Shimla, Jan. 6 -- Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday flagged off a 10-day educational and recreational exposure tour for 52 orphaned children from Shimla. These children have been accorded the status of "Children of the State" under the state government's Mukhyamantri Sukh Aashray Yojana.

Flagging off the tour, the Chief Minister said that the New Year had begun with compassionate initiatives by the government. "At the very start of the New Year, approval has been given for providing jobs to 980 people on compassionate grounds in the first stage. In the second stage, our government enacted the country's first such law that ensures complete protection to orphaned children like a family," Sukhu said.

He said that when winter se...