To support widows, disabled women and ‘Ekal Naris’, the Himachal Pradesh government will provide assistance of Rs 4 lakh to construct houses. Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here on Wednesday said that all these eligible women registered with the Himachal Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board will receive financial assistance of rupees four lakh to construct houses.

“The state government is launching an initiative to support widows, disabled women and ‘Ekal Naris’ by offering financial assistance to realize their dream of constructing their houses,” he said.The CM also said that the Board was implementing various welfare schemes, including financial aid for marriage, maternity benefits, education support, medical care, pensions, disability pensions, cremation expenses, relief for sudden deaths, hostel facilities and widow pensions.

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He said, “the financial assistance for house construction will include Rs. three lakh for building the house and an additional Rs. one lakh for constructing essential facilities like a kitchen, toilet and bathroom.” “However, to avail this benefit, women must register with the Board and have completed at least 90 workdays in the last 12 months and their annual income should be less than Rs. 2.50 lakh.

Eligible women must apply for the scheme through the Labour Officer, submitting the required supporting documents. Once approved, the financial assistance will be directly transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account,” he said. Sukhu said that the present state government has dedicatedly worked over the past two years to uplift the underprivileged sections of society and reaffirmed its commitment to their welfare. He further said a new scheme to cover higher education expenses for children of widows up to the age of 27 is underway.

The CM said that Himachal has become the first state in the country to enact legislation ensuring comprehensive care and support for orphaned children. “Under this initiative, 6,000 orphans have been adopted as ‘Children of the State’ and the government is committed to ensuring their welfare and education to help them in becoming self-sufficient,” said he.