Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday, 10 June 2026 visited residents of village Shamshapur in the Amloh constituency of Fatehgarh Sahib district, engaging directly with villagers to assess the on-ground reach of the Punjab government's flagship welfare schemes, including free electricity and health coverage cards.

The Chief Minister's Office shared that Mann interacted with families to gather feedback on the state's muft bijli (free electricity) facility, under which domestic consumers receive up to 300 units of free power per month. He also enquired about the uptake of health cards that entitle families to cashless medical treatment worth up to Rs 10 lakh at empanelled hospitals, and urged residents to take maximum advantage of government schemes.

Context

The visit to Shamshapur is part of a broader pattern of constituency-level outreach by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab since it came to power in March 2022. Amloh, a rural constituency in Fatehgarh Sahib district, has been among the areas targeted for welfare scheme awareness drives. Direct interactions of this kind are designed to gauge last-mile delivery of state programmes.

Policy Backdrop

The Punjab cabinet approved free domestic electricity up to 300 units per month effective July 2022, shortly after the AAP government assumed office. The health card initiative, launched in 2022–23, raised the coverage ceiling to Rs 10 lakh per family, modelling itself on the party's earlier health infrastructure push in Delhi. Both schemes are central to the AAP administration's welfare-first governance pitch and are positioned as state-level alternatives to national programmes such as Ayushman Bharat and PM-KISAN.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are rural and semi-urban households across Punjab — domestic power consumers who receive monthly electricity relief, and families enrolled under the health card scheme for cashless hospitalisation. Villages in constituencies like Amloh, with a predominantly agrarian population, stand to gain significantly from both entitlements. The state government's direct outreach aims to close awareness gaps that often prevent eligible families from claiming benefits.

What's Next

The government's continued field visits signal that scheme penetration and beneficiary feedback remain priorities ahead of the state budget cycle. Observers will watch for any upward revision in the free electricity unit limit or expansion of the health card's coverage cap, both of which have been subjects of assembly debate. Actual disbursement figures and enrolment data for the health cards are expected to be scrutinised in forthcoming budget presentations and legislative sessions.