Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Friday announced that the state government is working towards introducing heart transplant procedures at the Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) and Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital. Discussions with AIIMS, New Delhi, are ongoing, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has already been signed with the Mohan Foundation to support the initiative.
Speaking at the 21st Foundation Day celebration of AGMC and GB Pant Hospital, the Chief Minister also revealed plans to launch super-specialty courses at the medical institution. “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.
Highlighting the progress in medical education in the state, Saha said that earlier, Tripura had a limited number of MBBS seats, but the capacity has now expanded to about 400 seats across three medical colleges—AGMC, Tripura Medical College (TMC), and Tripura Santiniketan Medical College (TSMC). TMC, a private medical college, is run by a 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 permitted for 150 seats, of which 118 are for Tripura students, 22 for central government nominees, and the remaining 10 for the Northeast region,” he added.
Currently, around 525 students are pursuing MBBS at AGMC. Since its inception in 2005 and the first batch graduating in 2010, the college has produced 1,484 MBBS graduates, 1,270 of whom are from Tripura.
Saha emphasized that AGMC and TMC graduates have been deployed to rural areas to address the shortage of doctors, particularly improving the healthcare delivery in underserved regions. In the past nine years, 391 students have completed their post-graduate medical education, and the state is actively exploring the possibility of introducing super-specialty courses.
On the infrastructure front, Saha noted a shortage of hospital beds at GB Pant Hospital, where the number has reduced from 1,413 to 727. However, plans are underway to add 100 more beds.
“We have signed an MoU with the Mohan Foundation. We are planning to conduct liver and heart transplants as well. Talks have been held with AIIMS, New Delh,i regarding these initiatives. We are emphasising to start of 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.
So far, three successful kidney transplants have been conducted at AGMC, and the government aims to build on this progress to expand organ transplant services in the state.
