Panjab Groundwater Contains Uranium; Cabinet Empanels 300 Doctors

62.5% of groundwater samples from Panjab have uranium levels above the safety threshold limit—the highest contamination intensity ever recorded in India. The latest Annual Ground Water Quality Report 2025 by the Central Ground Water Board mentions, ‘A total of 3,754 groundwater samples were tested across India, the highest uranium contamination was observed in Panjab, where over half of the samples (53.04% pre-monsoon and 62.5% post-monsoon) exceeded the limit’. Meanwhile, in a step to augment specialist availability, the Panjab cabinet has consented to empanel 300 doctors specially in 12 key domains—medicine, psychiatry, ENT, and dermatology among others. Panjab has faced a persistent shortage of medical specialists, as the government has not appointed regular specialists since 2022, worsening an already strained healthcare system. Official data shows that of 2,098 sanctioned posts for medical specialists, only 1K are currently filled. The crisis is deepened due to many specialists reportedly quitting due to heavy workloads, low pay, limited incentives, and minimal career progression. Patiala, for instance, has only one psychiatrist in its health department. Ludhiana, currently battling rising dengue cases, has only three general medicine specialists, despite surging patient footfall in government hospitals. Conditions are much worse in border districts, where multiple Sub District Hospitals lack gynaecologists and anaesthetists, both essential for safe maternal and emergency care. Although the government has opened more Aam Aadmi Clinics and recruited general medical officers, it has made limited progress in bolstering secondary and tertiary care services. Additionally, veterinary doctors in Panjab have decided to stop reporting to the Animal Husbandry Department after a decision taken at the state-level meeting of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Vets for Pay-Parity, in which representatives from all districts participated. JAC Convener Dr Gurcharan Singh stated that the veterinary doctors of Panjab had been agitating as the government had disturbed the pay-parity that existed with medical doctors since 1977, reducing the starting salary of Veterinary Officers from USD 624 to USD 530.