₹11 Per Patient? The Bigger Question Is What Has Happened to Punjab’s Healthcare System?
Punjab’s healthcare system has once again come under discussion over the way staff working in government-run clinics are compensated.
Reports and discussions around per-patient payments for clinic staff have raised an important question: Should healthcare workers’ earnings be linked so closely to the number of patients they see?
The issue deserves serious public scrutiny—not just political arguments.
Healthcare Should Be About Patients, Not Numbers
A doctor or healthcare worker should primarily be focused on providing the right treatment to a patient.
When financial incentives are connected to the number of patients registered or examined, questions naturally arise about whether the system could encourage quantity over quality.
A busy clinic may genuinely have many patients. But a good healthcare system should measure more than simply how many people walked through the door.
It should also measure:
- Quality of treatment
- Patient satisfaction
- Availability of medicines
- Proper diagnosis
- Follow-up care
- Staff availability
- Cleanliness and infrastructure
- Health outcomes
Per-Patient Incentives Are Not Automatically Corruption
This distinction is important.
A per-patient incentive does not automatically mean corruption.
In fact, Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Clinic model has formally used patient-linked payments. A 2022 report said doctors were to receive ₹50 per patient, while a 2023 Tribune report stated that pharmacists and clinical assistants received ₹12 and ₹10 per patient respectively in addition to fixed salaries.
The real question is whether such a system has strong safeguards against manipulation.
That includes accurate patient records, biometric verification, audits and transparent public reporting.
The Risk of Turning Healthcare Into a Target-Based System
If staff members know that every additional patient can increase their earnings, the government must ensure that the incentive system cannot be abused.
Interestingly, a 2023 report said Punjab’s government ordered an audit of clinics reporting more than 80 patients a day after concerns were raised about unusually high patient numbers and allegations of fake registrations at some clinics.
That is exactly why transparency matters.
The public should be able to know:
How many patients were treated?
How much was paid to staff?
How were patients verified?
How many medicines were distributed?
How many complaints were received?
What were the results of government audits?
Punjab Deserves Better
Punjab has invested heavily in expanding its primary healthcare network. In 2026, the state continued expanding Aam Aadmi Clinics, while the government has also announced other healthcare initiatives.
There is nothing wrong with rewarding healthcare workers for their workload.
The concern begins when numbers become more important than healthcare quality.
Doctors, pharmacists and other medical staff deserve fair and respectable compensation. At the same time, taxpayers deserve a system where every rupee spent on healthcare can be accounted for.
The Bigger Issue: Accountability
Instead of simply blaming one political party or one government, Punjab needs a healthcare system where every government—present and future—is held accountable.
If a payment system is legitimate, publish the rules.
If incentives are being paid, publish the data.
If unusually high patient numbers are detected, investigate them.
If corruption is found, punish those responsible—regardless of their position.
That is how public trust is built.
Shame Should Be Reserved for Proven Corruption
It is easy to say “shame on the system.”
But the stronger demand should be:
“Show us the numbers. Show us the audits. Show us where the public money is going.”
Punjab’s healthcare workers deserve dignity, patients deserve quality treatment, and taxpayers deserve complete transparency.
A healthcare system should never become a race to count patients.
People are not numbers—and public healthcare should never forget that.
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