Punjab
Thanks to the Green Revolution, for 50 years Punjab has been the breadbasket of India. It’s large, prosperous farms still provide one of the highest standards of living of any Indian state. But Punjab has struggled in recent years thanks to the fall in food prices and its failure to build 21st-century industries such as agro-processing. It doesn’t help that the state’s previous government was widely perceived as ineffective and complicit in large-scale corruption; the current government has been focusing on supporting the food processing, light engineering, textile and garments, and power sector industries.
State Summary
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Size
19,445 sq. miles -
Population
27.7 million -
State GDP
$49.08 billion (USD) -
Legislative Assembly Seats
117
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Rajya Sabha Seats
7 -
Lok Sabha Seats
13 -
Party Affiliation
Indian National Congress (INC)
Energy
India faces a complex energy challenge: it needs cheap and abundant energy to power high economic growth and lift its citizens into the middle class. But it also hopes to keep its commitments to the U.N. Climate Change Convention and achieve energy independence. India’s states have the resources to generate the energy India needs, but they take different approaches to fostering the growth of the industry. This section allows you to explore energy news from India’s states and offers the Wadhwani Chair’s analysis of India’s energy sector.
Subsectors
Coal • Energy Efficiency • Energy-related Transportation • Nuclear • Oil and Gas • Power • Renewables •Recent Articles
Punjab to offer free power to OBCs and those below the poverty line
Posted on March 27, 2019The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited issued guidelines to implement a benefit program that will give 200 free power units per month to those belonging to scheduled castes backward classes, and families below the poverty line families whose annual consumption exceeded 3,000 units.
Punjab removes ceiling on subsidy for electricity consumption
Posted on February 6, 2019The Punjab government announced it is removing a ceiling of 3,000 kilo-watt hours, or units, on electricity consumption for consumers from scheduled castes, backward classes, and from families below the poverty line. The decision would allow them to consume 200 units of power per month free of cost at a cost of $22.7 million to the state.
Punjab provides subsidies to support installation of biogass plants for farmers
Posted on January 16, 2019The Punjab government has decided to provide a subsidy of $34,095 through the Punjab Energy Development Agency to at least 200 farmers to support the installation of biogas plants in rural areas of the district.
Punjab plans to sell $142.8 million worth of power to other states
Posted on December 28, 2018The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited set a record for itself by selling power worth $142.8 million to other states in single financial year.
Related National Goals
Solar Performance Tracker — Punjab reaches 77.52 MW (updated May 11, 2019)
Wind Performance Tracker — Punjab achieves 0 MW (updated May 11, 2019)
Health
While India’s healthcare system is expansive in terms of the number of beneficiaries covered, inequalities in access to high-quality yet affordable care continue to plague delivery systems and push citizens towards the more unregulated private sector. Similarly, while India’s National Health Policy of 2017 promises to reform this system, the responsibility to institute those reforms falls to the states who each have their own unique challenges and opportunities to meet the healthcare needs of their people. This section allows you to explore emerging healthcare policies and news covering new initiatives from India’s states and offers the Wadhwani Chair’s analysis of India’s healthcare sector.
Recent Articles
Incentive offered to attract specialist doctors to Punjab
Posted on February 27, 2019To attract specialist doctors to the state, the Punjab government decided to offer an incentive of up to $1,055 in addition their monthly pay check. Currently, gynaecologists and pediatricians qualified under the National Health Mission are eligible to receive this incentive.
Department of health is encouraging private parties to run primary health centers
Posted on January 30, 2019The Punjab government’s department of health and family welfare has released newspaper advertisements inviting expressions of interest for private parties to run primary health and community health centers under a public-private partnership model. The selected party or parties will have to staff the health centers and run and maintain them for a fixed tenure.
Blood will be provided free in government hospitals in Punjab
Posted on January 9, 2019Punjab health and family welfare minister Brahm Mohindra announced that blood will be provided free of cost in government hospitals across the state, and that the government will ensure that blood is available around the clock in all the hospitals.
All primary health care centers in the state to provide electrocardiogram services
Posted on December 5, 2018In an attempt to provide better health services to the citizens of Punjab, the state’s health department announced that all primary health care centers in the state will provide electrocardiogram services.