7,629 cases of HIV-AIDS in Himachal Pradesh

There are 7,629 cases of HIV-AIDS in the state, Health and Family Welfare minister Kaul Singh Thakur informed the state assembly in a written reply today.
The state government was reimbursing the bus fare to the HIV-AIDS patients and one attendant to reach the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centre and back home.
Kaul Singh said the state government provides financial aid to the tune of Rs 300 to 800 per month to the children living with HIV-AIDS or to the children with one of the parents infected with HIV-AIDS.
The government had been providing milk powder free of cost for one year to the new borns of HIV-AIDS patients, he added.

In a reply to a question, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the government would consider re-organisation of blocks in the state.
He was replying to a question by Congress' Sanjay Rattan that there were 78 development blocks in state, but three assembly segments-- Palampur, Jwalamukhi and Doon did not have a block.
Asserting that the blocks should be re-organised in a way that they these are identical with assembly constituencies, the Chief Minister said that it would save the government's money to tune of Rs 14 crore.