Guest Column | Double engine or drift: Punjab faces a stark choice

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated rail and road infrastructure worth over ₹5,470 crore in Jalandhar, including 75 Amrit Bharat stations and a new Punjab-Himachal rail line.

Punjab faces crises including agrarian debt (average household debt ₹2.03 lakh, 54% of farming families in debt), youth unemployment at 20.2%, and drug overdose deaths estimated at 782–2,346 annually.

Cross-border drone trafficking of weapons and narcotics, gangland shootings, and extortion networks undermine investor confidence and require coordinated Centre-state security measures.

Alignment with the Centre improves fund utilisation and reduces bureaucratic friction, but infrastructure alone cannot resolve Punjab's compounding crises.

Double-engine coordination between Centre and state is necessary but not sufficient for Punjab's economic revival, which requires synchronized governance on security and development.