Let us get realistic. It would have been nice to talk high of our achievements if they were true. However most of us cannot share Dr Pawar’s pride in the general standards of dentistry. Less than 50% of the existing colleges are fit for training world class dentists. It would be a great service if the rest can be shut down in order to restore dentistry to its former glory.
I was further shocked by the following quote made by Dr Pawar "There are plans to make the three government dental colleges of the state, centres of excellence with international standard using high end tools of the trade. The idea is to promote the hospitals attached with them as destinations of dental tourism where high government officials as well as foreigners can come for treatment,". Dr Pawar should understand that Government Dental Colleges are the only places were the poor of this country can seek treatment. They are the islands of excellence only because it offers succor to the poor. It would be sad if even these are ‘promoted’ as destinations for ‘foreigners’ and ‘high government officials’. People holding high position should think before speaking. Most of our problems arise out of the lack of sensitivity in our leaders. The classic example is the sanctioning of new colleges based on spurious statistics claiming India needs 2 lakh more Dentists (also reported by TNN in December 2011).
Silence is sometimes a powerful tool- especially if one is likely to put his foot in the mouth. George Paul Tweet