CHENNAI: Over the years, the number of people walking to Tamil Nadu’s government hospitals (GH) have only increased, but manpower shortage remains unaddressed, claimed doctors and nurses, urging the new TVK government to take measures to fill vacancies at the earliest.
Between 2021-2022 and 2024-2025, the daily out-patients numbers in medical college hospitals increased by 49% on an average, but this has not kept pace with the manpower, doctors said. It may be noted that the state currently has over 11,000 government hospitals, including 36 government medical college hospitals, but there are only around 26,000 government doctors.
Dr S Perumal Pillai, president, Legal Coordination Committee for Government Doctors, said the sanctioned posts have not been increased for years despite the opening of new hospitals. The government opened Ammapettai Government Peripheral Hospital in Salem with zero manpower.
Eight doctors, including obstetric and gynaecology specialists, were diverted from Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital (MCH) to the new hospital. For the newly-opened Government Peripheral Hospital at Kandiyaperi in Tirunelveli, doctors were diverted from the Tirunelveli MCH. Besides, many post graduate doctors are made to do 24 hours duty in government hospitals, he said.
According to doctors, there is an acute shortage in posts of physicians, general surgeons, anaesthetists, and particulary obstetricians and gynaecologists.
Dr P Balakrishnan, convenor, Federation of Government Doctors Association (FOGDA), said the government should fill doctor vacancies based on the patient’s strength in hospitals. This has been one of the long pending demands of the doctors.
In 2021, the previous government in its poll promises had said that steps would be taken to fill up the job vacancies in government hospitals including regularisation of contract workers. However, they only managed to recruit around 4,700 doctors through Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB) and regularise the jobs of around 5,825 contract nurses in the last five years.
The nurses affiliated to Tamil Nadu Nurses Empowerment Association also launched a hunger strike in December 2025, demanding the regularisation of over 8,000 nurses. Following this, the government regularised over 1,000 nurses.
In April 2023, the government conducted a Medical Services Recruitment Board exam to fill 1,021 posts of assistant surgeons, to be posted as medical officers in PHCs. In January 2025, it conducted an examination for 2,553 doctors, and again in January 2026, it held an examination for 1,100 assistant surgeon posts, and also for 299 general surgeons with speciality qualification (as per MRB notifications).
However, doctors have been raising the issue of shortage of manpower at all levels, including specialist doctors. Also, the job regularisation of dialysis technicians and other cadres still remain unfulfilled.
Meanwhile, N Subin, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Nurses Empowerment Association, said around 7,000 nurses have been waiting for regularisation of their service for years. In ICU set up, as per the norms, there should be one nurse per one patient 1:1 ratio, but many ICUs are run with limited nurses. Nurses are stressing themselves to deliver patient care. The service of around 7,000 nurses should be regularised, he said.
Dr G Chandrasekar, state secretary, Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Associations, said the association will hold its cabinet meeting on Tuesday, and prefer an agenda to submit to the government once the new health minister and health secretary take charge. Transfer counselling for professors and associate professors in medical institutions should be conducted, and these vacancies should be filled, he said.
Some of the other requests seek to allow doctors to take allotted eligible leaves when they are temporarily transferred to other places, provide allowance of `3,000 to those doctors working in trauma wards, casualty and high risk areas, and allow voluntary retirement in certain departments, he added.
