Prashant Bhushan alleges scam in Dental Coucil of India

NEW DELHI: Alleging "massive corruption" in the Dental Council of India, activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Friday said that some council members had received pecuniary benefits from private colleges in return for increase in the number of MDS seats. Bhushan has written to Union health minister J P Nadda seeking a CBI inquiry against DCI members.

Among the alleged malpractices Bhushan, a senior SC lawyer has highlighted, include a jump of 200% in the number of seats for masters in dental surgery (MDS) in the academic year 2011-2012 under DCI president Dibyendu Mazumdar. Bhushan said that despite a CBI inquiry and several DCI members under investigation no action had been taken against the members by the council itself. "Most private dental colleges charge a huge capitation fee for each seat and therefore all willing to resort to corrupt practices to any extent to increase the number of seats for their colleges," Bhushan said in his letter.

The SC lawyer also pointed out that a decision had been taken in 2008 by the DCI general body that since the training for "oral and maxillo-facial surgery (OMFS) " requires other medical expertise as well, OMFS courses will only be sanctioned for those dental colleges which are attached to recognized medical colleges." In contravention of this policy, Dr Dibyendu Mazumdar sanctioned as many as 81 seats for OMFS in the year 2012-2013. This is not only a clear violation of the DCI policy but it was also conscious negligence in terms of the quality of surgeons who would practice with such substandard education," the letter said.

Bhushan added that the DCI president had scrapped installation of the biometric system that led to a loss of Rs 1.32 crore according to the CAG.

http://ift.tt/T3Xuci Bhushan,Dental Coucil of India

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