Photo Courtesy: nenews
Agartala: Tripura will digitize its entire healthcare system by October 31, 2026. Health Secretary Kiran Gitte announced the deadline during an Integrated Health Information Management System workshop held on Tuesday. The state also named West Tripura as the model district for this digital integration.
Officials aim for a unified, transparent ecosystem. This connects citizens, medical facilities, and professionals under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. Attendees included National Health Authority CEO Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Pankaj Kumar Arora, Shailesh Kumar Yadav, Additional Secretary and Mission Director Saju Vaheed A, and State Mission Director G Sarat Nayak.
Barnwal inspected the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Agartala Civil Hospital on Monday. He reviewed the paperless operations and the Computer on Wheels facility. This tool lets staff input patient records directly at the bedside. Barnwal said, "A fully integrated digital health ecosystem would require ABHA IDs among citizens, registration of healthcare facilities under the Health Facility Registry and doctors under the Healthcare Professionals Registry."
The state has already generated 2 lakh ABHA IDs. Medical, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Health councils in the state now use online applications and digital payments. Gitte proposed a follow-up visit for the NHA chief in November to celebrate the project completion. The system will let doctors access past medical records to improve treatment continuity.
Updated at 12th August 2026 at 1:48am
The state has ramped up its digital footprint, pushing the total number of generated ABHA IDs to 3.2 million. Officials highlighted the progress of the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY and the Mukhyamantri Jan Arogya Yojana as cornerstones of the effort. By the end of June 2026, the state issued over 1.6 million PMJAY cards and 630,000 cards under the CMJAY program.
The financial impact of these health schemes is significant. Empanelled hospitals settled over 307 crore rupees in claims for PMJAY, with more than 570,000 people receiving cashless care. The CMJAY program covered 92,000 patients with claims totaling 50 crore rupees. Thousands of residents also accessed care outside state lines using these benefits. During the workshop, four patients who underwent major surgery via these programs shared their experiences, noting that the schemes spared them from financial ruin during medical crises.
NHA chief Sunil Kumar Barnwal noted that the digital setup at the Agartala Civil Hospital rivals infrastructure he previously encountered in the United Kingdom. He claimed the facility is among the most advanced paperless systems operating in the country.
Updated at 12th August 2026 at 1:48pm
Health Secretary Kiran Gitte pinpointed the October 31 target during a workshop held at Pragya Bhavan in Agartala. Gitte challenged the department to match the efficiency of the state's medical, pharmacy, nursing, and allied health councils, which already handle certificate issuance and payments entirely online.
Gitte framed the aggressive timeline as a logistical hurdle rather than a technical impossibility, comparing the move to the public's widespread adoption of online banking and travel bookings. He noted that the state's prior success in ease of doing business reforms and rural development projects provides a blueprint for this transition.
The push for full integration aims to eliminate manual bottlenecks in drug procurement and supply chain management. By removing paper-based dependencies, the state expects to trim treatment delivery times significantly, allowing medical staff to prioritize patient care over administrative paperwork.
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