The Madras High Court has ruled that the quarantine period for postgraduate medical students on Covid duty will count as part of their two-year compulsory in-bond government service.While allowing a writ petition filed by Pradeep Vasudevan, a postgraduate in general medicine, now serving at a primary health centre (PHC) in Salem, who sought to include his 150-day quarantine period in the bond requirement, Justice Anita Sumanth noted that the quarantine time was essentially an extension of PG studentsâ Covid duty.
She ordered the State government to reduce the petitionerâs in-bond service period by 150 days and move up the end of the bond period to January 2, 2024, instead of May 31, 2024.
The petitioner completed his postgraduate studies at KAP Viswanathan Government Medical College in Tiruchi in May 2022. Upon admission to the programme, he had signed a Rs 40-lakh bond and committed to working in state institutions for a duration of two years.