For most of us, good health is something we notice only when it is gone. A sudden heart attack, a cancer diagnosis, a road accident, or complications during childbirth can change a family’s life within hours. In those moments, people should be thinking about treatment, not about how to arrange money before a doctor can begin. Yet that has been the reality for countless families, not only in Punjab but across the country. Even those with modest savings have often discovered that one serious illness is enough to wipe out years of financial security.

As a doctor, I have spent decades treating patients. Today, as Punjab’s Health and Family Welfare Minister, I see the same challenge from a different perspective. A government can build hospitals, recruit doctors and buy modern equipment, but if people hesitate to seek treatment because they cannot afford it, the system has not fully served its purpose. Healthcare is not only about medical infrastructure. It is about giving every citizen the confidence that when illness strikes, the system will stand with them.

That thinking shaped the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna, launched under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. The objective was straightforward: no resident of Punjab should be denied quality treatment because of financial constraints. Six months is too early to pronounce a verdict on any major public programme, but it is enough time to ask whether it is beginning to make a difference. The answer lies not in political claims but in what hospitals, doctors, and patients are experiencing every day.

More than 2.62 lakh beneficiaries have already received treatment under the scheme through over five lakh approved treatment procedures worth nearly ₹927 crore. These figures are significant because each one represents a person who received medical care without first arranging loans or selling family assets. Behind every claim approved under the scheme is a household that could focus on recovery instead of worrying about how to pay the next hospital bill. That is perhaps the most meaningful outcome any public health programme can deliver.

The expansion of the treatment network has also changed the way people access healthcare. Today, the scheme covers 864 hospitals, including 223 government hospitals and 641 empaneled private hospitals across Punjab. For many patients, especially those living outside major cities, this has meant quicker access to specialised treatment closer to home. Whether the need is chemotherapy, cardiac care, dialysis, neonatal treatment, fracture management, or complex surgery, families now have more options than they did just a few months ago.

One of the most encouraging developments has come from conversations with doctors. Many say that patients are no longer spending precious hours negotiating finances before consenting to surgery or specialised treatment. Clinical decisions are increasingly being made on medical grounds rather than on a family’s financial capacity. Doctors have also noticed that people are reporting symptoms earlier instead of waiting until their condition becomes critical. That shift matters because diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, kidney disorders, and many forms of cancer are far easier to manage when detected in time.

Running a programme of this scale also means accepting that not every decision made on the first day will remain the right one. Public policy should never become rigid. It should respond to evidence. Soon after the scheme was introduced, we realised that people living alone were unable to register because the original guidelines required at least two family members. That exclusion was corrected, and single-person households were brought under the scheme. We also reviewed the list of specialised procedures reserved for government hospitals. After examining feedback from doctors, hospitals, and patients, 15 major procedures were opened to empanelled private hospitals as well. The result has been shorter waiting periods and better access to specialised care without compromising quality.

Technology has quietly played an important role in making these changes work. Registration, hospital approvals, and claim settlements are now processed digitally, reducing paperwork and making the system more transparent. Faster approvals mean patients can begin treatment sooner, while timely reimbursements strengthen the confidence of hospitals participating in the programme. Administrative reforms rarely make headlines, but they often determine whether a public scheme functions efficiently or becomes another bureaucratic exercise.

The treatment data is also helping us understand Punjab’s changing health profile. A large proportion of claims relate to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and kidney ailments. This tells us that financing treatment, while essential, cannot be our only priority. The bigger challenge is preventing these diseases wherever possible through stronger primary healthcare, regular screening, public awareness, better nutrition, and healthier lifestyles. A healthcare system should not be judged only by how well it treats illness. It should also be judged by how effectively it helps people avoid illness in the first place.

The next phase of the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna will therefore focus on strengthening hospital capacity, improving service quality, increasing awareness among eligible families, and using the growing body of treatment data to guide public health policy. Every claim settled, every disease pattern identified, and every patient treated gives us information that can help build a stronger healthcare system for the future. Better data leads to better decisions, and better decisions ultimately lead to better health outcomes.

No government can claim that its work is complete after six months. Healthcare is a continuous responsibility, not a project with a finishing line. What we can say with confidence is that Punjab has begun moving in a direction where financial hardship is becoming less of a barrier to treatment. If we continue to learn, improve, and respond to the needs of our people, we will move closer to a healthcare system where access to quality medical care depends not on the size of a person’s bank balance but on the simple fact that they are a citizen deserving of dignity, care, and hope. / DAILY WORLD /

 (Dr. Balbir Singh Health and Family Welfare Minister, Punjab)