Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu celebrated Diwali with children at the Balika Ashram and the Bal Ashram at Mashobra and Tutikandi in Shimla yesterday and extended warm greetings to them.
He performed Lakshmi Pujan with the girls, wishing peace and prosperity to the people of the state. Besides, Sukhu distributed sweets, fireworks and other gifts among the children, wishing them a bright future.
Sukhu, while interacting with the inmates of both ashrams, said the government intended to take them for educational and exposure visits to Goa and other destinations in near future and would bear all expenses of their air travel, boarding and lodging in good hotels.
He said that the state government was committed to the welfare of orphans. “Their education, their upbringing and care was the responsibility of the government. Himachal is the first state to have enacted a law to adopt orphans as ‘children of the state,” he claimed. Furthermore, the government would provide Rs 75,000 for coaching expenses to support their educational pursuits, he added.
Sukhu directed the district administration to establish a digital library at the Balika Ashram at Mashobra. The children presented a cultural programme. Later, the Chief Minister celebrated Diwali with the inmates of the Nari Seva Niketan at Mashobra.