Unemployed dental surgeons express disappointment over Govt neglect

Srinagar, Aug 21: Unemployed dental surgeons in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday expressed deep anguish and resentment over the government’s “continuous neglect” in addressing the long-pending demand for recruitment in the health sector.

On Wednesday, hundreds of unemployed dental surgeons staged simultaneous protests in Srinagar and Jammu, accusing successive governments of betraying their promises.

The protesters raised slogans against the administration for “failing an entire generation of qualified professionals.”

“This struggle is not new,” said Dr Imtiyaz Mantoo, President of the Dental Surgeons Association. “We have been protesting since 2014. Back then, we observed a 45-day-long strike and hunger strike. It was the late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed who told us that doctors should be in hospitals and not on the roads, and assured recruitment if his party came to power. However, those promises too turned out to be hollow.”

The association pointed out that a proposal for the creation of 587 dental surgeon posts (Dispatch No. HD/PLAN/68/2014) was prepared more than a decade ago but rejected by the Finance Department citing lack of funds.

They said that the file was returned multiple times only to meet the same fate.

“On one hand, the government spends crores on building dental college infrastructure, but on the other, they refuse to sanction posts for qualified doctors. Oral health cannot be improved by infrastructure alone. Without manpower, patients will continue to suffer,” the unemployed dental surgeons said.

The protesting doctors also recalled former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s pre-poll assurance in August 2024, when he tweeted that his “first and foremost priority” after returning to power would be job creation for dental surgeons through schemes such as the National Oral Health Programme (NOHP), Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), Ayushman Bharat and the School Dental Health Programme. “Even now, as Finance Minister, he has only given assurances without any concrete action,” they said.

The association further said that the Health Minister had been approached several times in the past year but “every time we were only offered empty assurances.” Adding to their frustration, the association claimed that in July this year, another creation proposal for 900-plus posts (Dispatch No. HD/PLAN/80/2025) prepared by the Director of Health J&K also met with rejection.

“Seventeen years have passed since our struggle began. Hundreds of Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres and sub-centres are functioning without dental surgeons. Patients from remote areas are forced to travel to government colleges for even basic dental procedures, where they have to wait for months,” they said.

The unemployed dental surgeons reiterated their demand for immediate creation of posts and a time-bound recruitment drive to strengthen oral healthcare delivery in the region.