Seats at Agartala medical college will be increased, super speciality courses introduced: CM

Agartala, Aug 26 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday said his government was working to increase the number of seats at the Agartala Govt Medical College (AGMC) and introduce super speciality courses.

Addressing a programme during which appointment letters were handed to newly-recruited medical officers, Saha said steps have also been taken to recruit specialist doctors in government hospitals.

"We are in the process of adding 100 more MBBS seats in AGMC. We have received an indication to go ahead with the plan. We are also planning to introduce super speciality medical courses at AGMC. We are in touch with the National Medical Council (NMC) to materialise the plan," he said.

"We are receiving wishlists from MLAs to get specialist doctors in their areas, but there is a shortage of specialist doctors in the state. We sought to fill vacancies for 180 specialist doctors, but got only 45. The government will again recruit specialist doctors with more doctors having cleared MD and MS courses by that time," he said.

At present, there are 100 seats in MBBS and 89 seats for post-graduate courses at the AGMC.

Saha said the government has already taken steps to recruit technical and paramedical personnel to boost the healthcare facilities in the state.

He also sought to put to rest the ongoing controversy over the recruitment of those candidates for General Duty Medical Officers (GDMOs) who scored 14, 18 and 21 in the examination conducted by the Tripura Public Service Commission (TPSC).

"These are grade marks, which have no value when it comes to judging the quality of a medical officer. A student who completed an MBBS course had to take a tough entrance test like NEET after ensuring a good performance in the class 12 board exams. The NMC has already provided them with a degree. Therefore, the allegation of a very poor mark has nothing to do with medical practice," he said. PTI PS SOM