The decision follows protests by teachers in Mansa. Teachers in other districts of Punjab also objected to the assigned duties and even submitted demand letters to the respective district administrations. Allegations had also surfaced regarding the use of school machinery, including computers and printers, for the camps despite the impending practical and final exams.

The health department’s directions had come under intense scrutiny as teachers were assigned non-academic duties amid the state government’s promise to keep them focused on education.

Confirming the development, Barnala district education officer (secondary) Suneetinder Singh said, “We received a call from the state education department directing that computer teachers should not be assigned duty at MMSY camps.”

Another official familiar with the matter added, “The department has asked us to send a list of computer teachers deputed for the camps.”

Punjab school education and higher education secretary Sonali Giri said no such orders were needed because no prior instructions were issued by the department to depute teachers. “We are strictly monitoring all school activities to ensure that practical exams and academic work remain unaffected,” she said.

The state health agency, in a letter dated January 31, addressed to all deputy commissioners of the state, said the Punjab government was implementing the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojana (MMSY) across the state to cover all families of Punjab.

For implementation of the scheme, the health department has engaged common services centres (CSC) for enrolment and printing of cards. Since there are issues in operations of CSC as reported by districts and also low intake of citizens due to less awareness, it has been decided to rope-in Sewa Kendras.

“It is envisaged that initially 800 camps driven by DCs may be scheduled at village/ward level using the Sewa Kendra staff, which may be increased as per requirements and availability of staff. These camps shall run in addition to the CSC enrolment centres,” the letter said, adding that each village/location had been assigned a three-day cycle and if any beneficiaries remained, they will be covered in subsequent rounds

As for staffing, the letter stated that two data entry operators, IT experts, computer teachers or anyone with knowledge of computers, as identified by the DC, will assist with computer entries and documentation. Also, one trained official per camp, equipped with a unique MMSY portal ID and a biometric device for Aadhaar KYC (used when OTP e-KYC fails) will be provided by Sewa Kendras. An SDM, tehsildar, naib tehsildar or Class 1 officer will serve as the camp in-charge to oversee all operations.

The Punjab government had launched MMSY on January 22 to provide free cashless medical treatment of up to ₹10 lakh to every family in the state.

The scheme includes over 2,356 treatment packages covering varied specialised services such as cardiology, oncology, neurology, nephrology, orthopaedics, general medicine and urology. Around 850 government and private hospitals have been empanelled for the scheme.