The North News
Chandigarh, March 20
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has presented his government’s four-year report card on the health sector, claiming the state has built a more inclusive and better-funded healthcare model than the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme.
Speaking in Chandigarh on Friday as part of his “Shandaar Chaar Saal Bhagwant Mann De Naal” campaign, Mann said the AAP government’s Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna offers cashless treatment of up to ₹10 lakh per family without restrictive conditions, calling it a “first-of-its-kind” universal health coverage programme in India. He said the scheme had already empanelled around 900 government and private hospitals in Punjab and Chandigarh, with 25 lakh beneficiaries registered and more than 1.6 lakh people treated so far. The chief minister added that the government had allocated ₹1,200 crore for 2025-26 and earmarked ₹2,000 crore for 2026-27 for the programme.
Taking aim at the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat, Mann said Punjab was spending far more per capita on healthcare support, arguing that the state’s scheme was broader and free of the conditions attached to the national programme. He also accused “anti-Punjab forces” of spreading misinformation to discourage people from using the scheme.
Mann said the state had expanded its primary healthcare network through 883 Aam Aadmi Clinics, with 100 more to be opened on 28 March and 400 currently under construction. He said these clinics provide 47 free diagnostic tests and 107 medicines, while OPD footfall had crossed five crore.
Highlighting recruitment, the chief minister said Punjab had carried out the largest doctor recruitment drive in its history since 2022, including 948 general doctors and 627 specialists, along with 300 nursing staff and 250 pharmacists. Recruitment for 672 more nurses is under way, he added.
On infrastructure, he said seven Mother and Child Health Centres with 250 beds each were under construction, while 22 Critical Care Blocks with 50 beds each were also being developed. He added that MRI services would be available in all district hospitals by October 2026, and PET scan facilities would be introduced in Amritsar, Faridkot, Mohali and Patiala.
Mann also highlighted emergency and preventive care initiatives, saying the Farishte Scheme and Sadak Surakhya Force had helped save more than 600 lives by ensuring immediate cashless treatment for accident victims. He said AI-enabled cancer screening, expanded dialysis services and the Punjab STEMI Project for heart attack care were among key interventions launched during the past four years.
The chief minister said seven new medical colleges were under construction, which would add 600 MBBS seats, and pledged that the Punjab government would continue efforts to make the state “healthy and progressive”.
