Punjab Social Security and Women & Child Development Department Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur and Transport & Animal Husbandry Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Tuesday, laid the foundation stone of the government children home at village Usma in Tarn Taran district.
This children home will be constructed at a cost of Rs.5 crore and will be fully-equipped with state of the art basic facilities. Speaking on this occasion, Cabinet Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur informed that as district Tarn Taran has no government or non-government children's home thus Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led government has decided to construct a children home for boys by incurring around Rs.5 crore.
This children home, which would have capacity of residing 50 destitute children, will provide state of the art basic facilities such as accommodation, food, education, health and other facilities free of cost, she added.
The Cabinet Minister reiterated that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led government was ensuring the safety of children, women and the old-age persons in the state. Besides this, the Social Security and Women & Child Development Department has initiated "Child Protection Scheme" for 0 to 18 year children for ensuring their rehabilitation, proper care, protection, development, treatment.
The Cabinet Minister said that under the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act-2015, total 7 government children homes are being operated in district Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur, wherein 238 children are residing.
Expressing gratitude towards Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Cabinet Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur for establishing children facilities in the district, Laljit Singh Bhullar said, it was long-pending demand of the people of the area and need of the hour for ensuring the safety of destitute and helpless children, who were victims of social injustices.
With the construction of the children home, the destitute children of the area will be able to get free accommodation, food and education, said the Cabinet Minister, adding that the destitute children would feel safe in the society.
S. Bhullar said, two-storied building of this children home will be constructed in a record time and handed over to the people at the earliest, and all the expenses of the children up to the age of 18 years, will be borne by the state government.
Both the Cabinet Ministers also listened to the problems of Anganwadi workers and assured their legitimate demands would be met soon. They also distributed nutrition kits and baby suits to mothers and new-borns.
Prominent amongst others who were present on this occasion included MLA Tarn Taran Dr. Kashmir Singh Sohal, Improvement Trust Tarn Taran Chairman S. Rajinder Singh Usma, Joint Director Social Security and Women & Child Development S. Charanjit Singh, SDM Sh. Rajnish Arora and District Child Protection Officer Rajesh Kumar.