The people of Punjab were promised a medical miracle: sixteen new government medical colleges, rising like gleaming temples of healthcare under the Aam Aadmi Party government. Today, those temples exist—but only in the holy scriptures of election manifestos, where promises live happily ever after.
Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur were supposed to lead this grand parade. Instead, both projects are now trapped in that most incurable Punjabi disease: “tendering issues.” This disease has only one symptom—endless waiting—and no cure has been discovered yet, not even by the promised doctors of these invisible colleges.
As things stand, Punjab has officially declared it won’t apply for any new medical colleges for the 2026–27 academic session. Translation: Don’t hold your breath for doctors, unless you want to become the next patient. If you’re still alive by 2027, you might just live to see a new college foundation stone—followed by another round of speeches, photo ops, and more delays.
The incumbent AAP government had sworn on the stage of morality and microphones that Punjab would have 16 new medical colleges during its five-year tenure. But so far, the only construction visible is the mountain of excuses. The Centre offered funds in a neat 60:40 ratio, but AAP seems to have reinterpreted it as 60% announcements and 40% U-turns.
Even the phrase “hanging fire” for the hospital revamps deserves applause. It sounds dramatic, like a Bollywood climax, but in reality it’s just government business as usual. Hanging fire is now the new state bird of Punjab—permanently perched on unfulfilled promises.
So the revolution in medical education remains trapped in the operation theatre of bureaucracy. The only thing multiplying in Punjab right now are press releases, while medical colleges remain a mirage on the political horizon.
In short, the people asked for doctors, but what they got was a diagnosis: acute shortage of credibility. Until 2027, the only medicine on offer is a bitter pill called “Wait and Watch.”