Today, July 25, Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil said that students of Classes IX to XII will be trained as first-aid providers and inducted as volunteers in the state Red Cross Society.

Chairing a meeting of the Himachal Pradesh State Red Cross Management Committee, Shandil said school students would be roped in and specially trained under the Junior Red Cross to provide first-aid facilities, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), according to a statement issued.

Further, he said training camps will be organised across the state and certificates will be provided to the students. Additionally, college and university students will also be connected with this campaign through the Youth Red Cross, PTI reported.

Shandil said in the statement that over the years, the Red Cross Society has been organising plantation drives across the state. Volunteers should be tasked with ensuring that the saplings are regularly looked after and properly cared for to ensure the success of such drives, he added.

"It was our duty to plant more trees to pass on a healthy and resource-rich environment to our future generations," Shandil said in the statement.

The state Red Cross Society has released Rs 50 lakh for the construction of Sarai Bhawan near PGI Satellite Centre, Una, the minister remarked.