Meet Dr Baljit Kaur, The Only Woman Minister In Aam Aadmi Party Punjab Cabinet

The cabinet of ministers who will be working under the newly elected Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann took their oaths today. Only one out of the ten ministers sworn-in was a woman. Her name is Dr Baljit Kaur. She is the first-time legislator and an ophthalmologist by profession.

Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, Dr Kaur said, "I thank (the) people of Punjab and the party high command. It is the AAP's good mindset that they've included a woman in the cabinet. I'll carry out all my duties honestly. As a woman and doctor, I'll work for the development of women and the health sector."

Amongst the promises to women during the election campaign by AAP was that they will provide financial assistance of Rs 1,000 to every woman above the age of 18 years. The party won with a majority in this year's state elections, although they were criticised for not having enough women ministers onboard.

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More On Dr Baljit Kaur

The 46-year-old has been a practising eye surgeon for quite some time now and is also a mother to two children. Even though she began as a doctor and in the health sector, Dr Kaur had a close connection with politics through her father Professor Sadhu Singh, who was the Member of Parliament for AAP from 2014 to 2019.

Talking about joining politics and entering the electoral fight, Dr Kaur said, "I had never thought of joining politics but AAP leaders referred to my candidature. I joined politics as I wanted to contribute my bit to society and government hospital needs attention and I will ensure all basic testing facilities there."

Dr Kaur's husband Daljit Singh is an executive engineer. In the 2022 elections, Kaur defeated the candidate named Harpreet Singh of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) by 40,261 votes from the Malout constituency in the Muktsar district of Punjab.

She had joined the political party after resigning from her government job at the Muktsar Civil Hospital. Apart from being a doctor, she also writes journals on social issues and poetry.

(Feature Image Credit: Zee News)