The Northeast has secured representation in the newly constituted National Dental Commission (NDC), with Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh among the states selected for membership in the commission and its three autonomous boards.
The Union Health Ministry has selected 19 part-time members of the NDC and its autonomous boards through a draw of lots, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday. The selection process was attended by Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava.
The appointments will be for a tenure of two years and comprise 10 representatives from state and Union Territory governments and nine representatives from state dental councils.
Among the 10 representatives of state and UT governments, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have been selected alongside Sikkim, Jharkhand, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Nagaland and Meghalaya have been selected among the nine representatives of state dental councils. The other states and Union Territories in this category are Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Puducherry.
The ministry also selected the second part-time member for each of the three autonomous boards from among the nine representatives of state dental councils.
Telangana has been selected for the Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate Dental Education Board, Karnataka for the Dental Assessment and Rating Board, and Madhya Pradesh for the Ethics and Dental Registration Board.
Additional Secretary Vinod Kotwal and other senior ministry officials were also present during the selection process.
The ministry stated that the draw of lots was conducted in accordance with the statutory procedure prescribed under the relevant Act for appointing part-time members to the commission and its autonomous boards.
The formation of the NDC marks a major change in the country’s dental education regulatory framework. Earlier this year, the Centre notified the constitution of the commission, replacing the Dental Council of India (DCI) with a new regulatory structure consisting of three autonomous boards.
The new framework became operational on March 19 and is aimed at improving the quality of dental education, strengthening assessment mechanisms and ensuring better regulation of the dental profession across the country.
The selection of representatives from Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh provides the four northeastern states an opportunity to participate in the national regulatory framework for dental education and professional standards.
