Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Dec 12: Central Government Dental Doctors today approached Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh with the plea for raising their retirement age to 65 years.
A delegation of dental doctors held a meeting with Dr Jitendra Singh and complained that even as the Central Government had, through an order dated 31st May this year, raised the superannuation age of non-teaching specialists and other doctors of Central Health Services to 65 years, it is an anomaly that the doctors in the category of Central Government Dental Services have been left out. They alleged that this was a discrimination against them, particularly because they belong to the same Central Government services and their controlling authority is the same Union Ministry of Health.
In a written representation, members of the delegation stated that out of 37 sanctioned posts of dental doctors all over India under Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, at present there are only 23 dental doctors working. Therefore, it is a very small number which has possibly been ignored by default.
It was also stated that, as per the memorandum of settlement and past practice, all the benefits rendered to medical officers are also extended to dental doctors. In the light of this, it is requested that with regard to superannuation age also, dental doctors must be kept at par with medical doctors in the interest of maintaining the uniformity.
Dr Jitendra Singh said he will take up their case with the Union Ministry of Health and seek to elicit the government’s view on the issue raised by them.
Among the prominent dental consultant doctors present in the meeting were Dr D. Kabi, Dr Gautam Khatak, Dr Anurag Jain, Dr Ajay Sareen, Dr Harmeet Singh, Dr Meenakshi Panda, Dr Nishtha Ramawat, Dr Gursimrat Singh and Dr H. P. Singh.