Government – Page 13 – Tshering Tobgay

Pay expectations

January 16, 2009Government

We were given the government’s pay revision report today. Finally. And the speaker announced that we would debate it this Monday. Good.I am happy that the government has decided not to increase the salaries of the prime minister, cabinet ministers and other ranks equivalent to ministers. The pay commission had recommended salary increases of 130% for the PM and 66% for cabinet ministers.And I’m satisfied, more or less, that the government has decided to increase the salaries of MPs by only 20%. The pay commission had recommended a 100% increase.But I’m left wondering why the government has decided to…

What’s centralized

January 8, 2009Government, Local Government

Consider this: Nu 38.32 billion had been budgeted for capital investments in the 9th Five Year Plan. Of that, Nu 9.32 billion had been budgeted for the dzongkhags and gewogs. That was about 24.37% of the total capital outlay.Now consider this: Nu 73.61 billion has been budgeted for capital investments in the 10th Five Year Plan. Of this, Nu 12 billion has been budgeted for the dzongkhags and gewogs. That is only 16.30% of the total capital outlay.In 2002, after two decades of decentralization, the government was prepared to earmark almost a quarter of the total capital outlay to…

e-PIT

January 7, 2009Government

Yes! I can now file my PIT online. Actually not fully online, but electronically – download the PIT return form and send it in as an email attachment.I’m not complaining. This is a huge step forward. So, well done. I’m going to file my PIT electronically. Are you?Internet came to Bhutan in June 1998. It’s been more than a decade. Let’s see what I can now do online: I can read the news, participate in online forums; maintain a blog; check government announcements, complain to ACC, check if I’m a registered voter, download government forms, apply for foreign labour,…

What’s decentralised

January 6, 2009Government, Local Government

Consider this: each minister would enjoy entitlements and benefits totaling about Nu 9,942,000 during the 10th Five Year Plan period. This is at current pay scales. (See my conservative estimates towards the end). Now consider this: 40 gewogs would each get capital funds amounting to less than Nu 9,942,000 each during the 10th Five Year Plan period. This is according to what has been budgeted in the draft 10th Five Year Plan. Three of them (Soe, Samrang and Khatoe) would not even get Nu 3 million each for the entire 10th Plan period – in other words, each of…

High time

December 31, 2008Government

Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk announced that the government has called all the dzongdags to Thimphu. And that in January, the government will meet all them. Very good. It’s almost nine months since the new government took office, and they haven’t yet briefed the dzongdags. So I was getting seriously concerned. Dzongdags, after all, are the chief executives in the dzongkhags, and are responsible for translating the government’s policies and plans into action. He also announced that a meeting with all the gups and the DYT chairmen would follow. Very, very good.

Fighting for equity and justice

December 31, 2008Government

It's been six months since I questioned the legality of the appointment of DPT party workers to the Cabinet. The government has not addressed my concerns. So I’ve decided to go to ACC. Here’s what I’ll tell them: That in mid-June, five DPT party workers were appointed to the Cabinet. One has since resigned, but four of them continue to work under the government’s payroll. That on 19th July, the RCSC approved the proposal to recruit four staff on “contract basis” for the Cabinet. By then the DPT party workers had already been working for more than a month.…

Paying commission

December 28, 2008Government, Political parties1 Comment

Public anxiety over the pay hike issue is on the rise. And a lot of grief and surprise is directed at the huge increase that we, politicians, are expected to get – the pay commission has recommended an increase of 130% for the prime minister, 66% for ministers and 100% for parliamentarians. The public should be surprised. After all, the previous cabinet had already approved the draft Parliamentary Entitlement Acts and made public what aspiring politicians could expect to earn. And that was essentially Nu 30,000 per month plus 20% for house rent plus a chauffeur-driven car. Everyone knew…

Pay lip service?

December 27, 2008Government

Do you know why the government has published the pay commission’s proposal? I don’t. The pay commission’s proposal is already outdated – the ministry of finance’s proposal being based on it. So why not publish the MOF proposal? In fact, why not publish whichever proposal the government has approved? Article 30.3 of our Constitution, “The recommendation of the (Pay) Commission shall be implemented only on the approval of the Lhengye Zhungtshog and subject to such conditions and modifications as may be made by Parliament”, can be interpreted in at least two ways: One, that the government has the authority…

Our PM’s report

December 25, 2008Government

Yesterday, during the opening day of the National Assembly’s second sitting, our PM submitted his report on the performance of the government.His report did not touch on the government’s performance in the social sectors and on the economy. Too bad. It was a good opportunity to showcase the successes of the government in these areas. Unless, of course, there hasn’t been enough successes to speak about.But, on the one hand, the new government has been in office for only eight months – it probably needs more time to prove that it is keeping the promises that it has made.One…

Parked Constitution?

December 21, 2008Government, Legislature

On 12 December the prime minister inaugurated the Wangchuck Centennial Park. This is good news and bad news.The good news is that Wangchuck Centennial Park, our country’s second largest, covering 3736 sq km across four dzongkhags, connects the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Park in the west with Bomdeling Wildlife Sanctuary in the east. The entire northern belt of our country is now protected, allowing for even better management of our rich biodiversity. The park will also protect our water systems, essential for hydropower, and provide ecotourism opportunities for our farmers.The bad news is that the park is illegal. According…

A matter of power

December 8, 2008Government1 Comment

The Indian minister for power, Sushil Kumar Shinde, was in Bhutan from 4 to 7 December. His visit was busy: His Majesty the King granted an audience; he met the Prime Minister, and the MEA Minister, Secretary and DG; he visited the Tala dam site and Chukha power plant; he visited Dochula; and I called on him.His visit was successful: a protocol agreement to develop 10,000 MW by 2020 is ready and will be formally signed later this month. An “empowered group” will then be formed to identify and accelerate the implementation of hydropower projects. Both governments are visibly…

More pay hike talk

December 6, 2008Government, Media

Kuensel's Tenzing Lamsang is amazing. He’s done it again. He’s written yet another story almost entirely based on government “sources”. And he is thorough – his account is packed with names, dates, places, amounts and important quotes. He seems to know too many details about the confidential debate that the government has been having on the pay hike issue.Our government is amazing. They’ve done it again. They’ve allowed classified government information to leak, including details of discussions in our highest decision making body, the Cabinet. Is classified information being leaked purposely? Or are they being stolen? If it’s the…

A second chance…

December 5, 2008Employment, Government

During the Nasscom annual strategy meeting held in Thimphu last week, Narayana Murthy, Infosys Chairman, announced that he would train 100 Bhutanese in his company. The offer is timely and, if used well, would be the first significant step towards creating the knowledge and skills base required to develop a viable ICT industry in Bhutan.A similar offer was made by Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's PM, during his visit to Bhutan in June 2005. The visiting PM "…commended the Bhutanese's versatility with the English language…" and publicly announced that he would be prepared to employ many Bhutanese as English teachers in…

The National Council’s banquet hall

December 3, 2008Government

The offices of the Honourable MPs of the National Council were inaugurated yesterday. Their offices are now located on the second floor of the recently built Royal Banquet Hall.The second floor is actually the attic of the Royal Banquet Hall. But the offices are quite comfortable and the MPs, including the two who have no windows in their offices, are not complaining.Viewed from the outside the Royal Banquet Hall doesn’t look too bad. I was horrified when the original, historic banquet hall was razed to make way for this new building. And was initially appalled at how ugly the…