The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister on May 30 laid the foundation stone of four outpatient departments of the Composite Regional Centres for Persons with Disabilities in Sundernagar town.

At the function where Union Ministers Thawar Chand Gehlot and J.P. Nadda were also present, he said the outpatient departments would be constructed with an outlay of Rs 30 crore. The centre would house a hostel for 100 boys and girls with disabilities. This institution in Mandi district was opened in 2001 when there was the BJP government at the Centre led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

In his remarks on the occasion, Health Minister Nadda said the composite centre would prove a milestone for empowerment of the physically challenged. He said the Union government has decided to give disability status to acid attack victims. All new government buildings were being made disabled friendly in the country.

Nadda, who belongs to the hill state, said the Modi government had launched world's biggest health insurance scheme in the country, covering over 50 crore population under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. He said a medical college in Hamirpur town would be opened next month. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Gehlot said now four per cent reservation has been provided for the physically challenged in government jobs. He said a single identity card would be made for the physically disabled, which would be valid throughout the country.