Sukhu opens 1st residential school for special kids

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday, inaugurated the first residential school for specially abled children at Hiranagar in Shimla district and announced that a new welfare scheme for special children would be introduced in the upcoming budget.Constructed at a cost of Rs 6.67 crore, the school would cater to children aged between six and 18 years and would offer various facilities to them. Sukhu said that the school was the first of its kind in the state, providing free quality education along with vocational training and free accommodation facilities for the students. This school has 16 modern classrooms, including a computer lab, music room, and a multipurpose hall. The hostel block would accommodate 50 children and includes a medical room besides residential quarters for the staff.Stating that the Congress govt in the state was working with utmost dedication and commitment for the welfare of vulnerable children, the CM added that HP was the first state in the country to legislate for the care and education of destitute children. Through the ‘Mukhyamantri Sukh-Aashray Yojana’, the state govt had adopted these children as "children of the state," bearing not only their education expenses but also providing them Rs 4,000 monthly as pocket money, he added. The state govt, over the past two years, extended financial benefits worth Rs 38.50 crore under this scheme. The state govt plans to introduce a comprehensive scheme for specially abled children in the next state budget as it launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Sukh-Ashray Yojana’ in its first budget. In the second, provisions were made to bear the educational expenses of 23,000 children of widows. The state govt was establishing a ‘Centre of Excellence’ at Kandaghat in Solan district, expected to be completed within two years, which would provide higher education opportunities to 9,000 specially abled children. We also published the following articles recently