RAIPUR: The Raipur Government Dental College has yet again been denied permission to commence Post graduate course of Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) by the Dental Council of India (DCI) due to staff shortage. Incidentally, this is the fifth time in a row that the college has failed to get the DCI nod for the course.

Confirming it, Dr B Mishra, Principal of dental college said the DCI decision comes as a surprise as inspection due before February was not been conducted by the council despite reminders for the same. He said, "The staff deficiency, as pointed by the DCI, is to the effect of only three doctors. Our infrastructure is totally complete and these vacancies can be filled at short notice".

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare put out a list of colleges approved by the DCI on its website on Thursday and the name of the Dental College is missing from it. Two Bilaspur based private colleges, Triveni Institute of Dental Science Hospital and Research Centre and New Horizon Dental College & Research Institute figure in the list of colleges that have been approved by the DCI for starting /increasing of seats.

The government dental college, which witnessed a dismal response for its bachelor course in dental surgery (BDS) last year, with only six of 100 seats being filled, was earlier also denied approval for the MDS course on account of inadequate faculty. The college had in fact applied for the DCI approval twice last year but had failed to get the required clearance.

Sources said the failure of the authorities to attract requisite talent to fill the vacant posts despite so many attempts raises serious questions on its management and the support it receives from the government. Insiders blame the government's "flawed" recruitment rules for the current mess. "Its shameful that while private colleges keep getting approvals, the government college meets this fate", said an official.

2014 was perhaps the worst year for the government dental college as only 6 of the 100 seats were filled. The overall response was so bad that the government had also surrendered its 250 quota seats in the five private dental colleges across the state, as they also remained vacant.