17-07-2025
Doctors must have 75% attendance to get leave, says Tamil Nadu DME
TIRUNELVELI: Deans of all government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu have been instructed to ensure that doctors maintain at least 75% attendance before granting them leave, except in emergencies.
In a communication sent on Monday, Dr E Theranirajan, Director of Medical Education and Research (DME), also warned of stringent action if deficiencies in the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) are not rectified within four months.
The directive comes in the wake of the National Medical Commission (NMC) granting only conditional renewal of MBBS seats for the 2025–26 academic year in 36 government medical colleges (GMCs) across the state.
'A detailed action plan and written assurance have already been submitted to the NMC. For that, monitoring AEBAS, department-wise and college-wise, in all 36 GMCs is necessary to prevent attendance-related deficiencies as mentioned in the conditional renewal,' Theranirajan said.
'Due to the persistent lack of minimum required faculty in 11 colleges, the NMC directed a personal hearing at the commission, during which the health secretary and DME appeared and submitted a written assurance to rectify the deficiencies. Considering this, the NMC has granted conditional renewal of MBBS seats, with the condition that all deficiencies must be rectified within four months. If not, stringent action will be initiated,' the DME said.
According to the communication, AEBAS data revealed deficient attendance of faculty, residents, and tutors across all departments in the GMCs at Kanniyakumari, Ramanathapuram, Nilgiris, and Karur.
In Stanley Medical College, 16 out of 20 departments were found deficient, while 19 out of 20 departments in Chengalpattu GMC and 15 out of 20 in Omandurar GMC also recorded inadequate attendance.
