 "Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu")
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here on Tuesday distributed Rs 4.68 crore among over 2,000 orphan children for various expenses such as hostel and education fees, an official statement said.
The amount was directly transferred to the children's bank accounts during a state-level 'Mukhyamantri Sukh Aashray' function here presided over by the chief minister.
The 'Mukhyamantri Sukh Ashraya Yojana' aims to provide comprehensive support to orphans, specially-abled children, destitute women, and elderly individuals in the state, the government release said.
"In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, my government took a decision to adopt the orphans, the specially-abled children as the 'Children of the State' to work for their upliftment and well-being, giving them all parental care, besides taking care of the destitute women and elderly who have no one to look after," the chief minister was quoted as saying at the event.
He added that under the 'Sukh Ashraya Yojana', approximately 2,700 newly identified orphans living with their relatives will get a monthly financial assistance of Rs 4,000 until the age of 27 years.
The benefits distributed at the function included Rs. 15.52 lakh for fees and other hostel expenses, along with Rs. 11.52 lakh as monthly expenses benefitting 48 orphaned children for pursuing higher education. Apart from this, Rs. 7.02 lakh for fees and Rs. 4.08 lakh for monthly expenses were also distributed to 17 orphaned children enrolled in professional courses, the statement added.
Sukhu also transferred Rs 2.65 crore to 1,106 beneficiaries in foster care.
Speaking on the occasion, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dhani Ram Shandil highlighted the commitment of the present state government to uplift the underprivileged sections of society.
He said that the allowance for widow remarriage has been raised significantly from Rs 65,000 to Rs 2 lakh by the state.
The Himachal Pradesh government has allocated a budget of Rs 995 crore to the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment for this fiscal year, he added.
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