Out of the 18 ministers in the outgoing Punjab cabinet, seven are undergraduates with the lowest educational qualification being Class 9 pass while most educated holds an MBA degree, their election affidavits have revealed.
Seventeen ministers in the present government under Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, 17 are fighting the Assembly polls to retain their seat while Local Bodies and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra is the sole Cabinet berth holder who is not seeking re-election. His son Mohit Mohindra is contesting from his constituency, Patiala Rural, this time.
A perusal of the affidavits shows that out of the seven undergraduates, most are matriculates while two have not completed their graduation.
The highest qualifications are those of Channi and PWD Minister Vijay Inder Singla. Channi has a BA and LLB degree from Panjab University, an MBA degree from Punjab Technical University and is pursuing a PhD from Panjab University.
Singla has done Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore.
The lowest educational qualification is that of Forests Minister Sangat Singh Gilzian. He had cleared Class 9 in 1968 from GGS Khalsa Higher Secondary School, Miani in Hoshiarpur. It is a government aided school under Punjab School Education Board.
Transport Minister Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has passed Class 10 exam from Punjab School Education Board in 1995 while Women and Child Development Minister Razia Sultana has done her matriculation from Govt Girls High School Malerkotla in 1983.
Technical Education Minister Rana Gurjeet Singh has also done only matriculation. He cleared this exam in 1972 from ICSE board at Dagshai Public School, Dharampur, Himachal Pradesh.
Deputy Chief Minister OP Soni who holds the health portfolio has also cleared only high school examination from Punjab School Education Board in 1974. The other Deputy Chief Minister who holds the Home Portfolio, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has listed his educational qualifications as ‘undergraduate’ from SD College, Chandigarh in 1979.
Medical Education and Research Minister Raj Kumar Verka has cleared BA First Year examination from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Agriculture Minister Randeep Singh Nabha has done BA Economics (Honours) from Government College Chandigarh in 1986 while Local Bodies Minister Brahm Mohindra has listed his educational qualifications as ‘graduate’ from Government Mohindra College, Patiala, in 1968.
Water Resources Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria has done BSc (non medical) from Khalsa College Amritsar in 1986 while Food and Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu has done BA in 1989 from Arya College Ludhiana
Industries and Commerce Minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli has done BA from Government College Chandigarh in 1994 while Sports Minister Pargat Singh has done BA from Lyallpur Khalsa College Jalandhar in 1986.
Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa has done graduation from Sikh National College Qadian in 1969 while Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Aruna Chaudhary has done BA and BEd from Kashmir University Srinagar in 1979.
Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal has done his matriculation and senior secondary examinations from Doon School, Dehradun, BA from St Stephen’s College New Delhi in 1984 and LLB from Panjab University Chandigarh in 1987.
Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who headed the government for four and half years has listed his educational qualification as ‘pre-Cambridge’. He later joined National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy.
Among opposition leaders, Harpal Singh Cheema the Leader of Opposition in the present Vidhan Sabha, who holds the rank of a cabinet minister, has a LLB degree.
The state president of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Chief Minister candidate of his party, Bhagwant Mann, has listed his educational qualifications as BCom First Year from Shaheed Udham Singh College, Sunam, in 1992.
The president of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Sukhbir Singh Badal, has done MBA from California State University in 1987 and also holds a Masters degree from Panjab University. The state president of BJP Ashwani Sharma has done BA from SRPA Adarsh Bhartiya College Pathankot in 1988.