NEW DELHI: India has ordered an immediate inspection of all childcare homes run by a religious order founded by Mother Teresa after a nun was arrested over an alleged adoption racket.

Illegal adoption is big business in India with over 100,000 children reported missing every year, the government says.

Many are given up by desperately poor parents but others are snatched from hospitals and train stations.

Police earlier this month arrested the nun and a worker at one of the Missionaries of Charity’s homes in Ranchi, the capital of the eastern state of Jharkhand, over allegations that at least five infants were sold for potentially thousands of dollars.

The scandal came to light after local child welfare aut­h­orities informed police abo­­­­­ut a newborn missing from the home, which is meant to care for unwed pregnant women and mothers in distress.

In a statement late on Monday, Women and Child Development Minister Ma­­neka Gandhi said all state governments have been ask­ed “to get child care homes run by Missionaries of Cha­r­ity all over the country ins­p­ected immediately”.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2018