(a) whether a large number of Indian children are forcibly kept in custody by foreign
child protection agencies;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereon; and
(c) the appropriate action taken or proposed to be taken by the Government for the safety,
security and repatriation of such children?
MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI KRISHNA TIRATH)
(a) to (c): The Government in the Ministry of Women and Child Development does not maintain
data relating to number of Indian children forcibly kept in custody by foreign child protection
agencies.
The issue of child custody by foreign child care authorities is a complex one that has legal
implications and impinges on the right of a sovereign State in ensuring that those who stay
in that country as also those who are visiting the country, abide by the laws of the land.
Government of India can only intervene in genuine and deserving cases where at least one of
the parents as well as the child/children are Indian nationals or Person of Indian Origin
(PIO)/ Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card holders.
Every Indian Mission/Post abroad has a Community Welfare/Consular Wing, which has a Nodal
Officer to look after the welfare of Indian nationals abroad. In some media highlighted
child custody cases, it has turned out that both the child and the family have obtained
the nationality of a foreign country, which naturally limits the ability of the concerned
Indian Mission to intervene in the matter. However, in all cases of child custody, Indian
Missions abroad have acted promptly and have provided assistance to the concerned families.