Punjab assembly sees clash over plan to set up 7 medical colleges

A debate erupted between Minister Arora and Leader of the Opposition Bajwa, with the ruling party accusing the latter of using abusive language and demanding an apology.

According to a TOI media news report, the conversation began when Congress MLA Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and LoP sought details of medical colleges set up in Punjab from March 2022 and the current status of each institution.

Rajinder reportedly objected to the government's response, saying that he had specifically asked about the number of new government medical colleges opened during the current government's tenure. The response included institutions being established by both the government and private entities.

He said that the government had promised to open government hospitals in every district and argued that medical colleges set up by private entities cannot be projected as government achievements.

Responding to the criticism, Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh asked the opposition to provide a list of medical colleges that were established during the four decades when the Congress and SAD-BJP coalition governments were in power. He said he would present a list of colleges started during the AAP government's tenure.

The minister said that due to the state government's policies and efforts, the ESIC Medical College in Ludhiana, which admits 50 MBBS students annually, will open in 2025. He said that a private medical college, the Regional Institute of Management and Technology in Mandi Gobindgarh, which admits 50 MBBS students annually, opened in 2024.

Dr Balbir informed the House that seven more medical colleges are in the pipeline. These include government medical colleges in Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala with Government of India assistance; medical colleges in Sangrur and Nawanshahr under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode; the JIS Medical College and Hospital (Jodh Ishwar Singh Medical College and Hospital) in Bhutta village, Ludhiana district, in the private sector; a minority medical college for the Jain community in Lehragaga; and a medical college in Malerkotla with central assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK).

He said the government helped private companies build medical colleges by providing land, and the government will cover the fees for 50% of the seats in private colleges. The minister said the government was successful in adding 900 medical seats.

However, the opposition leader said the question was specifically about government medical colleges, while the minister included private institutions as well. He questioned the government's role in establishing private colleges and alleged that the government was trying to mislead the public.

Bajwa said that the Finance Minister had announced plans to build 16 government medical colleges, but even after four years, work has not begun on any of them. He claimed that announcements were made for five colleges, but the locations for the remaining 11 were not disclosed.

In response, the Health Minister stated that the medical college in Hoshiarpur, which is being built with central government assistance, was approved during the previous government's tenure but was not completed. He added that no new medical colleges were completed during the previous government's tenure, while the current AAP government is in the process of building nine colleges.