It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
It functions as the nodal body for adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children and is mandated to monitor and regulate the same.
Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993 was ratified by the Govt of India in 2003.
In accordance with the provisions of the convention, CARA was designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions.
It has recently barred partners in live-in relationships from adopting a child on the ground that cohabitation without marriage is not considered a stable family in India.
It permits a single woman to adopt a child of any gender, while single men can adopt only boys.
In case an applicant is married, both spouses must give their consent for adoption and should be in a stable marriage for at least two years.
