Agartala, July 1 (IANS) Tripura government plans to establish a medical hub and efforts are underway to develop treatment facilities for all types of diseases, reducing the need for patients to seek care outside the state, Chief Minister Manik Saha announced here on Tuesday.

Addressing the Doctors’ Day function, the Chief Minister said that at a cost of Rs 250 crore a Super Speciality block was established at the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital.

“Tripura currently has three medical colleges including a private one with a total seat capacity of 400. The state also has a 63-bed dental college and several nursing institutes,” said CM Saha, who himself is a dental surgeon.

Announcing that a 100 bed tertiary eye-hospital would be set up in the state soon, the Chief Minister informed that all the district hospitals would be strengthened with necessary infrastructure and manpower.

CM Saha, who also holds the Health and Family Welfare portfolio, said that without any income limit the Tripura Chief Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (TCMJAY) was launched earlier to provide health annual insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh to each family of the state.

The TCMJAY is similar to Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY).

He said that kidney transplant has already started in Tripura and the state government is now discussing with some renowned health institutions of the country to start liver transplantation and bone marrow transplantation.

Expressing his concern over substance abuse, the Chief Minister urged the people and all law enforcement agencies to fight jointly to make Tripura a drug-free state.

He said that the Union Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Ministry has already sanctioned Rs 198 crore for setting up a special drug de-addiction centre at Bishramganj in the state’s Sepahijala district.

The Chief Minister said that the state government has already decided to set up drug de-addiction centres in all the eight districts of the state, and Rs 20 crore would be spent for each of the centres.

On the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the Tripura government has taken a zero-tolerance policy against the drug menace and its illegal trade.

–IANS

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