Hit By Poverty & Old Age, Grandparents Give Away 9-Yr-Old To Administration For Adoption

Bargarh: Unable to take care of his nine-year-old granddaughter due to ill health and poverty, an elderly man has recently handed over the child to District Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Odisha’s Bargarh district.

CWC has sent the nine-year-old to Paikamala Parbatagiri Ashram where she will wait for a family to adopt her.

According to reports, Mukunda Banchhor of Sakhadunguri village under Jharbandha police limits of Bargarh and his 73-year-old paralytic wife had been taking care of their granddaughter after they lost their son Dibakara to an accident in 2016.

As Dibakara’s wife, the child’s mother, lost her mental balance after the incident and left home, the elderly couple had the responsibility of looking after the girl. However, as they are aging and not keeping well, they on the advice of residents of their village decided to hand over their daughter to the District Administration for adoption.

Banchhor is unable to do physical labour because of his age and the elderly couple were dependent only on government incentives which was not enough to bring up the child.

“We have been taking care of her since she was 10 months old. But like everyone said how long will we be able to look after her? The government incentives we get as old age pension and through Public Distribution System (PDS) are insufficient to give her an education. So we decided to give her to the government because we also do not know how she will manage after we die,” told Banchhor to media with tears in his eyes.

Jharbandha Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) Coordinator Rakhi Meher travelled with Banchhor to the district headquarters in Bargarh to help him execute the official formalities.

As per rules, Banchhor will be able to meet his granddaughter for the next two months but not after that. The CWC will begin the adoption process of the nine-year-old and a suitable family will be selected for her adoption, officials told media.