The first batch of 22 “children of the state” embarked on a 13-day educational and recreational journey under the Sukh Aashray Yojana on Thursday, when Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu waved them off.

The Chief Minister wished the kids a great and enlightening voyage as they left in a Volvo bus.

According to CM Sukhu, the state government passed a legislation protecting orphans and has adopted 6,000 kids as part of the program. The Sukh Aashray Yojana was started by the government to guarantee their well-being and meet their educational requirements.

The goal of this program is to empower these kids and help them become independent. Children were being exposed to and educated in locations like Chandigarh, Delhi, and Goa as part of this program.

He said that there are six lads and sixteen girls on the excursion. From January 2 to 4, the party will go to Chandigarh and stay at Himachal Bhawan Chandigarh. Following that, on January 5, they would take the Shatabdi Express to Delhi, where they would spend the next eight days seeing several historical sites, according to an official statement.

The kids would take a plane to Goa on January 9 and stay in a three-star hotel while seeing the city’s main tourist destinations and historical sites. On January 14, 2025, the group is expected to return to Chandigarh.

In order to guarantee these children’s legitimate access to state resources, the Chief Minister reaffirmed that the government serves as both of their parents.

“These kids were receiving the same experiences from the government as those who go with their own families. Their expertise grows as a result of this exposure, which also gets them ready for new prospects. He said that these kids were the country’s future and that they would undoubtedly be crucial to the growth of both the state and the country.

Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil, the minister of health, praised the government’s work. He said that these kids were being treated like members of the government’s own family. He emphasized the government’s commitment to resolving their issues and guaranteeing their welfare, something the previous administration had overlooked.

Those in attendance were Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania, MLA Harish Janartha, Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar, Mayor MC Shimla Surinder Chauhan, Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister (Media) Naresh Chauhan, and Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap.