Punjab News: Taking important steps towards strengthening public health care, modernizing higher education and providing relief to the citizens, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann today approved grant of over 19 acres of land for setting up a Medical College and Hospital at Lehragaga and approved several other major decisions.
Approval to extract sand from Satluj river
The decisions taken in the Cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister include India’s first comprehensive Private Digital Open University Policy-2026, extension of Amnesty Policy for Plot Allottees to 2025, rationalization of property prices of GMADA and approval to dredge sand from Sutlej river to accelerate infrastructure projects along with devolution of staff of Baba Heera Singh Bhattal Institute to government departments which are involved in expansion of health care, education reforms, Reflecting the government’s efforts to strengthen infrastructure and people-friendly governance.
Establishment of medical college in Laharagaga
Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the Chief Minister’s Office spokesperson said that the Cabinet has decided to give 19 acres 4 Kanal land located at Baba Heera Singh Bhattal Technical College, Lehragaga to the Jain Society at nominal lease rates for setting up a Minority Medical College by the Jain community.
The admission of students and distribution of seats in this medical college to be established by the Jain community will strictly follow the terms and conditions of the guidelines/notifications issued from time to time by the State Government. The fee structure for all categories of seats will be as per the guidelines/notifications issued by the State Government.
220 bedded hospital
The Cabinet also decided that the Trust will have to start the work of the hospital as soon as possible within five years from the date of implementation/commencement of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The Medical College will be established and operated as a hospital with minimum 220 beds and admission capacity of 50 MBBS seats and should be expanded to a hospital with minimum 400 beds with admission capacity of 100 MBBS seats within eight years of this MoU. The move is aimed at providing standard education to the residents of the state on one hand and to elevate Punjab as a hub of medical education on the other.
Punjab Private Digital Open Universities Policy, 2026 approved
In another important decision, the Cabinet has also approved the Punjab Private Digital Open Universities Policy, 2026, which aims to regulate and encourage Private Digital Open Universities offering online and Open Distance Learning (ODL) programs so as to provide high-standard higher education to the students of the state and open maximum employment opportunities for them.
The policy presents state-level norms for quality, accessibility, digital infrastructure, data governance and student safety as per the UGC Rules, 2020. This policy will expand higher education by making it more accessible and affordable and establish Punjab as a digital education hub.
Punjab is the first state with policy and model
In this historic first of its kind reform across the country in the higher education sector, the Government of Punjab has introduced a new Digital Open University Policy. Under this policy, private institutions can establish completely digital universities in Punjab. This is the first such policy in India and so far only Tripura, without any comprehensive policy, has established a digital university. Therefore Punjab has become the first state to present a policy and model in this field.
This policy was the need of the hour as crores of students across the world are taking education from online platforms. Similarly, lakhs of students are passing difficult exams like JEE, NEET and UPSC by watching free online lectures. In India too, crores of youth are making their careers by studying through online courses and AI apps. The university policy in force earlier permitted only physical campuses.
formally obtained degrees
This meant that digital universities were not legally possible in India, resulting in students only formally receiving degrees from colleges but receiving actual skill training online, creating a huge gap and the new policy fills this gap.
Now students can complete their entire degree sitting at home on mobile or laptop and these degrees will be legally valid and as per AICTE/UGC standards. This move will prove to be a boon for students or professionals who are busy with life, family or jobs as they will be able to get degrees without leaving jobs, changing cities and even without going to the classroom.
Ultra-modern digital infrastructure
This will usher in a new era in which every person will be able to learn anything and hone their skills throughout their life, which will strengthen the culture of continuous learning in areas like IT, AI, business, healthcare, manufacturing and data science. To establish these digital universities, a minimum of 2.5 acres of land, digital content studios, control rooms, server rooms and operations centres, ultra-modern digital infrastructure and other things will be required.
Similarly, every digital university is required to have digital content creation studios, IT server room, Learning Management System (LMS) operation center, digital examination control room, technology-based call center, 24×7 student support systems and a corpus fund of at least Rs 20 crore. This will ensure that only serious and capable institutions come forward for this. It was also said that separate bills will be introduced in the Punjab Legislative Assembly for each recognized proposal, which will ensure that each digital university is legally sound and transparent.
Will benefit the students of Punjab
The policy is modeled after the world’s successful digital universities such as Western Governors University (USA), University of Phoenix (USA), Walden University (USA), Open University Malaysia and others that have provided affordable, modern and high-standard education to millions of students till now. Punjab is now setting up the most modern higher education ecosystem in the country which will directly benefit the students of Punjab as it will reduce the cost of education and digital mode infrastructure along with facilitating lower fees and other hidden expenses.
New skills like AI, cyber security, cloud computing, business skills and robotics will be part of the degree programs and this will solve the biggest problem of the students because earlier they used to get degrees from one place but got real education from some other place. But now both these things will be available at one place through digital universities, which will save time and money of lakhs of youth because there will be no cost of commuting, PG/hostel, stationery or transportation. Punjab is leading the country in education because the state government believes that education can no longer be limited to the four walls of classrooms.
Punjab will become a guide in the field of higher education
Every top university of the world is moving towards AI and digital mode and Punjab has become the first state to take this historic step to move the country forward in this field. This policy will make Punjab the first digital higher education center of the country and Punjab will become a guide for the country in the field of higher education. This policy is modern, innovative, technology-based, accessible, employment-centric, world-class and future-oriented, which will write a new chapter in the higher education of Punjab.
Amnesty policy for plot allottees increased in 2025 approved
In a major relief to the plot allottees, the Cabinet has also approved extension of the Amnesty Policy-2025 for plots allotted/auctioned under various schemes of the Housing and Urban Development Department. This will allow the defaulting allottees of the Special Development Authority to apply once again under the Amnesty Policy-2025 before the stipulated date of March 31, 2026 and allow the allottee to deposit the required amount with the concerned Special Development Authority within three months of its approval. Allottees interested in availing benefits under this policy will have to submit the application before the due date i.e. March 31, 2026.
Green signal to reduce prices of various properties of GMADA
In another pro-people decision, the Cabinet has given the green signal to reduce the prices of various properties of GMADA on the basis of reports submitted by unbiased valuers. The government has amended the guidelines for e-auctions related to setting reserve prices for various residential, commercial plots, institutional/industrial sites and others. It has been decided that the Development Authority will appoint three independent valuers empaneled by nationalized banks/Income Tax Department to evaluate the rates of such sites.
For those sites which have not been sold in the last two or more auctions, the average of the rates shown by these valuers will be considered as the standard for determining the reserve price after approval by the competent authority. The committee’s observations have been considered in deciding the rates and will be valid for one calendar year. However, approval for need-based changes within the calendar year will be given at the level of the Minister in-charge of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
NHAI Approval to extract sand from Satluj river
The Cabinet has approved the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) or its agencies to dredge sand in the Sutlej River at the rate of Rs 3 per cubic foot at sites allotted by the Water Resources Department. These are the places at whose expense the agreement was made to extract silt from Siswan Dam. This approval has been given with the condition that the above price is within the limits of NHAI. Or its contractors/agencies will be available only till June 30, 2026 so that NHAI can get the money for the construction of road projects from Ludhiana to Ropar. Soil can be provided. In this regard, exemption was also given from the provisions of Section 63 of Punjab Transparency in Public Procurement Act-2019.
Approval to send staff of Baba Heera Singh Bhattal Engineering Institute to government institutions
The Cabinet has also approved adjustment of staff members of Baba Heera Singh Bhattal Institute of Engineering and Technology on deputation against the vacant posts available in the Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training and autonomous institutions under this Department. This decision has been taken in the larger public interest to protect the interests of the employees.
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