Agartala, Nov 8 (IANS) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday said that the state government has accorded top priority to strengthening healthcare services and infrastructure across the state — not only in its two major hospitals but also in all district and sub-divisional hospitals.

Inaugurating the 25th annual conference of the Tripura branch of the Association of Physicians of India (API), the Chief Minister said that such medical associations can play a crucial role in improving healthcare by enabling doctors to exchange their experiences and insights.

CM Saha, who also holds the Health and Family Welfare portfolio, expressed hope that conferences of medical professionals would not only serve as platforms for meaningful discussions but also lead to concrete decisions contributing to the overall development of society and the healthcare system.

“There are currently three medical colleges in the state with a total of about 400 MBBS seats, and in the dental college, there are 63 seats. Meanwhile, the foundation stone of a major private hospital has recently been laid. The infrastructure for this hospital will be developed at a cost of about Rs 900 crore, and a medical college will also be built there,” Saha said.

The Chief Minister, who is himself a dental surgeon, said that five kidney transplant operations have already been successfully completed in the state.

Noting that steps have been taken to address the shortage of doctors, he said that additional faculty appointments have been made, and new institutions for B.Sc Nursing, ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery), GNM (General Nursing and Midwifery), Pharmacist, and other allied health courses have been established across the state.

“Despite having all the facilities, there are sometimes problems in the state’s main referral hospital — Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital — due to administrative errors. Therefore, the state government has already signed an MoU with AIIMS, New Delhi, to improve all aspects of patient services in this hospital,” Saha said.

He added that about Rs 250 crore has been spent on the health welfare of common people under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, and another Rs 26 crore under the Chief Minister’s Jan Arogya Yojana.

“There are now about 1,100 Health and Wellness Centres in the state. Work on building a state-of-the-art eye hospital on the vacant land adjacent to ILS will start in the coming days,” he said.

Saha further mentioned that Tripura is currently the second-best state in the Northeast in terms of per capita income and Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

The event was attended by Secretary of the Tripura branch of the Association of Physicians of India, Dr. Soumen Chowdhury; National President of API, Prof. (Dr.) Jyotirmoy Pal; Vice Principal of AGMC, Prof. (Dr.) Tapan Majumdar; Director of Medical Education, Prof. (Dr.) H. P. Sharma; API member, Prof. (Dr.) Pradip Bhowmik; and President of the state branch of the association, Prof. (Dr.) Arindam Dutta.

–IANS

sc/pgh