Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday said the 'Mukhya Mantri Vidhwa Avam Ekal Nari Awas Yojana' to provide financial assistance to widowed and divorced women for the construction of houses will be launched shortly.

Apart from widowed and divorced women, some other categories of single women will also be benefitted out of the scheme. They include women who have been abandoned by their husbands or whose husbands are missing and single women who are orphans or those who do not have anybody to look after them.

Sukhu said in a statement that the state government is completely dedicated for the uplift of women. Under the new scheme, an assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh will be provided for the construction of homes and nearly 7,000 women are expected to benefit from it, he added.

Besides providing financial assistance for building homes, essential amenities like electricity, water and other facilities for the newly-constructed houses will also be provided to the eligible single women under the scheme, Sukhu said.

According to the statement, an in-principle approval to the scheme was given at a cabinet meeting held recently. The state government is working on formulating the final modalities in order to provide assistance to these women, the statement added.

The state government is ensuring the well-being of the vulnerable sections of the society and has initiated various schemes beneficial for them, Sukhu said.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.