Chandigarh-Punjab Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema has officially approved comprehensive administrative proposals aimed at significantly enhancing public service delivery and generating institutional employment through the recruitment of 619 Multipurpose Health Workers (Female) under the Department of Health and Family Welfare alongside the strategic revival of critical administrative and field positions within the Department of Industries.
Sharing the extensive details of these twin administrative clearances in a press communique issued here, the Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that these measures are specifically designed to reinforce grassroots healthcare delivery across Punjab and stabilise commercial administration, ensuring that essential public-facing services remain fully staffed while maintaining rigorous fiscal prudence.
Detailing the major recruitment drive within the state's healthcare sector, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema announced that the newly approved framework will fill 619 vacant Group-C posts of Multipurpose Health Worker (Female). The Finance Minister said that these 619 positions represent a strategic combination of direct recruitment and promotion quotas within the department.
According to the detailed breakdown provided by the Finance Minister, a total of 220 posts have been vacant for less than one year, while 346 posts are designated as promotional positions intended to elevate eligible individuals from the cadre of Trained Dai to Multipurpose Health Worker (Female).
Adding further, the Finance Minister said that 53 direct recruitment posts, which had been vacant for more than a year and were consequently abolished under the Finance Department's standing guidelines dated June 6, 2019, will be formally revived following the necessary approval from the Council of Ministers.
Cheema said, "The health workers under this initiative will be placed in the pay scale of Rs. 21, 700 - 69, 100 at Level-3, in strict conformance with the newly enacted Punjab Health and Family Welfare Technical (Group-C) Service (First Amendment) Rules, 2025.
To ensure the maximum efficiency of this recruitment drive, the state government has consciously decided to remove these 619 appointments from the jurisdiction of the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board due to the prolonged timelines typically associated with their hiring processes. Instead, the entire recruitment process will be executed directly through Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, a move that has already received the formal consent and agreement of the Subordinate Services Selection Board via an official communication dated December 3, 2025."
The Finance Minister said that filling these health sector posts will entail an additional annual financial implication of approximately Rs. 16.12 crore per annum during the mandatory probation period.
Switching to the administrative reforms in the industrial sector, Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema detailed that a robust proposal from the Department of Industries has been cleared to revive vital direct recruitment cadres to maintain operational efficiency. The Finance Minister brought to light that during a previous restructuring exercise conducted in the year 2020, the Industries Department surrendered a massive 721 positions out of its total 1, 728 sanctioned posts, effectively downsising its entire organizational strength by 42 percent and leaving a tightly constrained total of 825 approved posts across Group A, B, and C cadres. Emphasising that further personnel reductions would inflict severe damage on public-dealing operations and ground-level service delivery, the Finance Minister said that the Department of Industries has been authorised to advertise a maximum of 97 posts during the current financial year. Alongside this recruitment permission, the Finance Minister mandated that the Industries Department must immediately undertake a comprehensive and modernised restructuring review that accurately reflects its contemporary governance roles, which must subsequently be submitted as a formal proposal to the Finance Department for long-term planning.