The National Dental Commission has confirmed that it has a tender for data digitisation, and has said that a committee is examining who the man found at an official computer in its Delhi headquarters on 12 October was, and “the authority, if any” under which he was given access to its premises and systems.
The confirmation came in a written response from the Chairperson of the NDC, Dr Sanjay Tewari, to questions The Probe had sent him. It is the Commission’s first statement on the record about the incident, and the first time its head has addressed it.
The Probe reported on 19 October that a man who was not an employee of the NDC had been found sitting at a computer in the Commission’s Administration Section. On video, he said he was “analysing who has how much marks” in a “data digitisation tender” that was “already floated”, and that he had been told to do so by “Secretary sir… Modak sir”. The Probe could find no trace of such a tender in any public record. The Secretary of the Commission, Arindam Modak, told The Probe the visit was “not unauthorised” and that he knew the man.
The Chairperson’s response says the committee’s examination covers “the identity of the individual concerned, the circumstances in which he was present in the Administration Section, and the authority, if any, under which access to official premises and systems was provided.”
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What the Chairperson Said
The response, received on 22 October, running to seven paragraphs states that the NDC “remains committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency and accountability in all its functions, including the conduct of procurement and the security of its official records and information systems.”
It then turns to the incident. “The complaint dated 13 October 2026 regarding the incident at the Commission’s headquarters on 12 October 2026 has been received and taken cognisance of. The matter is being examined by a committee in accordance with the applicable rules, prescribed procedures and the provisions governing the conduct of officers and staff of the Commission.”
The examination, it says, “covers all relevant facts, including the identity of the individual concerned, the circumstances in which he was present in the Administration Section, and the authority, if any, under which access to official premises and systems was provided. Necessary steps have been taken.” It does not say what those steps are.
On procurement: “It is important to note that procurement by the Commission, including the tender for data digitisation, is governed by the General Financial Rules and the applicable guidelines of the Government of India, under which bids are evaluated only by duly constituted committees. Any deviation from the prescribed procedure, if established, will be dealt with in accordance with the rules.”
The Chairperson declined to go further. “As the matter is presently under examination, it would not be appropriate to comment on specific allegations or on the role of any individual officer at this stage, as this could prejudice the process. Further action, including reference to the appropriate authorities, will be decided on the basis of the facts established and in accordance with law.”
The Commission, the response adds, “will keep the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, its administrative Ministry, appropriately informed”, and “remains committed to taking all necessary action on the basis of established facts, while ensuring that no individual is prejudged.”
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Two Accounts From One Commission
Read beside what the Secretary told The Probe three days earlier, the response is notable for what it leaves open.
Modak, reached by telephone on 19 October while on leave in Kolkata, said the entry was “not unauthorised” and that the matter was “being misrepresented”. Asked again whether the man was unauthorised, he said: “I know that he came. If I know that he came, then it means I called him.” Minutes later he qualified that: “Dekhiye, main generally kisi ko bulata nahin. But I am aware of that, he will come.” He said he knew the man, that his name was “Abhishek ya Abhijeet”, and that the man was “not allowed to use a computer”. He described the complaint as “fabricated in a malafide way”.
The Chairperson’s response treats the man’s identity, and the authority under which he was given access, as matters for the committee to establish. If the Secretary knows who the man is and knew he was coming, the NDC’s examination begins with two questions its own Secretary has told The Probe he can answer. The response does not mention the Secretary. It says the role of “any individual officer” will not be commented on while the examination is under way.
A Tender Confirmed, Still Not Public
The second development is the tender itself.
Before publishing on 19 October, The Probe searched the Government e-Marketplace, the portal on which the NDC’s account still carries its old name, Dental Council of India. Its open bids showed none from the Commission. Its contracts since June included no digitisation work and none awarded through a bid. The Commission’s website has no tenders page, and nothing on digitisation appears among its public notices.
The Chairperson’s response puts the existence of the tender beyond doubt. It does not say when the tender was floated, where it was published, what it is worth, or what stage it had reached on 12 October.
What the response does set out is the rule. Under the General Financial Rules, it says, “bids are evaluated only by duly constituted committees.”
The man on the tape, by his own account, was doing that work. Asked what he was doing with the tender, he said: “I’m analysing who has how much marks and what is high.” Asked who had told him to, he said: “Secretary sir.” Asked for the name: “Modak sir.” He said his own work was “in Policybazaar”, in “insurance and data digitisation”, and that the Secretary “told me you look after this also and help”. He said he had come from “Quick Trader” and that he did not have an official entry.
By the Commission’s own statement of the rule, an outsider scoring bids would be a deviation from the prescribed procedure. The Chairperson’s response says that any deviation, “if established, will be dealt with in accordance with the rules.”
Also Read: Outsider at NDC: “Secretary Sent Me”
What Happened on 12 October
At about 3.30 pm on 12 October, a senior official of the NDC walked into the Administration Section on the fourth floor of the Commission’s headquarters in R.K. Puram and found the man at a computer labelled “RAM Admin”. The computer belongs to Ram Gahan Prajapati, an Assistant Secretary of the Commission. The computers at the NDC are password-protected; a visitor cannot use one without an officer’s login. The official recorded three clips, just under three minutes in all, which The Probe has reviewed. According to a member of staff who saw the visitor register, the man had signed in about two hours earlier as Abhijeet Singh, giving the purpose of his visit as “official”. By the time the official returned from reporting the matter to the presidents of the Commission’s three boards, the man had left.
A written complaint went to the Commission on 13 October. On 15 October, the NDC issued an office order signed by Ritu, Under Secretary, “with the approval of the Competent Authority”, barring outsiders from workstation areas and computer systems without prior permission.
The order does not mention the incident, but the Under Secretary told The Probe it was issued because of it, that an investigation was under way, and that the Competent Authority was the Chairman of the NDC. Prajapati, whose computer was used, returned The Probe’s calls on 19 October and ended the call when asked whether he had authorised the man to use his system.
What Remains Unanswered
The Chairperson’s response confirms that a complaint has been received, that a committee is examining it, and that the tender exists. It leaves open everything else.
The National Dental Commission has not said who the man is, although its Secretary has told The Probe he knows him. It has not said who gave him access to the Administration Section, or who logged him into a password-protected computer. It has not said when the committee was constituted, who sits on it, or when it will report. It has not said when and where the data digitisation tender was published, what it is worth, or whether bids were under evaluation on 12 October. And it has not said whether the Secretary, who told The Probe he knew the man was coming, has stepped aside from the tender while the examination runs.
The Probe has written to the Chairperson again, asking when the committee was constituted, who heads it, whether there is a timeline for its findings, whether the man has been identified, and whether the computer has been examined. His reply will be reported when it is received.
The National Dental Commission came into being on 19 March 2026 under the National Dental Commission Act, 2023, replacing the Dental Council of India, which had regulated the profession since 1948. It decides which dental colleges may operate, how many students they may admit and who may practise as a dentist in India. Its Secretary is appointed by the Central Government for a four-year term and runs its Secretariat, including its purchasing. When the Commission was constituted, the government described the change as a shift towards a “transparent, quality-focused and accountable” regulatory framework.
The NDC is seven months old. Its Chairperson has now said, in writing, that a committee will establish who was at that computer and on whose authority. Its Secretary has told The Probe he knows the answer to the first question. The answer to the second is the one the Commission has not yet given.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theprobe.in
