River potential...

alternate hydro power

National Geographic has rated rafting on the Drangme Chhu – from the Trashigang Bridge to the Royal Manas Park – as one of the 25 Best New Trips for 2010.

But it’s not just the Drangme Chhu. Every one of our major river systems provides some of the world’s best rafting experiences. Dave Allardice of Ultimate Descents says that our rivers are:

A gigantic staircase rising from the Indian border to the high Himalayas of Tibet, the soaring peaks of Bhutan are an untapped treasure house of whitewater. The rivers are powerful and challenging.

And the National Geographic calls them:

A spillway for Himalayan snow and ice that roils into turquoise Class IV and V rapids through sheer granite walls.

So impressed were the editors of National Geographic Traveler magazine that they also included the Drangme Chhu decent as one of the world’s top 50 Tours of a Lifetime.

All this is good news.

But the good news will not last long. In fact, it will barely last two years. By 2012, construction on the 1800 MW Kuri-Gongri hydropower project will begin at the confluence of the Kuri Chhu and the Drangme Chhu. And further upstream, on the Kholong Chuu, construction on a 486 MW project will also commence in 2012.

So if you want to experience what the National Geographic is raving about, head to the Drangme Chhu … before 2012.

Photo credit: Bio Bio Expeditions

Stop press!...

The second Annual Journalism Awards will take place on 3^rd May, coinciding with World Press Day. Good.

But, like last year, the government is organizing the event. Not good.

It is in the media’s interest to decide, without government interference, how to recognize and reward good journalism. And, equally important, who to recognize and reward. So the media should be organizing this important event.

When the government is involved, the awards lose credibility. And the whole process – from defining categories to selecting judges to awarding prizes – will be questioned.

For the sake of a vibrant media, the media should not permit the government to organize the second Annual Journalism Awards. Instead, they should organize the Bhutan Media Foundation to conduct the awards.

If time is the issue, just postpone the event. It does not necessarily have to coincide with World Press Day.

The government, if they so wish, could go ahead, but with other celebrations, to mark World Press Day celebrations.

Druk Stars...

Phurba Chencho

We were totally wrong.

Our poll predicted that Jangchub Choden would win the Druk Star contest. And that she would be followed by Jamphel Yangzom, Phurba Chencho, Sonam Tobgay and Chencho Norbu in that order.

In reality, yesterday, Jamphel Yangzom won the contest. She was crowned Druk Star, was declared the Voice of Drukyul, and drove off in a brand new Maruti Swift. Chencho came in second, followed by Sonam, Phurba and Jangchub.

We were completely off.

I’m happy for Jamphel Yangzom. And I’m happy for the other contestants who made it to the top 5. They’ve worked hard. And they’ve earned the adulation of the whole nation. Congratulations!

But I’m most happy for Phurba Chencho. He’s from Shari, a village of about 50 households in Haa. Before the competition, barely four months ago, he was a full time farmer tending to his cows, and preparing to plant wheat. He’d never been to school. And his singing was limited to impromptu performances during his neighbours’ chokus.

Phurba Chencho says that he’ll continue farming. But that he’ll take his singing a lot more seriously. Very good!

Photo credit: BBSC

Counting on gentlemen...

Bhutanese golfers

Several of you have complained that Druk Star’s voting process is flawed.

Yes, you are right. Voters are permitted to cast multiple votes. But, they have to pay good money for each vote. So the candidate with the most money, or with the richest supporters, will, in all likelihood, get the highest number of votes. And win the coveted title.

The voting process, however, is purposely flawed. They are a business. Their primary aim is to make money. And what better way to do that than by turning a blind eye at the otherwise glaring fault.

But all elections are not flawed. In fact, that’s why we conduct elections: to select winners though a fair process.

And where would you expect to find the fairest elections? In the golf course, of course, among golfers, who dedicate their time to mastering the gentleman’s game – so called, because in golf, players expose their own transgressions, enforce their own penalties, and report their own scores.

So recently, when 36 gentlemen – yes, all of them were men – assembled in the Royal Thimphu Golf Club to elect a new president, not a single one of them doubted the process. The gentlemen cast their votes. And they counted them. The winning candidate had secured 16 votes. And the closest challenger had registered 15 votes. One vote, just one ballot, had determined who the next president of their prestigious club would be.

But one hacker – an incorrigible accountant, no doubt – totaled the votes. He counted 40 of them.

36 gentlemen had somehow cast 40 votes!

Druk Star gazing...

Bhutanese idol

We are divided on the question of Bhutan’s accession to the WTO. 40% of you answered “No” in the poll that asked “Should Bhutan Join the WTO?”, 37% replied “Yes”, and the rest said, “I’m still unsure”.

I’ll give my views on this important matter soon.

For now, we need to consider another important matter: Druk Star! After four months of music and entertainment, we are down to the final five contestants. One of them will be crowned Druk Star this Sunday.

Our poll asks the burning question: who will be the next Druk Star?

Dasho Damcho on LG...

In session

“Where is Dasho Damcho la …” enquired Sonam_t commenting on my open letter to the Dasho Dzongdags. “Where is honourable Damcho?” echoed Tangba.

Dasho Damcho’s recent response to their queries follows:

Dear Sonam_t and Tangba,

Thanks for your concern. I am still sticking around but like to keep a low profile. The issue that Hon’ble OL has raised was discussed with me and was discussed several times in the preceding NA Sessions as well. Unfortunately, most people are not aware of it because of absence of live telecast and the papers were not interested in covering these issues in depth! The issue first started with the complaints by the people of Wamrong when the DPT party workers attended a DYT meeting in Wamrong Dungkhag claiming direct orders to do so by the PM, that allegedly resulted in the decision to change the course of a feeder road that was already started.

The Opposition has made its stand very clear on the non-involvement of party workers in GYT and DYT meetings. It was the intention of the Constitution to have an independent LG. Despite that, the Government seems to be bent on involving Party Workers in GYT & DYT meetings, which I strongly feel that it undermines the independence of the LGs. It is for the same reason why even Dzongdas are not permitted to vote in DYT meetings.

My argument is that when it comes to permitting any person to attend a GYT or DYT meeting either as observer or expert, it should be left entirely at the discretion of the Chairman of the DYT or GYT as per the LG ACT. Now that the PM himself has mandated that party workers should be involved in these meetings, I do not understand how they can be involved without compromising on the independence of the LG, and the worst part is that it becomes obligatory on the part of the Chairmen to abide by it, howsoever mild the PMs words are crafted. And it is not just the issue of attending meetings but from the Press release, it is also about involving them in all developmental activities.

Anyway, thanks for remembering me once in a while.

Managing performance...

Chapter 12 of the BCSR is dedicated to performance management.

It provides a detailed prescription of how civil servants must plan, review and rate their work in order to improve productivity and accountability in the civil service. The general idea is good: it is to cultivate a performance-based culture that rewards meritocracy and professionalism. It is also intended to boost morale in the civil service.

So the RCSC’s performance appraisal system should be implemented faithfully. But, we are told, it isn’t. Civil servants say that the appraisal system is not taken seriously, and that it does not work. They also admit that appraisal forms are routinely completed ex post, when it’s time for promotions and trainings.

Now there’s a bigger danger: performance compacts. The government, with McKinsey’s guidance, has started signing performance compacts with several agencies. Unfortunately, the RCSC is not involved; they have not even been consulted. So, these compacts will just add to redundancies in the government.

But it’s more than mere redundancy. Our civil servants are confused. They cannot understand why only a few agencies and, within them, only a few officials must sign binding compacts with the government. Most of them don’t understand the new system. And, many of them don’t feel a sense of ownership.

If the performance compact can improve efficiency in the civil service, if it can increase productivity, if it can lift the morale of civil servants, it must be pursued. But for it to succeed, it must first be understood, and then fully accepted by the very people who must ultimately implement the compacts, i.e., the civil servants.

Equally important, the new system must involve the agency that is legally mandated to manage the performance of civil servants, i.e., the RCSC.

Yes, we need to allow our civil servants to improve the way they work. But what we do must be effective. And must be legal.

Performance compacts, as they are currently being implemented, are neither.

Anonymous fear...

Of the many reasons we may have to comment anonymously, fear of government reprisal is the worst.

Here’s how Kuensel introduced a contractor’s remarks recently:

An owner of an established construction company, who requested anonymity, fearing possible backlash from the government, said that …

The government must dispel such fears. The Constitution, after all, guarantees “…the right to freedom of speech, opinion and expression” as a fundamental right.

420 for McKinsey...

Dasho Kinley Dorji to Kuensel, last week, defending the government’s decision to hire McKinsey:

I was told that the total amount of money the government spends on consultants in a year is actually more than the amount made public. It’s about what you are getting for what you are paying. We need to define what is too expensive and too cheap.

That we hire too many consultants is common knowledge. But that the government spends more for them than we are led believe is not.

We should be very concerned if we suspect that the government is misleading the public. And we should be doubly concerned if the government uses that very transgression to justify spending even more money to hire even more consultants.

McKinsey is costing us US$ 9.2 million. That’s about 420 million ngultrums.

420 million for 17 McKinsey consultants. But they are not even full-time consultants. Eight of them will work in Bhutan only in the first year. And, five of them will be available only in the second year.

And the remaining four? They, we are told, are “…top leaders at the prime minister’s level who fly in and out of the country.”

Incredible!

Incidentally, the government spends Nu 440 million a month on pay and allowances for the entire public service.

That’s 440 million for the more than 21,000 full-time employees of the government. And that includes all civil servants, ministers, members of parliament, constitutional post holders, local functionaries, and those serving abroad.

Now back to McKinsey. The government is paying them 420 million. That’s a lot of money. Let’s hope that they are worth it. If not, we’ll be forced to shout: “420!”

War against malnutrition...

Today is World Health Day. It is a good time to reflect on the health of our people. And to remind ourselves that we still need to wage a war against malnutrition. So I’m reproducing what we discussed last November on this serious problem:

Six weeks ago, the Annual Health Bulletin announced that 37% of our children are stunting, that 4.6% of them are wasting, and that 11.1% are underweight.

This week, we learnt that the Right to Food Assessment Study concluded that 26.6% of our households are undernourished. That would also roughly mean that about a quarter of our population is undernourished. The study, it seems, was conducted sometime last year by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture.

And recently, the Basic Health Worker in Chali has reported that “the number of malnourished children under the age of five in Chali geog under Mongar has almost doubled in just one year.”

We now know, from independent sources, that our people are undernourished. And that our children are stunting, wasting and underweight. So what are we doing about it? Not much. In fact, we seem to be doing nothing to specifically address this crisis.

What should we do? “Wage a WAR AGAINST MALNUTRITION,” cries Zekom. This is what Zekom implores:

Reducing poverty, especially rural poverty, is an obvious answer.

But, children cannot wait for Drukyul to get richer. Our nation’s future is being made NOW.

Wage a WAR AGAINST MALNUTRITION. Take the nourishing food to where the children and infants are — in schools and beyond schools — targeting the nutrition and trace elements missing in their diet.

Make sure to measure outcomes, in physical growth rates of beneficiary children, very frequently. You’ll be amazed how fast it works, if it’s done right. There’s nothing better than rapid positive results to fuel the FIRE in change agents’ belly, and inspire others to join hands.

Countries such as UK, Germany and Japan benefited from such programmes after the World War II. Concentrated orange juice and cod liver oil were delivered to every household with children under certain age in UK. Milk and various sources of vitamins were delivered to every infant and school lunches in Japan. Who financed these? USA. It was the top priority in their postwar reconstruction assistance efforts.

Recruit UNiCEF, UN World Food Programme, and other UN agencies as partners, and tap their global know-how on how to do it and do it right.

Where there is a will, there is a way.