The Tripura government’s decision to ban private practice for doctors at the Agartala Government Medical College and Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital has received a mixed response from the medical fraternity. While teachers have welcomed the policy, they are also pressing for long-pending service reforms, salary restructuring, and promotion policies. The state cabinet approved the proposal, which will initially cover around 350 faculty members and medical officers, offering a 20% increase in basic pay as Non-Practising Allowance. Announcing the decision, Tripura Cabinet spokesperson and minister Sushanta Chowdhury said faculty members and medical officers would no longer be permitted to undertake private practice.
The government will issue a notification to implement the decision, which was finalised after consultations with various doctors’ organisations. Chief Minister Manik Saha and the Health Secretary held consultations with doctors’ organisations before the proposal was placed before the council of ministers. The decision comes as the state attempts to strengthen services at AGMC and GBP Hospital, the largest government-run teaching hospital in Tripura. The AGMC Teachers’ Forum has announced that its members have unanimously decided to discontinue private practice in compliance with the government’s policy.
However, the forum has also urged the government to implement long-pending reforms in the Tripura Medical Education Service Rules before enforcing the non-practising system. Dr Tapan Majumder, a key functionary of the forum, said the service rules had not been amended since 2010, affecting promotion prospects of medical teachers and doctors serving in the medical education sector. The forum, along with the All Tripura Government Doctors’ Association, has submitted several demands to the government, including amendment of service rules, restructuring of salaries, and introduction of a time-bound promotion policy. Meanwhile, a separate group of super-speciality doctors has submitted a representation to the Medical Superintendent of AGMC and GBP Hospital opposing the proposed ban in its present form.
The Super Specialist Doctors Forum stated that the proposal was formulated without adequate consultation with stakeholders directly involved in patient care. The forum argued that prohibiting private practice alone would not improve healthcare standards unless issues such as manpower shortages and infrastructure deficiencies were addressed simultaneously. The doctors contended that changing the conditions of service unilaterally undermined the understanding on which they had accepted their appointments. The representation also objected to suggestions that doctors unwilling to accept the policy should resign, describing such remarks as disrespectful to the profession.
The forum proposed that the government adopt an opt-in approach instead of making the prohibition compulsory and sought meaningful dialogue before implementation of the policy. Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha defended the cabinet decision, saying it was taken after discussions with doctors’ organisations and after examining recommendations made by an expert team from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Saha said the objective of the decision was to improve the availability of doctors at AGMC and GBP Hospital and strengthen healthcare delivery for patients. The chief minister acknowledged that some doctors might require time to adjust to the new arrangement but expressed confidence that the system would function smoothly over time.
Tripura Health Secretary Kiran Gitte said there was no dearth of talented doctors in government service. Gitte stated that even if some doctors are unwilling to continue in government service, the state is not expecting a heavy manpower shortage. According to him, states such as Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Maharashtra have imposed a complete ban on private practice by government doctors, while Kerala, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan restrict private practice for medical college faculty and doctors holding administrative positions.
