Ahead of Budget session, doctors urge T.N. government to double staff strength in hospitals

Doctors in Tamil Nadu urge the government to double hospital staff ahead of the interim Budget to address workforce shortages.

Ahead of Tamil Nadu’s interim Budget to be presented February 17, 2026, the Legal Coordination Committee for Government Doctors (LCC) urged the State government to double the number of posts for doctors, nurses, and medical staff in government hospitals.

In a statement on Sunday (February 15), committee president S. Perumal Pillai said that although over 100 primary health centres and government hospitals have been opened since the DMK assumed office, no corresponding posts had been created.

With patient numbers rising, the committee said deputing doctors and nurses from existing hospitals to staff new facilities is straining both personnel and patients. It cited Ammampettai and Kandiaperi government hospitals as examples, where staff were deputed without new posts being sanctioned.

The committee also said long-pending demands, including the implementation of G.O. 354 on pay parity, remain unresolved and noted that MBBS doctors in Tamil Nadu are paid less than those in other States. It sought the doubling of sanctioned posts, pay band-4 after 12 years of service, and a government job for the wife of Dr. Vivekanandan, who died on COVID duty.