Safe Childhood India

What makes someone a sibling? Blood — or the years of shared life, shared meals, and shared tears that no law fully captures?

In Lakshmi Kant Pandey v. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India in the year 1984 made an observation that remains strikingly progressive even today: “Brothers and sisters and other children who have been cared for as siblings should not be separated by adoption placement except for special reasons.” Though delivered in the context of intercountry adoption, the Court expanded the understanding of siblinghood beyond biology, recognising that emotional bonds formed through shared caregiving and lived experience are equally deserving of protection.

This principle finds meaningful relevance in the work of SOS Children’s Villages India. Although legally categorised as child care institutions under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, SOS facilities function far more like family-based care settings than conventional institutions. Children grow together in small, stable family-like groups under long-term caregiving support, developing sibling-like relationships rooted in trust, continuity, affection, attachment, and shared identity. For children who have already experienced abandonment, trauma, or separation from biological families, these relationships are not secondary — they become foundational to emotional security and resilience.

The SOS model, therefore, aligns closely with the broader child protection philosophy of the Government of India, which increasingly prioritises family strengthening efforts, continuity of care, non-institutional environments, and the best interests of the child. It is now important not only to promote such family-based and group care systems, but also to strengthen and institutionalise these mechanisms through sustained policy support, trained caregivers, community integration, and long-term investment in child-centred care practices.