The North News
Chandigarh, December 24
The Punjab government has described 2025 as a landmark year for social justice and inclusion, citing a series of welfare measures aimed at empowering disadvantaged communities across the state. Speaking in Chandigarh, Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities Minister Baljit Kaur said the initiatives reflected the government’s commitment under Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to ensure equality of opportunity, particularly for Scheduled Castes, backward classes and minorities.
She said the government’s approach throughout the year treated social justice not merely as policy, but as a moral responsibility, with an emphasis on ensuring that poverty, caste or social background did not deny citizens access to education or employment. One of the key initiatives highlighted was the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme, which saw applications from more than 2.62 lakh Scheduled Caste students. A budgetary allocation of ₹245 crore was made for the scheme in 2025, aimed at reducing financial barriers to higher education. The minister also pointed to the renovation of the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute, describing it as both a symbolic and practical step. After nearly three decades, the institute underwent major repairs and infrastructure upgrades costing ₹147.49 lakh, with an additional ₹91 lakh approved for new works.
According to the minister, new academic courses introduced at the institute during the year were designed to promote skill development and entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste students, encouraging them to become job creators rather than job seekers. She said the approval of separate hostels for boys and girls from backward categories at Punjabi University underlined the government’s recognition that access to education also depends on safe and secure accommodation.
Another flagship programme, the Ashirwad Scheme, provided financial assistance to more than 38,000 beneficiaries in 2025. The minister said the scheme reinforced the message that daughters should be seen as an asset rather than a burden on families. The state government also earmarked ₹13,987 crore from the development budget exclusively for Scheduled Caste welfare, a move officials described as one of the year’s most significant policy decisions.
In addition, financial assistance for inter-caste marriages was continued, which the minister said sent a strong signal that social discrimination had no place in modern Punjab.
The minister said the initiatives taken in 2025 had laid a firm foundation for a more inclusive and socially just state, bringing marginalised communities closer to the mainstream.
