Chennai: More than 200 govt doctors and medical college faculty members across Tamil Nadu remain absent from duty for prolonged periods without authorisation, prompting the anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam to seek immediate disciplinary action against them.In a complaint submitted to chief minister C Joseph Vijay, health minister K G Arunraj, and senior health officials on Monday, the NGO said RTI replies collected from 28 districts revealed that 229 doctors and medical professors were under long-term unauthorised absence from govt hospitals and medical colleges.Many of these doctors benefited from govt-sponsored postgraduate and super-speciality medical education under the service quota system, which requires them to serve in govt institutions after completing their studies. Despite signing service bonds and receiving salaries during their training period, several doctors failed to return to duty, the complaint stated.According to the data, Chennai accounted for the highest number of such cases with 49 doctors, followed by Thanjavur (24), Tiruchy (16), Theni (15) and Karur (13). Together, the top five districts accounted for 117 cases, representing more than half of the total reported unauthorised absences.“The prolonged absence of doctors worsened staff shortages in govt hospitals, affected patient care, disrupted emergency and speciality services, and reduced clinical exposure for medical students,” said M Radhakrishnan of Arappor Iyakkam.The NGO further said that some doctors were absent for as long as 15 years, and recovery of bond amounts and other disciplinary proceedings were not effectively pursued in several cases. It urged the govt to conduct a comprehensive inquiry, recover financial losses, initiate disciplinary action, and consider passport cancellation and other legal measures against doctors who failed to fulfil their service obligations.
