Dental Council Saga- How change came about

How Dental Council change was brought about - The real story

It has been almost a week since Dr Dibeyendu Mazumdar defeated Dr Anil Kohli to become the President of the DCI. It is a defining moment for the future of dentistry and the DCI. We think that this is a moment that the majority of dentists in the country have been waiting for. It is also the time for us to explain the positions we took over the last several years either individually or through the HMA Trust. Following the emphatic win by Dr Mazumdar many of us received congratulatory messages. While we did play a responsible role in exposing several irregularities in the administration and regulation of dentistry, we would like to state clearly that Dr Mazumdar’s victory was the result of his own perseverance and goodwill. In fact we attribute his victory to two reasons.

1. The relentless efforts of Dr Mazumdar in winning the confidence of the members of the Dental Council by his mature and humble approach to the various issues.

2. The wisdom and discretion of the members of the DCI who voted for his success.

His victory is also a referendum on the policies of the previous leadership. In a recent Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court, Dr Anil Kohli and a few members have impleaded in a writ petition denouncing the HMA Trust as some kind of inconvenient organization that was unnecessarily meddling in the otherwise smooth running of the Council. It alleged that the HMA Trust and some of us have gone to court on various issues for frivolous reasons. We would like to clarify that the HMA Trust is an independent non profit Trust set up under the Tamilnadu Society Registration Act. Its purposes are clearly defined and we would like to state the various measures taken up by us over the last three years and leave you to be the judge. Approaching the administration and the Courts of law are a genuine and legitimate means of seeking redressal in a democracy. The fact that our attempts resulted in a favourable outcome underlines the fact that we were successful in exposing several irregularities and violations.

1. The HMA trust used the enabling tool of the RTI to gather significant information about various aspects of the functioning of the DCI. In all we have used the RTI 34 times for obtaining information from the Health Ministry, UGC, Deemed Universities and of course the DCI and the State Dental Councils.

2. We petitioned the Government of India, PMO’s office, Dental Council, Medical council and other administrative bodies including state governments regarding various irregularities. This included the scrapping of Internship to benefit private managements, teachers in various dental colleges who were living overseas, non -payment of stipend etc

3. We have brought to the attention of the public, media and the dentists the various violations and improprieties of various health administrations including admission procedures etc

4. Some of us, with the support of the HMA Trust, have filed Writ Petitions in the High Court questioning illegal nomination to the DCI by politically powerful persons. The result of one such petition (WP No 5102/ 2011) resulted in the Madras High Court finding the nomination of Dr Anil Kohli invalid. There was no other means to expose the irregularity of a person in such a high position. In fact we had already exhausted administrative appeals to the Chief Minister of Delhi and the Lt Governor of Delhi before seeking legal recourse. We are proud to say that the subsequent resignation of the President paved the way for a new dispensation in the DCI.

5. We have persistently opposed the extravaganza, show and celebrity status bestowed on the previous President by private institutions. This included awards of Honorary Doctorates etc which was obviously a conflict of interest by the head of a regulatory body and the institution being regulated (Universities with dental colleges). We will continue to oppose it.

6. We have intervened whenever the due process of law or procedure was being subverted. In one instance Dr Kohli sought re-election as President on the day after he was compelled to resign. Our representation was accepted favourably by the council which decided to give 40 days notice before elections.

7. We have opposed the head of a statutory regulatory body making a donation to the PM’s relief fund. The presented cheque board had the name of DCI whereas it was collected from various private dental colleges. It is definitely not the mandate of the President of a regulatory body to collect money from private parties and present it to the Prime Minister with the name of DCI emblazoned on it.

8. We further petitioned the Delhi Dental Council to take punitive action against Dr Kohli and even remove his name from the Dentist’s register because he used the photograph of himself and the PM on the personal website of his private clinic in clear violation of the Code of Ethics- that too using the name of the PM of the country. What kind of a message is the head of a regulatory body sending to the young dentists of our country. When the President of the Council does it, the actions must be very strict.

9. We have opposed the manner in which the Biometrics contract was sanctioned. The replies to RTI from the council is unclear about whether due procedure and due diligence were applied in the contract. We also understand that the biometrics is eyewash and it is being manipulated. We have asked for either the biometrics to be removed or to be implemented strictly. Never as an instrument of personal harassment.

10. We have repeatedly petitioned the DCI to not be partial to some persons and institutions while harassing others. The President DCI has enormous discretionary powers which have been misused indiscriminately to favour some despite our complaints. This should never be repeated by any president against anybody. Very recently one of our trust members was relieved from his full time teaching post for the simple reason of being a member of a pro-active NGO. The politics of petty vendetta must stop.

Is there anything in our agenda that sounds immoral or incorrect????

In the same week when Anna Hazare the great Gandhian socialist has begun a fast unto death to implement policies (Lokpal Bill) which will make the mightiest in the country answerable for their wrongs, we rededicate our endeavours to have a clean policy in the regulation of health.

We take this opportunity to thank all our beneficiaries, many of whom could not come out publicly. We encourage more people to join us to make health services and regulation a friendly one for the benefit of humanity- not just for the privileged few!!

Wishing that Dr Dibeyendu Mazumdar and the Dental Council will make a great difference to the future of dentistry in India!

Flash News: The process to reintroduce Internship and reduce a Year has already been initiated. It will come into effect after the Health Ministry OK's it. Dr Mazumdar has written to all States saying NO to new dental colleges. A good beginning!!! As reported in the Times of India E News!!

Warm Regards

Dr R. Gunaseelan- President HMA Trust

Dr George Paul- Executive Trustee HMA Trust

Dr Kishore Nayak- Trustee