12 days to retire, senior nurse gets promoted as principal after Madras HC's intervention

CHENNAI: Ending years of waiting, the senior most nurse in the State got a promotion as the principal of government nursing college at Theni, 12 days before her superannuation, thanks to the Madras High Court's intervention.

Since the petitioner is the senior most nurse and is eligible for the principal’s post, Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan directed the State to appoint her as the principal of nursing college on or before her retirement and also grant her all the benefits.

The petitioner V Vijayalakshmi, who is currently working as a reader in nursing at Madras Medical college, moved the petition seeking to publish the panel for 2024-25 for the post of principal in government nursing college.

It was submitted that the petitioner joined the service as staff nurse in December 1992, and was later promoted as a second grade nursing tutor, lecturer, and reader, respectively. Hence, the petitioner claimed she is eligible for the post.

However, the principal secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department kept her proposal pending for several months, she alleged.

Since she will attain superannuation in a couple of weeks, she sought to be promoted as the principal.