With the passage of a Bill for the welfare of the orphans, semi-orphan, and children with special needs by the Assembly in Himachal Pradesh, destitute children have become the responsibility of the state.

The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed the Himachal Pradesh Sukhashraya (Care, Protection and Self-Reliance of the ‘Children of the State’) Bill through voice vote.

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With this, the Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Government’s ambitious ‘Sukhashray Yojana’ has become a law. Now, the state government will bear the entire expenses of more than 6,000 orphan children of the state.

Responding to the discussion on this bill in the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday, the chief minister said that through the ‘Sukhashray Yojana’, the government has tried to remove the sense of pity from orphans and give them a sense of entitlement.

He said that Himachal has become the first state in the country to enact ‘Sukhashray Yojana’ as a law, as there is no such law in the country so far.

He said that the entire budget for it will be given by the state government and has been started with a fund of Rs 101 crore.

Responding to the allegations of the opposition, Sukhu said that this scheme is neither a copy of any scheme of the Government of India nor has this scheme been named after anyone.

He said that the government will not only take care of more than 6,000 orphan children of the state till 27 years, but will also give them monthly pocket money of Rs.4,000.

He said that the government would also make provisions of all the expenses for the higher education of such children and after completion of 27 years of age such children would be given three biswas of land as well as money to build a house.

He said that ‘Sukhashraya’ is the first such scheme in the country, in which children of the state have been defined.

Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, while participating in the discussion on the Bill, said that more political influence is being seen in this scheme than sense of privilege.

He said that as the name of the scheme suggests, it seems that the Chief Minister has made the scheme in his own name.

He said that most of the provisions of this Act are already included in the Central scheme.

MLA Hans Raj said that for the first time a sitting Chief Minister has launched a scheme in his own name.

Relating this law as a parallel act to the Juvenile Justice Act, MLA Trilok Jamwal said that the provisions of the already existing Juvenile Justice Act have been copied in this law.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Col. Dhaniram Shandil sought the cooperation of the opposition to pass the bill.

Later, the House passed the bill by voice vote.