New Delhi: Citing the lack of dental colleges in the government sector, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Wednesday urged the Union government to open more government dental colleges to provide dental services in every part of the country.
While speaking on the Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on behalf of the party in the Lower House, Berhampur MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu said that there is acute shortage of dentists in the country.
To stress his point, Sahu quoted a WHO report that says there are 1.876 dentists per 10,000 people.
“Most of the dental colleges are in the private sector charging a fee of over Rs 10-15 lakh. The government should work for opening more government dental colleges,” he said.
Sahu further said that though a lot of dental hospitals are there in urban areas, very few are found in the rural parts of the country. “The rural people have been deprived of the benefits of dental services,” he said and urged the government to make plans to work for the rural people.
The BJD legislature also raised issue of recognition of Indian dental degrees abroad.
“Indian dental degrees are not recognised abroad. If the dentists go to foreign countries, they have to do their course all over again. The government should look for a provision to deal with the issue,” Sahu said.
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan introduced the Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The Bill seeks to amend the Dentists Act, 1948.