Tripura CM meets JP Nadda, seeks funds to boost health infrastructure

Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Tuesday held a meeting with Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J P  Nadda in New Delhi on Tuesday and discussed various health infrastructure and manpower related issues, including the setting up of a new medical college in the state, an official said.

A senior official of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that the Chief Minister has informed Nadda about the state government’s plan to set up a new Medical College at Kulai in Northern Tripura’s Dhalai district, which is an aspirational District, on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis.

Dr Saha, who also holds the Health and Family Welfare portfolio, also discussed the establishment of a Tertiary Ophthalmology Hospital at Agartala and the setting up of an Immunology Lab for Organ Transplant services at the government-run Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) and Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital.

The Chief Minister requested Nadda, who is also the National President of the BJP, to provide funds for procuring advanced medical instruments at the Super Speciality Block at the AGMC.

Dr Saha also urged for additional funds for Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) to settle the pending claims.

Tripura currently has three Medical colleges -- Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC), Tripura Medical College (TMC) and Tripura Santiniketan Medical College (TSMC).

The TSMC is a private medical college, while the TMC has been governed by the state government-constituted society.

The Chief Minister earlier said that there were very few MBBS seats available in Tripura medical colleges, but now the number of seats is around 400 in three medical colleges in the state.

“There was only one seat for BDS earlier. Now we have a Government Dental College, which started with 50 seats and currently has 63 seats.

We are trying to increase the seat capacity of AGMC. For 2025–26, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has permitted 150 seats, of which 118 are for Tripura students, 22 for central government nominees, and the remaining 10 for the Northeast region,” said Saha, who himself is a dental surgeon.

He said that currently, around 525 students (of different years) are pursuing MBBS at AGMC.