The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently granted relief to 11 postgraduate medical students by directing the state government to grant them time extension till the completion of their course to join duty as Assistant Surgeons (General) in various government primary health centres (PHCs) in the state.
Justice Battu Devanand passed the order on a batch of petitions filed by the 11 PG students seeking the above relief. The petitioners had received appointment orders for the aforesaid post on February 25, 2025, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
The appointment orders mentioned that if the appointed individual fails to join duty within 15 days of receiving the order, the same will be cancelled and their name will be removed from the approved list.
Stating that they can neither forgo the appointment nor discontinue the course, the petitioners requested the government to relax the above condition and grant them an extension of time for a few months. As there was no response, they moved the court.
The judge acknowledged the difficulties involved in getting a seat to study a postgraduate medical course. The state government also allocates substantial resources and funds to train PG medical students as having medical specialists in different subjects has become essential in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising number of non-communicable diseases, the judge observed.
Hence, denying the petitioners' request would not only result in them losing their time, effort and money but would adversely impact the state exchequer, the judge added.
Noting that the provison to Section 7(5) of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 grants power to the appointing authority to extend the time-limit up to six months in case of special circumstances for valid reasons, the judge allowed the petitions by directing the Director of Public Health to extend the time limit in the petitioners' appointment orders, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
