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In new Punjab AAP cabinet, only woman minister reveals her plan for the state
In Punjab, AAP listed a financial assistance of ₹1,000 for every woman - above 18 years of age - in its poll promises.
Bhagwant Mann's 10-member Punjab team was sworn in on Saturday in Chandigarh days after the state saw a grand oath-taking ceremony for the chief minister in freedom fighter Bhagat Singh's ancestral village of Khatkar Kalan. Only one of the 10 ministers sworn in is a woman - Malout MLA Baljit Kaur. "I thank (the) people of Punjab and the party high command. It is the AAP's good mindset that they've included a woman in cabinet. I'll carry out all my duties honestly. As a woman and doctor, I'll work for the development of women and health sector," the MLA was quoted as saying by news agency ANI as she revealed what she intended to do for the state.
The ruling party had listed a financial assistance of ₹1,000 for every woman - above 18 years of age - in its poll promises.
Baljit Kaur, a first-time legislator, is an ophthalmologist. She had been practicing as an eye surgeon and is a mother of two. Kaur's - father Professor Sadhu Singh - was an AAP MP from Faridkot between 2014 and 2019. And her husband, Daljit Singh, is an executive engineer.
“I had never thought of joining politics but AAP leaders referred to my candidature. I joined politics as I wanted to contribute my bit to society," she had said ahead of the state polls, underlining that "government hospital (in her constituency) needs attention and I will ensure all basic testing facilities there.”
She was seen attending eye patients amid election campaigning. She pursued her MS Opthalmogy from the Baba Farid University Of Health Science in 2010.
Hopes are riding on the new cabinet - where the ministers belong to different professions - as Mann promises a corruption-free governance.
This is the second state where the AAP has formed the government after Delhi following a handsome win. In Delhi, too, however, the party had attracted criticism for not having woman ministers. Atishi Marlena is one of the most prominent women faces of the party.
(With inputs from ANI)
