SRINAGAR: Asserting that Jammu and Kashmir has 7500 registered dental surgeons, of whom 7000 are jobless, the Dental Surgeons Association said the plight is painful. They said they are on the verge of overage, stress, and starvation.

Members of Dental Surgeons Association protesting against lack of jobs in the health sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement issued from Jammu, the dental surgery graduates said being stressed and broke, hopelessness has taken over the fraternity.

The last time the government advertised the positions for dental surgeons was in 2008. The protracted halt in hiring has triggered “a mismatch between supply and demand” in the health sector. Ideally, WHO norms suggested a dental surgeon for 75000 people. On this basis, the statement said, the Dental Council of India (DCI) has written to the Government of India seeking a moratorium on the future opening of new dental colleges.

The DSA said the jobless members had handed over a petition to the state government in 2014 after a 3-month long hunger strike. “Two years back with the help of Governor Satyapal Malik and Advisor Vijay Kumar, we were finally able to put our demands rightly and officers were told to work on creating new posts for dental surgeons in the state,” the Association said, taking an indirect hit at the good governance. “The file bearing number HD/PLAN/68-2018 is with Finance department and till date, even after 3 long years there is not even one new creation of post.”

The DSA said that there are no jobs available in Jammu and Kashmir. “For the record, only 5 per cent of graduated dental surgeons are working in the government sector,” the statement said. “While there are about 15000 posts for medical doctors, the number of posts for dentists is only somewhere around 500.”

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