to be introduced in lok sabhaas introduced in lok sabha bill no 204 of 2017 the dentists (amendment) bill, 2017 a billfurther to amend the dentists act, 1948be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the dentists (amendment) act, 2017short title and commencement5(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, bynotification in the official gazette, appoint16 of 1948amendment of section 32 in section 3 of the dentists act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the principal act),in clause (f), the words and letter "and at least two shall be dentists registered in part b of astate register" shall be omitted3 in section 21 of the principal act, clause (b) shall be omittedamendment of section 21104 in section 23 of the principal act, clause (b) shall be omittedamendment of section 23 statement of objects and reasonsthe dentist act, 1948 (the act) was enacted with a view to regulate the profession of dentistry section 3 of the act provides for the constitution of the dental council of india (council) for promoting dental education and dental profession in india section 31 of the act provides that the council shall maintain a register of dentists known as the indian dentists register which consists of entries in all the state register of dentists the register of dentists shall be maintained in two parts, namely part a and part b, part a consisting of all dentists possessing recognised dental qualifications and part b which contains persons not holding such qualifications but engaged in practice of dentistry as principal means of livelihood for a period not less than five years prior to the date appointed under section 322 registration under part b was allowed from a date prior to the commencement of the act ie 29th march, 1948 for the persons displaced during partition and displaced from bangladesh or repatriated from burma or ceylon after 14th april, 1957 and before 25th march, 1971 however, no person has been registered in part b after the year 1972 there are approximately 950 dentists registered in part b against 16 lakh dentists registered in part a moreover, only few states and union territories like west bengal, kerala, jammu and kashmir, puducherry, punjab and delhi have dentists registered in part b3 section 3 of the act provides that the central government nominates six members to the council as central government nominees, of whom at least two shall be dentists registered in part b of a state register the act also provides for the constitution of state dental councils with four members and joint state dental councils with two members elected from among themselves by dentists registered in part b of the state register4 in view of above, it is proposed to amend the dentists act, 1948 so as to take away the mandatory requirement of the representation of part b dentists in the council, state dental councils and joint state dental councils5 the proposed dentists (amendment) bill, 2017, provides for the following, namely:—(a) to amend clause (f) of section 3 of the act relating to membership of council so as to omit the provision for nomination of at least two members registered in part b;(b) to omit clause (b) of section 21 of the act relating to election of four members from part b to the state dental councils; and(c) to omit clause (b) of section 23 of the act relating to election of two members from part b to the joint state dental councils 6 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectivesnew delhi;jagat  prakash  naddathe 21st november, 2017 annexure extracts from the dentists act, 1948 (16 of 1948)     chapter  ii dental council of india3 the central government shall, as soon as may be, constitute a council consisting of the following members, namely:—constitution and composition of council(f) six members nominated by the central government, of whom at least one shall be a registered dentist processing a recognised dental qualification and practising or holding an appointment in an institution for the training of dentists in a union territory, and at least two shall be dentists registered in part b of a state register;  chapter  iii state dental councils21 except where a joint state council is constituted in accordance with an agreement made under section 22, the state government shall constitute a state council consisting of the following members, namely:—constitution and composition of state councils(b) four members elected from among themselves by dentists registered in part b of the state register; 23  a joint state council shall consist of the following members, namely:—composition of joint state councils(b) two members elected from among themselves by dentists registered in part b of the state register of each of the participating states;  lok sabha———— a billfurther to amend the dentists act, 1948————(shri jagat prakash nadda, minister of health and family welfare)