Patiala, March 10 -- Despite the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's ambitious 2022 budget promise to establish 16 medical colleges within five years, Punjab is unlikely to see a new state-run medical facility before 2028. Health minister Balbir Singh confirmed that the state is now focusing on converting the Hoshiarpur District Hospital into a medical college. The project, estimated at Rs.274.75 crore, operates on a 60:40 funding split between the Centre and the state. While work is slated to begin on March 20, the minister noted the 300-bed facility and 100-seat MBBS college would only be functional by 2028. The delay highlights a stagnation in Punjab's public healthcare education. At present, the state operates only four government medical colleges, dwarfed by seven private institutions which control roughly 60% of the total MBBS seats. The Dr BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences in Mohali was the last government college to open in 2021, a milestone achieved under the previous Congress rule after 48 years. Under the centrally sponsored scheme of the establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district hospitals, the Hoshiarpur project is the next intended addition, yet its timeline pushes past the AAP government's mandate. Addressing the stalled progress, specifically regarding the Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur projects approved by the Union government years ago, the minister pointed to "inherited procedural issues". "The delay was due to clearing the mess created by previous governments. We had to overhaul the entire process," he said, adding the Kapurthala tender is now complete. He said that land has been leased for a Jain minority college in Lehragaga, while a Muslim minority college in Malerkotla awaits central approval of its project report. However, the opposition has been quick to seize on the minister's admission. Congress MLA Pargat Singh took to X saying, "In its first budget, the Mann government claimed 16 colleges were being built. Four years later, the truth is out-not even one is complete." Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal echoed this sentiment, accusing chief minister Bhagwant Mann of "befooling the people" with new announcements in New Chandigarh while projects like the Sangrur medical college remain stuck at the foundation-stone stage...