Punjab road projects, hospital welfare conditions and a stalled Amritsar parking facility came under scrutiny in the state Assembly as ruling-party MLAs questioned delays, official accountability and gaps in enforcement. Ministers responded with deadlines, recovery of contractor penalties and assurances of further examination.
Jagraon MLA Saravjit Kaur Manuke said three road projects allotted in October 2023 remained incomplete despite repeated assurances. The projects are the roads from Lakha to Manuke, Guru Gobind Singh Marg and the Raikot-Jagraon road. She told the House that she had raised the issue three times in the Assembly and had also called ministerial secretaries before her committee on two occasions.
Manuke sought action against officials responsible for the delays and questioned when the roads would be completed. She also highlighted accidents and fatalities on Guru Gobind Singh Marg, saying that imposing a penalty on the contractor provided little consolation to families who had lost loved ones.
Public Works Department Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO acknowledged the delay and said 5% of the contract value, amounting to Rs 51.24 lakh, had been recovered from the contractor as a penalty. He said 74% of the work had been completed and the remaining 26% would be finished by November 30. Manuke responded that similar assurances had been given three times earlier, with officials promising completion within one, two or three months.
Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan intervened during the exchange and asked the minister to ensure that the MLA was not left disappointed. The minister assured the House that departmental action would be taken against officials found responsible for the delay.
The Assembly also examined whether private hospitals that received land at reserve prices were complying with conditions requiring free treatment for yellow-card holders and economically weaker patients. Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh said allotment letters dating back to 2000 required hospitals to provide free treatment covering 10% of outpatient department services and 5% of indoor treatment.
Kulwant Singh asked the government to establish whether hospitals had complied with those conditions, how many patients had benefited and whether a dedicated mechanism existed to regulate private hospitals and address complaints, including disputes over hospital bills. He also questioned whether incorrect information had been provided to the House.
Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh initially said land allotments fell under the jurisdiction of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority rather than the Health Department. He later assured the MLA that the allotment letters would be examined and that strict action would follow if the conditions had not been implemented. Kulwant Singh pressed the government to determine whether the conditions had been honoured instead of passing responsibility between departments.
AAP Banga MLA Dr Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi separately called for regulation of fees charged by hospitals established under the public-private partnership model. He said charges for the same operation could vary substantially between hospitals. Dr Balbir Singh said discussions had taken place with the Indian Medical Association and the Central government on regulating hospital charges. He said hospitals should clearly display their fees, while acknowledging that a uniform national regulatory system was not yet in place.
In Amritsar, Amritsar Central MLA Ajay Gupta questioned the delay in constructing a multi-storey parking facility at Kairon Market in Hall Bazaar. The project was intended to ease congestion in the commercial area but remained incomplete after the original completion period.
Minister Harjot Singh Bains attributed the delay to the need to remove existing electrical infrastructure, including transformers and high- and low-tension panels, by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited. He said the site was cleared in January 2026 and assured the Assembly that the parking facility would be completed by December 15, 2026. Gupta sought strict action if the contractor failed to meet the new deadline and asked why the infrastructure-related hurdles had not been communicated to him earlier.
