Chennai: Govt doctors in Tamil Nadu are shunning super-speciality training because the additional qualification brings no assured promotion, salary increase or posting in the field in which they train, doctors’ associations said, leaving the state with hundreds of unfilled seats in disciplines critical to public hospitals.Supreme Court this week directed Tamil Nadu to surrender 151 unfilled super-speciality seats to the Directorate General of Health Services, triggering a political tug-of-war between DMK, which accused the govt of failing to defend the seats, and the ruling TVK, which said the order protects the state’s claim if cut-offs are lowered. But doctors’ bodies say the deeper question remains unanswered: why would a govt doctor spend years in advanced training if the job that follows does not change?Records show that 119 seats in 2024 and 145 seats in 2025 were surrendered to the All India Quota during the previous regime. “We are an army of more than 20,000 doctors. If seats are vacant, it is because the govt has failed to expand specialist care in govt hospitals,” said Service Doctors and Post Graduate Association general secretary A Ramalingam.Doctors who complete a DM or MCh course say the state does not consistently reward that training through promotions, adequate pay rises or appointments in their speciality. “A candidate who completes a speciality course will receive an additional Rs 10,000 in salary, while counterparts earn much more in private practice. Worse, they don’t get posted in the speciality. Cardiologists are posted in emergency wards as there are no vacancies in cardiology posts,” Ramalingam said.Tamil Nadu Govt Doctors Association, which welcomed the Supreme Court judgment, said the govt must increase at least 350 super-speciality seats if it wants to place doctors where they are needed. “We must have a wide range of specialists in all medical colleges. Without opportunities, it will be difficult to encourage govt doctors to study further,” said association state president A Srinivasan. The association has been pressing the govt to raise sanctioned strength and ensure timely promotions.Beyond pay and postings, mid-career doctors are also bound by service rules mandating them to remain in govt employment until retirement. Specialists in some branches say the workload is high, the risks are greater, and the incentives are too modest. “No doctor wants to take cardiothoracic surgery or plastic surgery because the surgical time, post-operative care and risks involved are higher. While private hospitals pay surgeons better, there is forced pay parity in govt service,” said a senior cardiac surgeon.Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association said the loss of seats would eventually weaken public hospitals. “These posts and facilities are created by the state with taxpayers’ money. The quota exists because service doctors will serve in govt hospitals until superannuation,” said general secretary M Akilan.
