To recognise the services rendered by postgraduate medical students during COVID-19, the Madras High Court has ordered that not only the period of such service but also the days when they had been quarantined should be deducted from the two-year compulsory in-bond government service that they are supposed to perform after completion of the course.
Justice Anita Sumanth passed the orders while allowing a writ petition filed by Pradeep Vasudevan, a postgraduate in general medicine, now serving at a primary health centre (PHC) in Salem. She directed the State government to deduct 150 days from his two year in-bond service period and advance the closure of the bond period to January 2, 2024 instead of May 31, 2024.
The petitioner’s counsel Suhrith Parthasarathy brought it to the notice of the court that his client had undergone his postgraduation at KAP Viswanathan Government Medical College in Tiruchi and completed it in May 2022. At the time of admission to the course, he executed a bond for ₹40 lakh and gave an undertaking to serve in State institutions for a period of two years.
