Punjab Cabinet clears plan to empanel 300 specialist doctors, approves changes to cooperative and mining rules

Punjab Cabinet approves empanelment of specialist doctors and clears amendments to cooperative and mining rules to streamline administrative processes.

In a bid to strengthen public healthcare capacity, the Punjab Cabinet on Thursday approved the empanelment of 300 specialist doctors across 12 key medical disciplines. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann in Chandigarh.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann chairing the Cabinet meeting in Chandigarh on Thursday.

According to officials, the doctors will be listed across disciplines including medicine, paediatrics, psychiatry, dermatology, chest and TB, general surgery, gynaecology, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, ENT and anaesthesiology. The state government expects the move to help address gaps at the secondary-care level and improve the availability of specialised services, particularly in districts where specialist posts remain vacant.

Civil surgeons at the district level will oversee the empanelment process. Once listed, specialists will be eligible to provide OPD, IPD, emergency and surgical services and receive a fee per patient for these categories. Officials said the arrangement aims to ensure that residents in smaller towns and rural areas have access to care that typically requires referral to larger hospitals.

In another key decision, the Cabinet approved the introduction of a uniform disciplinary and appellate structure under Rule 28A of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Rules, 1963. The amendment seeks to eliminate duplicate appeal channels within cooperatives and prevent conflicting decisions by different committees or boards.

Authorities said the revised framework will clarify lines of authority for disciplinary actions and ensure that appeals are heard only once within the organisation. The government believes the measure will streamline accountability, reduce procedural ambiguity and create consistency across apex cooperative institutions and central cooperative banks. Officials noted that the change also intends to reinforce due process and provide employees with a clearer, singular avenue for appeal.

The Cabinet also cleared amendments to the Punjab Minor Mineral Rules, 2013, in line with the Punjab State Minor Minerals (Amendment) Policy 2025. The updated provisions aim to simplify processes related to the allocation of mining rights, including crusher mining sites and landowner sites. The government said the revision is intended to make mining services more citizen-friendly, efficient and transparent.

Officials explained that the earlier rules required updating to accommodate newer policy requirements and address issues faced by leaseholders. The amendments are expected to clarify conditions for mining leases, streamline issuance of rights and support better oversight of extraction activity. Punjab has been seeking to reduce irregularities in the sector and improve monitoring through digitisation and policy restructuring.