Did Head of Department for Dentistry at prestigious Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) jump the gun in getting himself first registered in Jharkhand and then also becoming a member of the Dental Council of India to represent the StateIJ
Documentary evidences in possession of The Pioneer suggest that Dr Virendra Kumar Prajapati, who was earlier registered with Bihar State Dentists Register, got himself transferred to Jharkhand State Dentists Register before accessing the prerequisite NOC from the Dental Council of India (DCI), a norm mandatory under Section 46(A) of the Dentist Act, 1948.
A letter of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Dental Education Section) written on August 11, 2016 to the Secretary of the DCI furnishing details about the registrations obtained by Dr Prajapati has asked whether his registration in Jharkhand is validIJ
Having his registration number 1104/A in Bihar, Prajapati acquired NOC from there on February 26, 2015 and subsequently re-registered in Jharkhand on March 3, 2015 with A/03. Moreover, he obtained the all necessary NOC from DCI much later on February 20, 2016 which is a clear violation of the DCI rules.
As per the Section 46 (A) of the Dentist Act, 1948, in transfer of registration from first register (in this case Bihar) to the second register (Jharkhand), the name of the dentist should be removed from the first register after due NOC issued by the DCI and then only his registration will be made by the second register.
However, in the case of Dr VK Prajapati, the registration was made by the second registering authority, i.e. the Jharkhand Dentist Registration Tribunal, in March, 2015, or before DCI issued the NOC for transfer of his registration from Bihar.
The mala fide even prompted the Registrar of Bihar State Dental Council to shoot a letter to its counterpart in Jharkhand on April 29, 2016 stating that the registration number of Dr Prajapati is 1104/A in their council and his name had not been removed from Bihar’s dental council till then. Even the DCI in its reply to a RTI query answered on February 12, 2016 that no such NOC had been issued by the regulatory body during the last two years to any of the dentist for registration in Jharkhand.
Importantly, Dr Prajapati reaped the benefits on the basis of his illegitimate registration done in Jharkhand when the State Government nominated him as its representative in DCI on February 5, 2016 even before him acquiring his NOC from DCI which in fact arrived on February 20, 2016.
When contacted, Dr Prajapati defended himself. “All the prerequisites have been completed in his matter. I have fulfilled all the criteria meant for getting registered here in Jharkhand and DCI letter has also come. There was some mistake which has been rectified,” he said but failed to answer about the dates when he acquired the said NOC from the DCI and when he got himself registered in Jharkhand.
Moreover, norms with DCI also lay it that there is no provision of rectification in the registration of dentists and only way to get rid of any mistake committed is to get fresh registration done. On similar grounds registrations of as many as 534 dentists have been scrapped in Bihar.