Tripura govt planning to conduct heart transplants in state hospitals: CM Saha

Agartala, Aug 1 (IANS) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said on Friday that the state government is planning to conduct heart transplants at the Agartala Government Medical College and Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital for which talks with AIIMS are underway and also a MoU was signed with Mohan Foundation.

The Chief Minister while addressing the 21st Foundation Day of AGMC and GB Pant Hospital at the here said that plans are there to introduce courses in super-specialty at the AGMC and GB Pant Hospital.

“There were so many people who have worked tirelessly behind AGMC and GB Pant Hospital. On this day, we must remember their contribution. Agartala Government Medical College has secured a special place in the country. We are working to address the shortcomings faced by students,” said Saha.

He mentioned that earlier, there were very few number of MBBS seats available in Tripura medical colleges, but now the number of seats is around 400 in three medical colleges in the state -- AGMC, Tripura Medical College (TMC) and Tripura Santiniketan Medical College (TSMC), a private medical college. The TMC has been governed by the state government constituted society.

“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 given permission for 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 also holds the health and family welfare portfolio. He said that currently, around 525 students (of different years) are pursuing MBBS at AGMC.

The AGMC started in 2005, and in 2010 the first batch passed out. So far, 1,484 students have completed MBBS, among whom 1,270 are from the state who passed from AGMC.

“When there was a shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas, we deployed MBBS graduates from Tripura Medical College and AGMC to those areas, which contributed to the development of the health department. In the last nine years, around 391 students have completed post-graduation. We are also considering and have held meetings with officials to start super-specialty courses in AGMC,” he said.

CM Saha, who is also a dental surgeon, stated that there is a shortage of beds in GB Pant Hospital, which currently has 727 beds, reduced from 1,413. Plans are in place to increase 100 more beds for patients.

The Chief Minister said that three kidney transplants successfully conducted in the AGMC.

“We have signed a MoU with the Mohan Foundation. We are planning to conduct liver and heart transplants as well. Talks have been held with AIIMS, New Delhi regarding these initiatives. We are emphasising to start telemedicine, and the necessary official process has already been initiated. People have faith in AGMC and GB Pant Hospital. We have set up a cardiac care centre, and work is almost complete in the remaining districts,” he said.

--IANS

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