A game show format is now government policy — and the prize money runs into crores. The Chief Minister's Office of Punjab announced on Sunday, 15 November 2026 that the state government is launching 'Punjab Da Crorepati', a quiz competition designed to reward young people for their knowledge of Punjabi language, culture, and identity.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann stated that the competition is open to youth aged between 15 and 30 years, who will answer questions based on their awareness of Punjabi heritage. Correct answers unlock prize money worth crores of rupees. The post, shared bilingually in Punjabi and English, frames the initiative as 'ਇੱਕ ਨਿਵੇਕਲੀ ਪਹਿਲ' — 'a unique initiative' — aimed at giving further impetus to Punjabiyat, the lived cultural identity of the Punjabi people.

Why a quiz show, and why now

The move is deliberate in its format. By anchoring a government cultural programme to a popular game-show model, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab is betting that competitive prize money can do what classroom mandates alone have not: pull younger Punjabis back toward their mother tongue. It is a playbook with precedent — other Indian states have run similar regional-language quiz formats, turning linguistic preservation into participatory entertainment.

Since March 2022, the Mann government has issued a series of directives pushing Punjabi as the primary language of official correspondence and school instruction. Those moves addressed supply — the language's visibility in institutions. Punjab Da Crorepati targets demand, specifically among the 15-to-30 age bracket most susceptible to language drift in an era of digital-English dominance.

What participants can expect

The competition is built on knowledge and awareness — questions will test contestants on Punjabi language and culture. Beyond those broad strokes, specifics on the registration timeline, the competition format, the syllabus focus, and the prize disbursement mechanism are yet to be formally notified by the state government.

The scale of the prize pool — crores of rupees — signals that this is not a token gesture. If the competition is administered at the scale its framing suggests, it could reach tens of thousands of young Punjabis across the state, turning cultural fluency into something with a tangible personal pay-off.

When a government starts paying crores to prove you know your own language, something has clearly shifted — and Punjab's youth are now the ones holding the answer sheet.