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Infrastructure

Transport

A road crossing in Agartala

Tripura is remarkable in that only one major road, the National Highway 44 (NH-44), connects it to the rest of India. The national highway starts at Sabroom in southern Tripura, goes north to the capital Agartala, turns east and then north-east to enter the state of Assam. Locally known as Assam Road, the NH-44 is often called the lifeline of Tripura. However, the highway is single lane and of poor quality; often landslides, rains or other disruptions on the highway cut off the state from its neighbours. Another National Highway, NH 44A, connects the town so Manu in South Tripura district with Aizawl, Mizoram. Tripura Road Transport Corporation is the government agency overlooking public transport on road. A hilly and land-locked state, Tripura is dependent mostly on roads for transport. The total length of roads in the state is 16,931 km (10,520 mi), of which national highways constitute 448 km (278 mi); state highways 689 km (428 mi), as of 2009–10.

Rail transport was absent in the state until 2008–09 when a rail connection was established between the capital Agartala and Lumding junction in Assam. This is a meter gauge rail track connecting to the usual Indian gauge at Lumding. The major railways stations in this line are in Agartala, Dharmanagar, and Kumarghat. As of 2009–10, the total length of railway tracks in the state is 153 kilometres (95 mi). Extension of railway line from Agartala to the southernmost town of Sabroom is in progress, as of 2012. Agartala Airport, which has flights to Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, and Silchar, is the main airport of the state. The Agartala–Kolkata and Agartala–Guwahati flights are particularly important for rapid connectivity with the rest of India. Passenger helicopter services are available between the capital and major towns (Kailashahar, Dharmanagar) as well as to more remote areas such as Kanchanpur and Gandacherra. Residents in rural areas frequently use waterways as a mode of transport.

Power and irrigation

As of 2011, Tripura has three power-generating stations—natural gas-powered thermal power stations at Rokhia and Baramura, and hydel power station on the Gumti River. The combined power generation from these three stations is 100–105 MW. In times of peak power demand, the state has to borrow 50–60 MW electricty from the North-Eastern grid of the national transmission network. As of September 2012, two more thermal power plants are under construction that would meet the energy need of the state.

Of 255,241 hectares (985 sq mi) cultivable land of Tripura, 108,646 hectares (419 sq mi) has the potential to be covered by irrigation projects; however, 74,796 hectares (289 sq mi) is actually irrigated, as of 2011. The state lacks any major irrigation project; it depends on medium projects sourced from Gumti, Khowai and Manu rivers, and minor projects administered by village-level governing bodies that utilise tube wells, water pumps, tanks and lift irrigation.

Media and communication

As of 2012, there are 56 newspapers (daily or weekly) published from Tripura. Overwhelming majority of the newspapers are in Bengali; there is only one Kokborok daily, one Manipuri weekly, and three bilingual weeklies. Notable dailies include Daily Desher Katha, Ajkal Tripura, Dainik Sambad, and Syandan Patrika. The sole Kokborok daily is Hachukni Kok. In a study by Indian Institute of Mass Communication in 2009, 93% 0f the sample in Tripura rated television as very effective in information and mass education. In the study, 67% of the sample listened to radio in the state, and 80%–90% read newspaper. Most of the major telecommunication companies of India are present in the state, such as Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone, Reliance, Tata Indicom, Idea and BSNL landline, mobile, and broadband networks. There are 84 telephone exchanges (for landlines) and 716 post offices in the state. Mobile connections outnumber landline connections by a wide margin; the state-controlled BSNL has 57,897 landline subscribers in the state, while its GSM mobile service has 3,25,279 connections, as of 2011.

Education

Main article: Education in Tripura

Classrooms made of bamboo in a school

Tripura schools are run by the state government or by private organisations, including religious institutions. Instruction is mainly in English or Bengali, though Kokborok and other tribal languages are also used. The schools are affiliated with the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) or the Tripura Board of Secondary Education. Under the 10+2+3 plan, after completing secondary school, students typically enroll for 2 years in a junior college, also known as pre-university, or in schools with a higher secondary facility affiliated with the Tripura Board of Secondary Education or any central board. Students choose from one of three streams, namely liberal arts, commerce or science. Upon completing the required coursework, students may enroll in general degree programs such as bachelor's degree in arts, commerce or science, or professional degree programs such as engineering, law or medicine.

According to Economic Review of Tripura 2010–11, Tripura has a total of 4,455 schools, of which 2,298 are primary schools. The total enrolment of students in all schools is 767,672. The state has one Central University (Tripura University) and one private University (a branch of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India). There are 15 general colleges, 2 engineering colleges (Tripura Institute of Technology and National Institute of Technology, Agartala), 2 medical colleges (Agartala Government Medical College and Tripura Medical College), 3 polytechnic colleges, one law college, one music college, and one art college.

Healthcare

Health indices as of 2010

Indicator	Tripura	India
Birth rate	14.9	22.1
Death rate	5.0	7.2
Infant mortality rate	27	47
Total fertility rate	2.2	2.7
Natural growth rate	9.9	14.9

Healthcare in Tripura features a universal health care system run by the state government. The Constitution of India charges every state with "raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties". Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of the Government of Tripura is responsible for healthcare administration in the state.

The health care infrastructure is divided into three tiers — the primary health care network, a secondary care system comprising district and sub-divisional hospitals and tertiary hospitals providing specialty and super specialty care. As of 2010–11, there are 17 hospitals, 11 rural hospitals and community health centres, 79 primary health centres, 635 sub-centres/dispensaries, 7 blood banks and 7 blood storage centres in the state. Homeopathic and Ayurvedic styles of medicine are also popular in the state. National Family Health Survey-3 revealed that 20% of the residents of Tripura do not generally use government health facilities, and prefers private medical sector. This is overwhelmingly less compared to the national level, where 65.6% do not rely on government facilities. As with the average of India, Tripura residents also cite poor quality of care as the most frequent reason for non-reliance over public health sector. Other reasons include distance of the public sector facility, long waiting time, and inconvenient hours of operation.