Himachal assembly passes Bill for welfare of orphans
Replying to the discussion on this Bill in the Himachal assembly, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that through the Sukhashray Yojana, the government has tried to get over the sense of pity for orphans by providing them with rights.
The Himachal Pradesh assembly on the concluding day of the Budget session passed the Himachal Pradesh Sukhashraya (Care, Protection and Self-Reliance of Children of the State) Bill, 2023, with a voice vote, thus becoming the first state to make such a legislation even as the opposition members objected to its name.
Replying to the discussion on this Bill, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that through the Sukhashray Yojana, the government has tried to get over the sense of pity for orphans by providing them with rights. He said that the government will not only take care of more than 6,000 orphan children of the state for 27 years but will also give them monthly pocket money of ₹4,000. He said that the government would also bear all the expenses for the higher education of such children and on completing 27 years of age, such children would be given three biswa 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.
Refuting the allegations of the opposition, Sukhu said that the legislation was neither a copy of any scheme of the Government of India nor has this scheme been named after anyone.
Participating in the debate, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur claimed that the scheme seems politically driven rather than being a welfare initiative.
It seems that the CM has named the scheme after himself, he said, adding that most of the provisions of this legislation are already included in the Central plan.
Churah MLA Hans Raj claimed that for the first time, a sitting chief minister has launched a scheme on his own name. He congratulated Sukhu for keeping the name of the Gandhi family out of the scheme and urged him not to shift the Balika Ashram located at Chilhi in the Churah assembly constituency of Chamba district to Chamba.
Bilaspur legislator Trilok Jamwal claimed that the scheme was a copy of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The HP Sukhashraya Bill was introduced in the assembly on Wednesday by health and family welfare minister Dhani Ram Shandil, who also holds social justice and empowerment portfolio. While explaining its objectives, the minister said that children are the future of the nation, hence, it is mandatory to instil rich moral virtues in them. Many children on attaining the age of 18 years do not have a home or place to live and are forced to beg and live on the streets.
Many children even do not possess the resources to pursue higher education. Himachal Pradesh is committed to the welfare of its children. It intends to establish Sukhashraya to provide accommodation to children and orphans. The state also intends to make provisions for the care, protection and self-reliance of the children residing in the Sukhashrayas. This has necessitated enacting the proposed legislation, the minister said.
