Shreevatsa is a care centre for the family deprived children which is located in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, a city in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

a western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state. The centre offers its orphans for adoption. It is operated by "Society of Friends of Sassoon Hospitals", a charitable organisation associated with

Sassoon Hospital Sassoon General Hospital ( mr, ससून सर्वोपचार रुग्णालय) is a large state-run hospital in Pune, India with over 1500 beds. The B. J. Medical College, Pune and a Nurses training School is attached to it. ...

, Pune. The centre was established on 6 October 1973, the day of

Vijayadashami Vijayadashami ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu ...

. 2574 of its orphans were legally adopted into families between 1974 and 2009. On 5 July 2011, Women and Child Welfare Department of the government of Maharashtra inspected its premises. Four unwed pregnant women were found illegally housed in the centre. It is considered that unwed mothers would be prone to abandon babies, therefore centres that offer its residents for adoption are not allowed to provide lodging for unwed pregnant women. The centre had its licence to work as an adoption agency temporarily suspended by the Central Adoption Resource Authority in June 2012, in response to complaints regarding overcharging of fees. In 1982, documentary and feature film director

Prakash Jha Prakash Jha (born 27 February 1952) is an Indian film producer, actor, director and screenwriter, mostly known for his political and socio-political films such as “Hip Hip Hurray” (1984), ''Damul'' (1984), ''Mrityudand'' (1997), ''Gangaaja ...

created a documentary film ''Shree Vats'' about the centre. The film has interviews of adoptive families in it.

Notable former orphans

* Former Australian international female cricketer

Lisa Sthalekar Lisa Carprini Sthalekar (born 13 August 1979) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer and captain of the Australia women's national cricket team. In domestic cricket, she represented New South Wales. She was a right-handed all ...

References

External links

Official website

30 yrs later, Pune orphanage inmate returns to adopt her daughter with a similar story

Adopted Linda Bery revisits Shreevatsa to give home to two children
{{small, Publisher: '' DNA'', Date: 12 April 2012, Retrieved: 25 February 2013 Adoption in India Orphanages in India 1973 establishments in Maharashtra Organisations based in Pune