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Suranya Aiyar:
Foster care: It's time to think out of the box
tehelka, 10 May 2012
"In the debate that has sparked off in India on the back of the Bhattacharya case about what we should be doing about child welfare, we Indians should show some real confidence by acknowledging the problem, but look for solutions by thinking out of the ‘Western’ box.
We must reject the ideology of the Western child welfare services that makes a split between the interest of the child on the one hand and the presence of parents and extended family in its life on the other."
"Sexual abuse and child battery are criminal offences and their redress should remain in the domain of criminal law. Splitting families should never be within the remit of a child care worker who is not subject to the checks of the criminal justice system. This brings us to another fallacy in the thinking behind Western child welfare services. There is a naive assumption that welfare institutions can prevent child abuse."
"Some of the facts about these social services are so startling that you would have expected more public criticism against them. But debate about child welfare services has been greatly restricted by confidentiality laws that screen their actions and decisions from public view."
"This sorry tale must not be repeated in India. We must robustly reject setting out on a course that will leave us boxed-in, as is the West, by the inhumanity of their child welfare services."
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