(1) A person for being selected or nominated as a Member of the Steering Committee of the Authority shall:
(i) be an Indian national;
(ii) not be below the age of twenty-five years and above the age of sixty years, and for the member who is an adoptee as per clause
(e) of sub-section (1) of section 69 of the Act, the minimum age would be twenty-one years;
(iii) not have been convicted or sentenced to imprisonment for an offence under any law for the time being in force; and
(iv) not have been removed or dismissed from service of the Central or State Government or a Body or corporation owned or controlled by Central or State Government.
(2) The Members in clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 69 of the Act, shall be from different zones on rotation basis.
(3) The zones and the Union Territory covered for the purpose of selection of the Members of the Steering Committee shall be as per the grouping made by Inter-State Council and North-Eastern Council from time to time. The Union Territory not covered in any of the zonal councils shall be included in the zone having geographical proximity.
(4) The member from the State Adoption Resource Agency would be selected from the State of the zone under consideration on the basis of:
(i) number of inspections of Specialised Adoption Agencies conducted by the State Adoption Resource Agency;
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(ii) regularity in conducting the quarterly meetings of the Specialized Adoption Agencies and uploading of the minutes of such meetings in the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System;
(iii) level of data integrity maintained by the State Adoption Resource Agency among the Specialised Adoption Agencies through the District Child Protection Units concerned;
(iv) capacity building of stakeholders as well as publicity awareness activities of State Adoption Resource Agency for the promotion of adoption in the Union Territory; and
(v) level of coordination with other stakeholders in the Union Territory as well as with the Authority.
(5) The selected State Adoption Resource Agency would be represented in the Steering Committee by the Secretary of the Department of the Government dealing with adoption or his representative not below the rank of Deputy Secretary or Joint Director of the Government.
(6) The Members of the Specialised Adoption Agencies would be selected as per the following criteria available in the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System and as per the record available with the Authority:
(i) the number of children given in adoption;
(ii) performance and data integrity in the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System;
(iii) follow-up of the progress of children placed in adoption;
(iv) record-keeping and documentation;
(v) child care standards; and
(vi) no proven complaint of malpractice against the agency.
(7) The Specialised Adoption Agencies shall be represented by their President or Chairperson or General Secretary or Secretary or Managing Trustee or Director or Manager, as the case may be.
(8) The selection of the Member from the category of Advocate or Professor in family law shall be from a combined panel of four names, with two names from each category, received from the National Legal Services Authority.
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(9) The Members of the Steering Committee, under clause (e) and (f) of sub-section (1) of section 69 of the Act, shall be selected or nominated by a Committee comprising of:
(i) Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development as the Chairperson;
(ii) Additional Secretary or Joint Secretary in-charge of the Authority in the Ministry of Women and Child Development as Member;
(iii) one external expert in the field of child protection as nominated by the Minister for Women and Child Development as Member; and
(iv) Member-Secretary of the Steer ing Committee, as the Member-Convener.
(10) The Members of the Steering Committee other than ex-officio Members shall be appointed with the approval of the Minister for Women and Child Development.
(11) The tenure of the Members of the Steering Committee, other than the ex-officio Members shall be two years from the date of appointment, unless the Member resigns or is removed or attains the age of sixty years.
(12) A non-ex-officio Member shall not be eligible for a second term.
(13) In case of any vacancy, a new Member will be nominated or selected for the remaining period of the tenure from the same State from the same category.
(14) A non-ex-officio Member of the Steering Committee of the Authority shall cease to be a Member if:
(i) he resigns as a Member, or
(ii) he ceases to hold the position by virtue of which he has been represented as a Member; or
(iii) he is removed on the following grounds:
(a) on being adjudged as an insolvent, or
(b) is convicted of a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, or,
(c) fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Steering Committee without the leave of the Chairperson of the Steering Committee, or 103PART–II] LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT
(d) is found working against the objectives of the adoption programme, the interests of the Authority and is found to be not following the regulations as applicable, or
(e) is found divulging any transaction of business or deliberations in the meetings of the Steering Committee or any document or information circulated to them for the purpose, to media or any other agency, without the prior approval or authorization of the Chairperson, or
(f) is found accepting benefaction from any source that involves conditions or obligations that are contrary to the mandates and objectives of the Authority.
(15) A non-ex-officio Member other than State Adoption Resource Agency shall be entitled to a sitting fee of ` 1,000 per sitting, for attending a meeting of the Steering Committee, travelling allowance in economy class air fare, hotel accommodation and food bill as per the Central Government Rules.