Trichy: All 23 abandoned children in the age group of one-and-half-years to seven years from adoption agency Martin Children Home were likely to get a new lease of life.Trichy district administration shifted the children from the home run by the Sisters of the Cross Society for Education and Development (SOC-SEAD) in Trichy to four other specialised adoption agencies in Madurai, Dindigul, Namakkal and Salem in a dispute over renewal of license on Tuesday.A team of officials including Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Trichy, district child protection officer, revenue officials and the police rescued the children from the home on Tuesday afternoon.“The home does not have the license for adoption thus they cannot keep the children in the home as per the Act. On the recommendations from the CWC, I have ordered to shift the children to four specialised adoption agencies,” Trichy collector K Rajamani told TOI.Out of 23, 12 boys were and 11 girls. The action plan of the collector allotted five children each to Claretian Mercy Home in Madurai, Annai Kasthurba Hospital in Dindigul and Paraamarikkum Karangal in Namakkal and eight children to Lifeline Trust in Salem.Five children were earlier allotted to Grace Kennet Foundation in Madurai. As the home expressed inability to take the children in, the collector chose Paraamarikkum Karangal.The process of shifting was done peacefully as the home administration which had resisted the shifting operation a few years ago, cooperated with the team now.“The license for adoption of the home expired in April 2016 after which they could not fulfil the requirements to get the license back. The specialised agencies will take care of the adoption process of the children,” said CWC chairperson S Indiragandhi on Tuesday evening.The children had been brought to Martin Children home from Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Ariyalur, Namakkal, Salem and Erode areas as per the directions from CWC’s of the respective districts when the home had the license. The children had either been surrendered under the cradle baby scheme or abandoned.The issue over obtaining the renewal of their license for doing in-country adoption put the prospects of the children at stake, despite being selected by the prospective adoptive parent (PAP) for the past two years. It may be pointed out that the home did their best to keep the children despite their failure to get the license back. CWC and the collector sped up the process of shifting after concerns over the future of the children were raised in the social defence department.“Even though the children can be given up for adoption till 18 years of age as per the Act, adoption in the early age will help in the children bonding with the adoptive parents. In the case of the 23 children here, they were being kept here for more than two years without being given up for adoption. So, action was taken seriously keeping in mind the welfare of the children,” said collector Rajamani.Repeated attempts to contact the administrators of Martin Children Home went in vain.

Stay updated with all the Latest Trichy headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.