Promotion freeze cripples govt dental colleges

Associate prof post in 3 state-run colleges vacant; DME diverting dentists from other govt hosps to manage crisis

- SINDUJA JANE @ Chennai

DENTISTS are demanding the state health department to fill associate professor posts in all three state-run dental colleges and hospitals by conducting promotion counselling, which has not been held for 10 years, mainly due to legal issues.

A senior dental doctor alleged that all the 11 sanctioned posts in the Government Dental College and Hospital in Pudukkottai, which was inaugurated in 2023 by the chief minister, have been lying vacant. All three sanctioned posts by the government for associate professor in the Government Cuddalore Dental College in Chidambaram are also vacant. Also, of the 28 sanctioned associate professor posts in the decades-old Government Dental College and Hospital in Chennai, 19 posts have been vacant for years.