Panchkula dental college to be shut

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 16

Acting on the directive of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Haryana Government has ordered closure of BRS Dental College and General Hospital, Panchkula.

There was a tussle going on between the management and the teaching staff allegedly over non-payment of salaries. The college will not be able to make admissions to the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) courses.

However, the studies of the existing students of BDS/MDS courses will be not be affected as they will be adjusted in other educational institutions.

Relief for students

The state will hold offline counselling at Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, to adjust students in other recognised institutions. —Director, Medical education and research

“The state government will conducting offline counselling at Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, to adjust the students in other recognised institutions,” said an order of the Director, Medical Education and Research.

One of the major dental education institutions in Haryana, affiliated to Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, the college had been facing hard times due to confrontation between the management and the teaching staff allegedly over payment of salaries and other issues.

Recently, the Union Government had “accorded approval for the withdrawal of recognition under Section 6(A) of the Dentist Act, 1948,” to the college. Subsequently, the admissions were stopped under Section 11(A) of the Dental Council of India (DCI) Regulation, 2006, following which the closure of the college had been ordered.

Last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had accorded “conditional permission” to the college students to appear in the examinations. The High Court had also asked the DCI to conduct an inspection of the college, but it was withheld on account of the Covid-induced lockdown.