The Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society’s (TANSACS) move to recruit counsellors and laboratory technicians for the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC) at government hospitals and government medical college hospitals on an outsourcing basis has drawn flak from the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control All Employees Welfare Association. The association has now demanded that the decision be scrapped.
The association has sent letters to the Chief Minister, Health Minister, Health Secretary and project director of TANSACS, urging them to withdraw the decision to recruit counsellors and laboratory technicians to the vacant posts on an outsourcing basis by engaging a manpower agency. These were part of the posts sanctioned by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), association members said.
Instead, they demanded that the recruitment of counsellors and lab technicians under TANSACS should be done directly by TANSACS rather than through outsourcing, according to the letter.
In addition, the vacant posts in government hospitals and government medical college hospitals should be first filled through transfers based on the preference of employees currently working in Primary Health Centres and government hospitals after which new recruitments can be considered, they urged the government.
According to the recruitment notification, TANSACS said these positions were purely on a contract basis. There were 31 vacant posts of ICTC counsellors and 48 posts of ICTC lab technicians, including in Chennai. Both will receive a monthly remuneration of ₹21,000.
The members of the association said there are a total of 388 sanctioned posts of ICTC counsellors and 383 posts of ICTC lab technicians under NACO-sanctioned posts in the State. Till now, TANSACS was directly recruiting staff for the posts sanctioned by NACO on a contractual basis.
Published – September 09, 2025 05:30 am IST
