Private medical college in Tripura gets nod to begin MBBS course by NMC

NEW DELHI: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Friday said a private medical college in the state has received permission from the authorities to begin MBBS course for 150 students from the 2024-25 academic year. Replying to a calling attention moved by Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman in Assembly, Saha said the National Medical Council (NMC) has given its nod to Tripura Santiniketan Medical College (TSMC).

Based on the NMC’s permission, Tripura University has also issued a Consent of Affiliation to the medical college located at Ranirkhamar in West Tripura district. The chief minister, who holds the health portfolio, said that 50 per cent of the total 150 MBBS seats will be reserved for the students of the northeastern state.

The Congress MLA, however, voiced concern over the exorbitant fees of the MBBS course. “The medical college is reportedly charging around Rs 1 crore for the MBBS course which is quite high given the socio-economic condition of the state. Many meritorious students of the state could not pursue the medical course in the college due to the high course fees,” Barman said.

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The medical college functions under a Kolkata-based trust. Leader of Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury also voiced concern over the way the private medical college was given permission for admission. In reply, the chief minister said the government is focusing on ease of doing business in the northeastern state.

“No investors will come to the state if we seek clearance from the Enforcement Directorate or CBI. We had judged the trust’s financial capacity for the past three years whether it could manage the college or not," Saha said. The state government has already given its consent to use a portion of the state-run IGM Hospital for training purposes, the chief minister said.

"We are keeping an eye on the functioning of the college. If anything unforeseen happens, we will take appropriate steps,” he said.