Members of J&K Dental Council Monday called on Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) J&K Bank Rajesh Kumar Chhibber, highlighting the difficulties faced by them while navigating the economic distress caused by the COVID19 pandemic in J&K.
The delegation requested for economic support for the dentist fraternity especially the private practitioners.
The delegation comprising Registrar J&K Dental Council, Dr Ritesh Gupta; HOD, OMDR Dr Satvinder Singh and lecturer Dental College, Dr Bhanu Kotwal apprised the CDM about the difficult times faced by the dental practitioners.
“Our profession is one of the worst affected due to the pandemic. It requires close physical proximity to treat a patient thereby increasing the chances of contracting the infection. The total number of dental surgeons in the UT is around 5,000 of which almost 3,500 are unemployed and solely depend upon private practice to sustain themselves,” the delegates highlighted.
Putting forth their demands, the delegates requested the CMD to consider interest waiver on existing loans availed by the practitioners, minimum maintenance accounts, and support for upgrading dental clinics among other things.
Lending a patient ear to the problems faced by the dentist fraternity, the CMD while assuring full support to them within the ambit of regulatory guidelines, underscored that the Bank has already in place a tailor-made loan product-J&K Bank Heath Plus Scheme-devised to cater to the financial needs of healthcare professionals including dentists.
“We are proactively engaging with our stakeholders as well as representatives from various sectors to devise resolution road-maps by soliciting feedback and suggestions. The Bank has already put in place high powered executive level committees headed by Executive Presidents to interact with various economic strata and work out tailor made solutions to overcome the challenges faced,” the CMD said.
The CMD also assured that other demands expressed by the delegation would also be looked into in the ambit of the regulatory framework.