23% BDS seats vacant in Punjab, students say future not secure

Few government jobs in hospitals and colleges, relatively high fee in private colleges with the perception that infrastructure is not up to the mark has meant that 23 percent seats in Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) remained vacant across private dental colleges in Punjab. Only two government colleges have filled their seats, with 275 of the total 1,140 seats finding no takers. Again, lack of jobs is blamed. Even the academic positions are not filled.

Satinder Singh (name changed), a BDS pass-out, said, “I passed with a BDS degree from a private college. I spent around Rs 14 lakh in all, including on tuition and hostel fee, but I remain unemployed. The government must recruit dental doctors.”

Another MDS student said, “I have spent around Rs 30 lakh on PG in the private college but there is no secure job in the field while the government has to create job opportunities in public and encourage the private sector.” In private colleges, the students have to pay almost double fees as compared to government colleges in the dental courses while management quota students to pay almost thrice. 

Satinder added that the Dental Council of India needed to be strengthened on a par with the Medical Council of India (MCI) to ensure that colleges are regulated well. Regular inspections needed to be conducted to ensure that no one can defraud the system and do cosmetic changes or improvement to hoodwink the system, he claimed.

“Private colleges also need to ensure that they provide adequate practical exposure to students,” Satinder claimed.