Ludhiana, Nov. 28 -- Public health experts on Thursday cautioned that the proposed privatisation of state healthcare in Punjab could push more families into financial hardship, urging the government to increase its budgetary allocation for health immediately.

The warnings came during an interactive session on "Present Health Scenario in Punjab - The Way Forward," jointly organised by Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD), PAU Employees Union, and PAU Pensioners and Retirees Welfare Association. Experts highlighted that low public spending is already forcing citizens to incur "catastrophic" out-of-pocket (OOP) medical expenses, and privatisation would exacerbate the crisis.

Dr Arun Mitra, president of IDPD, noted that India rem...