Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday celebrated Diwali with children who have lost one or both the parents to the COVID-19 pandemic. He had lunch with 66 children from Bhopal, Sehore, Raisen, Vidisha, Rajgarh and Hoshangabad districts at his official residence, said an official.

More than 1,000 other orphaned children also joined in the get-together online from across the state.

The chief minister was seen feeding some kids with a spoon, the official said.

After lunch, he took the children around the house. Chouhan and his wife Sadhana Singh also gave them gifts. “The government will help you accomplish your dreams,” he told them, adding, “Your parents will be delighted wherever they are if you do good things and shine.” The state government is helping a total of 1,365 such children through the COVID Bal Sewa Yojana scheme for COVID orphans, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)