Trushali
- 16 March 2026
www.msn.com/en-in/lifestyle/whats-hot/on-women-s-day-spare-a-thought-for-abandoned-girl-children/ar-AA1XIxJv?ocid=BingNewsSerp
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Every year, on March 8, India’s public square transforms into a vibrant celebration of womanhood. From corporate boardrooms to social media feeds, the strength of women, their resilience, their leadership, and their contributions to our economy is lauded. Organisations speak of glass ceilings and digital parity. Yet, as the sun sets on these celebrations, a sobering reality remains tucked away in the shadows of our railway stations, temple doorsteps, and hospital cradles.
While the empowered woman is celebrated, the abandoned girl child is often overlooked.
The statistics are a jarring counter-narrative to our progress. While official data from the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) shows a record rise in legal adoptions; surpassing 4,500 in the 2024-25 period; this is merely the tip of a much deeper iceberg. Thousands of girl children continue to be abandoned annually, victims of a persistent, archaic preference for sons and the crushing weight of systemic poverty. For every girl who finds a home through a legal channel, many more are left to navigate a world that has, from birth, denied them their most basic right: the right to belong.
True empowerment cannot begin at the university gates or the office; it must start at the cradle. If we are to be a nation that truly honours its women, a care ecosystem that ensures no girl child is ever invisible must be built first.
In the Indian context, the word orphan is often a misnomer. A significant majority of children in our care systems are social orphans, children who have living parents but have been abandoned or surrendered due to extreme distress. For girl children, this distress is compounded by gender-based discrimination.
The current response, though well-intentioned, remains largely reactive. Schemes like Mission Vatsalya have made strides in creating a roadmap for child protection. A stronger care ecosystem must move beyond the brick-and-mortar of Child Care Institutions (CCIs). While these facilities provide essential shelter, they cannot replicate the psychological and emotional safety of a family. The Give to Gain theme of this year’s International Women’s Day offers a poignant framework here: By giving these children a stable, family-like environment, society gains a generation of confident, contributing citizens.
To safeguard the daughters of the country, the care ecosystem must be anchored by three critical shifts:
- From institutionalisation to family-based care: Global and Indian research consistently shows that institutional living can lead to developmental delays and emotional trauma. Family-based alternatives like foster care and kinship care should be prioritised. In India, foster care remains a vastly underutilised resource, often hindered by bureaucratic hurdles and cultural hesitation. What the country needs is a national movement that incentivises and supports families to open their homes, ensuring that alternative care feels like a home, not a holding cell.
- Addressing the special needs gap: A heart-wrenching reality in the adoption data is that nearly 65% of children currently awaiting adoption are those with special needs. These children, particularly girls, face a double marginalisation. A robust care ecosystem must include specialised medical, psychological, and educational support tailored to these vulnerable groups. Empowerment is a hollow word if it excludes those who need the most support to reach the starting line.
- The aftercare bridge: The care ecosystem currently has a precipice: the age of 18. When a girl in the care system turns 18, she is often expected to navigate the world independently overnight. Without a family safety net, these young women are at high risk of exploitation. Real empowerment requires a comprehensive ‘aftercare’ framework that provides vocational training, housing support, and mentorship until they are truly self-reliant. It should be ensured that the transition to adulthood is a bridge, not a fall.
The Government’s allocation of ₹3,150 crores to Mission Shakti in the budget is a welcome commitment to women’s safety and empowerment. However, a care ecosystem is not built by policy alone; it is built by community.
As the spotlight is shed on the achievements of Indian women this Women’s Day, it is the need of the hour to look toward the thousands of girls who are not yet part of the conversation so that the society can collectively move beyond the symbolism of a single day and commit to the unglamorous, long-term work of systemic care.
The focus should be the holistic development of girl child. Every child particularly girls have right to grow in a family be it family-based care or family-like care where a child builds long term relationship with the caregiver who offers unconditional love to enable the girl child to achieve her full potential. In situations where a child cannot grow in their family of origin, it is the responsibility of the society to enable the child to grow in a caring alternative family environment where the focus should be on the economic rehabilitation through proper education and skill building. Social rehabilitation should follow economic rehabilitation. Every girl has the right to grow up with the love, respect and security in an environment that fosters talent to achieve one’s full potential.
Safeguarding the girl child is not an act of charity; it is a fundamental duty of a civil society. When a girl is provided with a secure ecosystem, one that offers protection, education, and, above all, the sense of being wanted, not only is a life saved but he very essence of the womanhood celebrated is honoured.
True empowerment starts with the promise that in this New India, no girl child will ever have to stand alone.
This article is authored by Sumanta Kar, CEO, SOS Children’s Villages, India.