Answering questions

Posted inLegislature
In “Questioning questions” Di asked, “Did Kuensel report correctly that you were in the end supporting the PM in that the ministers need not attend QT?” If that was what Kuensel reported, they are wrong. I did not say that ministers need not attend the National Council’s Question Time. What I did say, however, was that I appreciated our government’s efforts to accommodate the NC, as we, in the National Assembly, were told by the PM. What I also said was that, as far as the opposition sees it, the issue is between the Cabinet and the National Council.…

Another tragedy

Posted inNature
There’s been another tragedy, this time from Wangduephodrang. A Class 11 student was swept away by the Punasthangchu. He and his friends had gone to the river to escape the mid-day heat.  Officials and volunteers have not yet been able to recover the young student’s body.

Walk talk

Posted inDemocracy
A regular reader, Guest, asked me in “Lobxang’s anger”, my last entry: “Is your party behind this Solidarity Walk? I need to know.” Here’s my answer: “No, PDP is not behind the solidarity walk. And, nor am I.” Ashan, another reader, commented in the same entry: “I just hope that PDP is not behind the Walk.” My answer, again, is that PDP is not behind the walk. We had, and have, nothing to do with it. Now, what I’d like to know is this: why is PDP being linked to today’s walk?

Lobxang’s anger

Posted inPeople
The following letter, from Lobxang, deserves attention. Lobxang works in New York. He keeps a blog. And is on Facebook. Dear OL, I was much pained to read in the news the tragic loss of seven promising kids in the Wangchuck River. My deepest respect and prayers goes to the lost souls and the bereaved family. I read again and over again every piece of information that I could find on the net. I am deeply pained at first, and now I am angry, very angry. Seven lives are lost. This is a national loss. His Majesty the fourth…

A big problem

Posted inHealth, Youth
We have a problem. In our last poll, 94% of you claimed to either know or think that drug abuse is already a problem in Bhutan. On the other hand, only 5% of you said that drug abuse is not a problem in our country. 1% admitted that they don’t have a clue. I suspected that substance abuse was growing, especially among out youth. But, I had no reason to think that it was already a problem. The poll results have forced me to rethink my views – that’s why I kept the poll up for so long. Next…

Solidarity

Posted inDemocracy, People
At about 3:30 AM last Monday, seven boys, all of them students of Tshimasham lower secondary school, lost their lives in the Wangchu. Tomorrow, a group of concerned citizens will participate in a solidarity walk to demonstrate their support to the families of the seven boys. They will also petition the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the tragic incident that claimed the young lives. I join the nation in mourning the loss of the innocent lives, and offer my condolences to the grieving families and friends.

Parliament rejects Civil Service Bill

Posted inLegislature7 Comments
The joint sitting the Parliament adjourned an hour ago, at about 10:30 PM, having concluded the debate on the Civil Service Bill. The bill, an “urgent” bill, was also rejected by the joint sitting. Only five MPs supported the bill, 7 abstained, and 55 voted against it. Discussions on the bill started collapsing when major differences emerged over whether the judiciary should be completely independent, or whether the current civil servants in the judiciary should continue to be part of RCSC. So now what? According to the Constitution, His Majesty the King may command a national referendum if, in…

Parliament rejects LG bill

Posted inLegislature8 Comments
BREAKING NEWS The Parliament, this morning, did not pass the Local Government (amendment) Bill. Of the 68 MPs present, 44 voted to for the bill, 23 voted against, and 1 abstained. The Hon’ble Speaker did not cast a vote. According to the Constitution, he can only cast a deciding vote. A bill is passed by simple majority when it is debated in the individual houses (the National Council and National Assembly). But, if the two houses cannot agree on the provisions of a bill, that bill is debated in a joint sitting. In which case, two-thirds of the members…

About Tshering

Posted inMiscellaneous
A couple of months ago, I launched an “About” page in this blog.  But, that page, till now, remained empty. Instead, it announced that a certain Tashi P. Wangdi was writing the content for the page. That content is now complete. So, if you go here, you’ll see what Tashi – better known as Tosh – has written about me.

About measures and incentives

Posted inEconomy
Last week, the government announced that they “…will be introducing measures to expand the revenue base.” And, that they are “…also considering fiscal incentives to stimulate the private sector growth…” These announcements were made, quietly, in the government’s National Budget for 2009-10. But, the budget report offered no details. These are significant financial policies. So, our government should elaborate what “measures” and “incentives” our people can expect during the coming year.

Poor villages

Posted inPoverty, Villages
Our government estimates that 23.3% of our population live in poverty. And that the incidence of poverty in our villages is significantly higher than in our towns. In fact, the poverty rate in rural Bhutan is 30.9%. That is, almost one in every three of our villagers lives below the poverty line. Compare this to the urban poverty rate of just 1.7%, and it becomes clear that our villages need serious and immediate attention. But, the amount of money allocated to local governments, and hence to rural Bhutan, for this financial year, again, is negligible. Only 22.8% of the…

Farmers’ produce

Posted inEconomy, Villages
Our economy grew by 8.1% last year. That’s not the 9% growth per year promised by DPT. But, given all that happened in those 12 months, from a host of national celebrations to the global financial crisis, 8.1 is really not too bad. The share of the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors to our GDP are 16%, 45% and 36% respectively. And, during the past year, the primary, or agriculture, sector grew by 1.7%; the secondary, or industry, sector grew by 7.5%; and the tertiary, or service, sector grew by 12.1%. These figures were given to the National Assembly…

Total eclipse of the sun

Posted inNature
I watched the solar eclipse, with my family and about a hundred other viewers, from Kuenselphodrang. By the time we got there, a little after 6 AM, it was already bright. But, the skies were overcast. And, as much as we hoped that the clouds would disappear over the eastern skies, they stood their ground, stubbornly. I secretly accepted that we wouldn’t be able to see the eclipse; that we'd miss the moment the moon overpowers the sun; and that we wouldn’t be able to put to use the eclipse glasses that we got, miraculously, only the night before.…

Our debt

Posted inEconomy, Government
Yesterday, the Finance Minister reported that Bhutan’s total debt outstanding is Nu 35,109.3 million. That’s about 56.7% of our GDP. In other words, every citizen owes Nu 64,000 of that debt. Or, assuming the average family has five members, every family would owe Nu 320,000. The good news is that most of that debt – about 61 per cent – consists of hydropower construction loans. These loans, we are told, will pay for themselves, and generate huge revenues for the government. Good. But, let’s not completely ignore the risks. An overdependence on one source of revenue – in this…

Poor planning

Posted inGovernment
Yesterday, the National Assembly approved the revised budget estimates for the financial year 2008-09. Like the previous year (see earlier entry), the last financial year also saw a huge difference between the approved budget and the most recent revised estimates. This time, however, the difference was completely on the other side of the spectrum – the government expects to spend much, much more than what had been approved. How much more? The total outlay for 2008-09 approved by the National Assembly last year was Nu 21,096.281 million. The government’s revised estimate for 2008-09 is a whopping Nu 25,519.695. That’s…