.
• India ratified Hague? 2003.
• SAAs approved? 795.
• Timelines in? Schedule XIV, Adoption Regulations 2022.