Parliament endorses LG bill

September 11, 2009Posted inLegislature, Local Government
All 67 MPs present at the extraordinary sitting of the Parliament voted “yes” to unanimously pass the Local Government Bill.  The Bill had been narrowly rejected by the Parliament during its third session about six weeks ago. The extraordinary sitting of the Parliament was commanded by His Majesty the King as a special case to reconsider the Local Government Bill, the enactment of which was necessary to hold local government elections and to properly implement the Tenth Five Year Plan. In my statement, after the Parliament cleared the Local Government Bill , I requested the government to render full…

Questioning change

September 10, 2009Posted inGovernment, Local Government
So the Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Agriculture to take over the Centenary Farmers’ Market. Apparently the Cabinet had decided that the Thimphu City Corporation was not managing the farmers’ market properly. The government’s intention is good. They want to ensure that the farmers’ market is well managed; that it is hygienic; and that it benefits our farmers. But the implications are not good. The government risks undermining local government. Accepted, the Thimphu City Corporation may not have done a good enough job managing the farmers’ market. But that is precisely why they need to be supported. And…

Good local government

May 21, 2009Posted inLocal Government
Yesterday, I was in Haa. I'd gone there to observe part of the Dzongkhag Yargay Tshogdu that was in session since the 19th of May. And to receive instructions from the members of local government's highest body in my dzongkhag. During the past year, there's been a lot of talk about local governments, especially about their capabilities. My position has been very consistent: that local governments, in all 20 dzongkhags, are competent, and that they are more than able to discharge their duties as enshrined in our constitution. Yesterday, I saw that I was right. I saw that the…

Meeting gups

April 18, 2009Posted inLocal Government
Many of our readers expressed concerns about the opposition being left out of the 5th annual meeting of the Dzongkhag Tshogdu and Gewog Tshogde Chairpersons that ended today. Some were obviously outraged. And a few suggested that the opposition organize a separate meeting with the gups. I appreciate your concerns. And your advice. Thank you.We’ve decided that organizing a separate meeting with the gups would not be proper. It would send the wrong message: that the annual meetings are organized only for the government. In fact, gups are apolitical. And they are important. So all relevant agencies should have…

Remote schooling

January 14, 2009Posted inEducation, Local Government
The National Assembly, our nation’s highest legislative body, spent a good 30 minutes yesterday talking about a school in Gasa. The issue was tabled by the Honourable MP from Gasa, Dasho Damcho Dorji, the other opposition member, on behalf of the people of Gasa. The people want the government to reverse its decision to downgrade Gasa LSS to a primary school. The people argue that if their school is downgraded, fewer of their children will be willing to continue their studies, after completing Class VI, in the boarding school in distant, wetter and hotter Jeyshong. Lyonpo Thakur Singh, our…

Educating the centre

January 13, 2009Posted inEducation, Local Government
Gakiling has 13 villages. Some of the poorest parts of our country can be found in this cluster of villages that lie along the remote parts of upstream Amochu. Together, the 13 villages have just one school – Rangtse Community School, which opened two years ago after Her Majesty Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck visited the area. None of the villages is connected by car road. Most don’t even have mule tracks. So the school in Rangtse is not accessible to children living in other villages. And the children can’t live in Rangtse, because the school does not have boarding…

What’s centralized

January 8, 2009Posted inGovernment, 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…

What’s decentralised

January 6, 2009Posted inGovernment, 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…