Citing difficulty in complying with the new adoption rules notified by the government in July, the Mother Teresa-founded Missionaries of Charity on Saturday said it has voluntarily given up its status to run adoption homes in India.
"It was two months ago that the Missionaries of Charity decided to discontinue all our adoption work in India. We have voluntarily given up our recognised status to run adoption centres. If we were to continue the work set up by Mother Teresa, complying with all the provisions would have been difficult for us," the organisation said in a statement.
"This decision was arrived soon after we received the new 'Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children, 2015' issued under a notification from the union ministry of women and child development," the statement added.
While the Missionaries of Charity did not specify its opposition to any particular provision, the new guidelines notified in July have made single parents (separated, divorced, unwed mothers) eligible to adopt through online registration.
The organisation runs 16 orphanages in India under the name of Nirmala Shishu Bhawan, providing shelter, food, medical care and schooling to abandoned and destitute children. Of this 13 were authorised by the government to run adoption centres.