Hijab row fallout: Joining date extended as govt tries to persuade Dr Nusrat Parveen

The Bihar government has further extended the joining deadline for AYUSH doctors who received appointment letters from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 15 December, 2025. The move is being seen as an attempt by the government to persuade Dr Nusrat Parveen to join her post.

According to the appointment letters, the doctors were required to join by 20 December, 2025. The deadline was first extended to 31 December, 2025. As Dr Nusrat Parveen did not report to the Civil Surgeon’s office in Patna by that date, the government has now extended the joining deadline further till 7 January, giving her yet another opportunity to take up the job.

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It is believed that the Bihar government is using back-channel efforts to convince the AYUSH doctor to accept the appointment, a move that could help minimise the damage caused by the hijab controversy to Nitish Kumar’s image as a leader committed to women’s empowerment.

A political row had erupted after Nitish Kumar attempted to pull down the hijab from Dr Nusrat Parveen’s face during the distribution of appointment letters. Following the incident, Nusrat neither joined the service nor made any public statement.

Government Tibbi College, Patna, Principal Prof (Dr) Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman had earlier told the media that Dr Nusrat was not upset with the Chief Minister and had conveyed that the issue was being unnecessarily dragged out.

However, her brother had earlier informed the media that she had firmly decided not to take up the job, although he and other family members were trying to persuade her otherwise.

Dr Nusrat’s decision not to join the service is being seen as her way of registering protest against sexual harassment of women at the workplace.