Northeast Desk, 26th June: Tourism Minister Sushanta Choudhury has strongly refuted accusations from Leader of Opposition Jitendra Choudhury, who claimed the government was privatizing a fully functional government medical college and hospital.
In his response, Minister Choudhury criticized the principal opposition party, CPIM, for allegedly spreading misinformation ahead of the National Medical Council (NMC) delegates’ visit. He clarified that the authority to approve the establishment of medical colleges lies solely with the NMC, not the state government. NMC delegates are expected to inspect the proposed medical college site near Agartala.
“The Shantiniketan Medical College group, already active in medical education, has shown interest in setting up a college here, and our government has supported this legally sound initiative,” Minister Choudhury stated, dismissing the allegations from the CPIM MLA.
Choudhury highlighted that in several states, private medical colleges utilize government hospital infrastructure. He cited examples from Kerala, where CPIM governs, allowing private medical college students to observe autopsies in government facilities. Similarly, agreements exist in Bangalore’s Kasturba Medical College and institutions in Pune, among others.
The Minister emphasized the need for private investment in Tripura’s health sector to address the shortage of doctors. “The combined 225 seats of Agartala Government Medical College and Tripura Medical College are insufficient. With WHO standards requiring one doctor per thousand people, and our current ratio being one doctor per over three thousand people, we must encourage private sector involvement. Our health department’s 1,189 doctors are inadequate,” he explained.
Choudhury assured that the administration of Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) Hospital in Agartala would not be handed over to the Shantiniketan Medical College group. He elaborated, “Similar to their operations in Bengal’s Bolpur, where they use a local government hospital for teaching, they aim to sign an MoU with Tripura’s health department for the same purpose at IGM Hospital. This agreement will not affect healthcare services.”
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