Many of the sitting and former members of the Dental Council of India(DCI) have asked the government to instigate a mechanism that will supercede the council. The demand comes with the allegation that the council is rife with irregularities-not the least of which is the way in which the president and many members were appointed. Also, an inquiry had been sought to the allocation of 1,187 postgraduate (MDS) seats in 2012-2013.
At a press conference held on Thursday, Kerala DCI member Dr Shaji Joseph and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said that even though the health ministry was aware of the malpractices and illegalities in the council, they weren’t doing anything about it. Dr. Joseph said that if the MCI could be dissolved on grounds of corruption to have the ministry appoint a board of governors, a similar move could clean up the DCI as well. But the ministry just continues writing letters to the DCI, he added.
As per Bhushan, corruption is common in DCI. He pointed out that Dr.Ketan Desai, the former president of MCI in whose tenure that body was disbanded is present in the DCI. He said that even though the Gujarat University has a dental faculty, instead of sending someone from the faculty they sent Desai from the medical faculty.
They said that appointing Dr Dibyendu Mazumder as the DCI president was illegal and that he should be made to step down. Mazumdar who was a regular professor with the West Bengal government health services joined the Vananchal Dental College under the Nilamber Pitamber University, Jharkhand as an honorary visiting Professor. It was from this university that he got his DCI membership.
Since Mazumdar is a full time employee with the West Bengal government, it’s illegal for him to join another college without its permission. Also, as per the Dentist Act, a visiting professor cannot be a DCI member, they said.
Apparently, the Union health secretary has been writing to Jharkhand’s principal secretary, health from November 2015. However, even with the multiple reminders and also a letter to the chief secretary of Jharkhand requesting to look into Mazumder’s membership, the Jharkhand government hasn’t initiated any action. Not only that, Mazumder’s membership hasn’t been notified by the union health ministry-only those members notified by the government should be considered valid members, they said.
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