Doc’s post against clerical staff exposes deep-rooted corruption in health dept

Doc’s post against clerical staff exposes deep-rooted corruption in health dept

 Pushpa.Narayan@timesofindia.com 09.11.2025

Chennai : A social media post by urologist Dr Jaison Philip accusing clerical staff in the state health department of corruption went viral on Saturday. This prompted associations of govt doctors, who rallied behind him, to say corruption and maladministration have affected not only their salaries and promotions but also patient care in govt hospitals across the state. 

Dr Philip, who works at Madras Medical College, posted an image of his payslip, saying he was receiving a gross salary of ₹1.6 lakh instead of at least ₹2.5 lakh because of ‘clerical corruption’. “As a rule, I never give bribes, so I suffer,” he wrote. Later, he added that “topmost powerful bureaucrats met/rang me and talked kindly. They said they will ensure anomalies will be corrected and justice done.” This, however, is not Dr Philip’s first such allegation. In Sept, he said that clerical staff at Government Royapettah Hospital — a clerk and an office superintendent — demanded bribes of ₹1,000 and ₹2,000, respectively, to forward his service register after his transfer to Madras Medical College. 

He claimed he faced such harassment from clerks in the health department for nearly three decades. Following his post, health minister Ma Subramanian promised action, and some staff were transferred. On Saturday, several associations of govt doctors said corruption and maladministration in the department affected beyond delayed salaries. 

They cited instances of long-pending settlements for doctors who died in service and delays in processing pensions for those retiring. While the family of a doctor who died in 2014 is still awaiting settlement, another doctor who retired in Feb 2024 is waiting for the admin department to forward his papers for the rollout of a monthly pension. Service doctors and postgraduates association blamed the heads of institutions for failing to ensure the timely disbursement of payments to faculty and postgraduate doctors. “There are no regular grievance meetings to resolve issues in a time-bound manner. Deans themselves complain of pending salaries when we raise such matters,” said the association’s state organizing secretary Dr A Ramalingam.