Shimla, March 27 More than 1,500 cases of missing persons have been reported in Himachal Pradesh in the past three years, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told the state assembly on Friday.
In a written reply to a question from BJP MLA from Badsar, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Sukhu said there has been an increase in the number of missing persons in the districts of Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Chamba, Mandi, Solan, Kangra, and Una.
A total of 1,534 missing persons cases have been recorded in the state as of January 31, 2026, he said.
Sukhu added that there was no indication of organ trafficking or the involvement of any gang in these cases, saying that these cases involve people going missing under "mysterious circumstances".
The majority of the missing person cases are from the Solan district (255), followed by 223 in Mandi, 200 in Kangra, 186 in Shimla, 121 in Sirmaur, 117 in Hamirpur, 104 in Kullu, 103 in Una, 98 in Chamba, and 75 in Bilaspur.
The Himachal Pradesh Police, in a statement issued in 2023, said that the figure for missing persons for the period of 2020-2022 was 7,038, out of which 6,183 (87.8 per cent) were subsequently traced.
State Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil told the House in a written reply that liabilities amounting to Rs 391.27 crore are currently pending with hospitals associated with the Himcare scheme, which covers 4.33 lakh families.
The Himcare Health Care Scheme provides free healthcare services to low-income groups who are not covered under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana or Jan Arogya Yojana, according to the government.
The minister said that the Sahara scheme, which provides financial assistance of Rs 3,000 per month to patients from economically weaker sections with specific diseases, has 37,819 beneficiaries.
In the last three years until January 31, 2026, more than 2.23 lakh families were added to the Himcare scheme, and 13,384 new beneficiaries were added to the Sahara scheme, Shandil added.
In response to another question, CM Sukhu said that 307 pine trees were illegally cut on private land under the jurisdiction of the Nagar Panchayat Shillai in the Sirmaur district, even though permission had only been granted for 25 trees.
An FIR has been registered against the individual for unauthorized felling of trees, he said.
Nathuram Chauhan, an environmental activist, has alleged that a large number of trees were illegally felled in Shillai and has demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter.