Medical Colleges for specific communities? Laxmi Chawla questions CM Mann’s remarks
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, August 19, 2026: Former Punjab minister Lakshmi Kanta Chawla has questioned Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s reported remarks describing upcoming medical colleges in Malerkotla and Kalanour as institutions intended for particular religious communities.
Reacting to the Chief Minister’s remarks made during the foundation stone-laying ceremony of a medical college building in Malerkotla, Chawla asked whether medical colleges established by the Punjab Government are meant to serve people belonging to a particular religion.
According to Chawla, Mann had stated that the proposed medical college in Malerkotla would be for the Muslim community, while another medical college proposed at Kalanour would be for the Christian community.
‘Are medical colleges meant for one religion?’
Questioning the remarks, Chawla asked the Chief Minister to clarify whether any medical college or university in Punjab is exclusively meant for people belonging to a particular religion.
She also questioned whether students belonging to other communities from Punjab or elsewhere in India would be barred from seeking admission to the two proposed institutions.
Chawla said that medical colleges and universities should serve society as a whole and questioned the basis for describing government medical institutions in religious-community terms.
Chawla also alleged that the Chief Minister’s remarks could be linked to electoral considerations, suggesting that with elections approaching, the Government may be attempting to appeal to different communities.
She asked the Chief Minister to explain what measures his Government has undertaken for the people of Punjab as a whole rather than describing government projects primarily in terms of particular religious communities.
Chawla said that the construction of the proposed medical colleges could take years, but argued that statements made about the institutions could have an immediate impact on public sentiment.
She described the reported remarks as unfortunate and said they could hurt the feelings of a large section of Punjab’s population.
The comments were made by Chawla in response to the Chief Minister’s reported statements. The Chief Minister’s office or the Punjab Government’s detailed response to her criticism was not immediately available.
The exact admission policy, eligibility criteria and institutional framework for the proposed medical colleges would ultimately determine whether students from all communities would be eligible to apply.