Last Updated on June 20, 2021 at 4:39 pm
Dr Bhupinder Singh, president of J&K Dental Council (JKDC) has urged the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, to look into the matter that numerous hardships being faced by BDS and MDS doctors as no jobs of dental surgeons were advertised since 2008.
The J&K Dental Council (JKDC) is the statutory body constituted as per the provision of section 21 of the Dentists Act, 1948.
Dr Bhupinder requested LG to direct the concerned departments for creation of jobs for dental surgeons as this file is shuttling between the Finance and Health Department since many years. Many dentists could have been adjusted in NRHM or other centrally sponsored health schemes but nothing has been done in that direction too.
He said that he has already written to Dr Jitendra Singh, MOS PMO, regarding the plight of dental surgeons in J&K. He had also met the then Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti regarding the advertisement of post for the dental surgeons which she has acceded to. But her Govt. collapsed and the matter remained hanging.
Dr Bhupinder asserted that dental surgeons have worked day and night during the corona pandemic and still working as frontline workers. Govt. can take the services of more dental surgeons by employing them in the govt. jobs and which would be of immense benefit to the Union Territory in mitigation of this pandemic.
He also stressed that the oral health is a neglected part of overall health although it is the portal of entry to our body. Dental diseases can complicate various systemic conditions like diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, pregnancy, pulmonary diseases and so on.
“Trained dental surgeons are required to make people aware and treat the diseases of oral cavity. But there is acute shortage of dentists in J&K government who can go to far flung and difficult areas to educate the general public about the ill effects of poor dental health and can treat them. Even in the cities, people are not aware of the oral health issues and report to dentist only when the disease has progressed to late stage. So the UT Govt. must look into it and advertise the post of dental doctors at the earliest” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that Dr Bhupinder Singh was elected to JKDC with highest number of votes to the first ever democratically elected Jammu and Kashmir Dental Council in 2017.
