Government – Page 9 – Tshering Tobgay

Flip-flop

February 26, 2010Economy, Government

I’m happy that the Government has revoked its decision to liberalize tourist tariffs. And that it has decided instead to increase the minimum tourist tariff to US$ 250 per night from 2011 onwards. Liberalizing tourist tariffs would have undermined Bhutan’s valuable brand image and affected our economy and society significantly. But I’m alarmed at how the Government changed its decision. Just one meeting with stakeholders and the Prime Minister decides, during that meeting itself, that liberalizing tourist tariffs is not such a good idea. Just a simple show of hands of those present at the meeting, and the PM…

Section 10.2

February 18, 2010Government

The Bhutan Civil Service Rules and Regulations 2006, commonly known as BCSR 2006, consists of 21 Chapters spread over 223 pages. It can be downloaded from the RCSC website. Read it. Now identify the most important provision in the document. Civil servants would probably point to Section 10.2 on page 200 of the BCSR. Section 10.2 states that: “Only one penalty shall be imposed in each case.” Why should Section 10.2 be so important? Because it protects civil servants from undue and excessive administrative authority. When civil servants transgress – when they are undisciplined, when they do not perform,…

Missing incentives

February 10, 2010Government

Two months ago, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Information and Communication, and the Tourism Council of Bhutan signed “performance compacts” with the Prime Minister. The contracts outlined important work that the agencies would do during the next three years, and set specific targets that they would have to achieve. Some countries – India, France, Kenya, and Malaysia are examples – have used performance contracts successfully to improve the overall performance of government agencies. And any practice that improves efficiency, accountability and transparency in our government must be welcome. But for the contracts to work, the targets must…

Free media’s other ace?

January 25, 2010Government, Media

When Dasho Kinley Dorji was appointed as the MOIC secretary last year, I hinted that that could be both good and not-so-good for our media. Now, it appears that the government has recruited Tenzin Rigden, apparently on a short-term contract, as their “media advisor”. Tenzin Rigden worked in Kuensel, owned Bhutan Media Services, and started and owns Bhutan Times. He’s commands considerable influence in the media circle. So, like Dasho Kinley, Tenzin’s appointment to the Prime Minister’s Office can be good for the media. Or, it could be dangerous. We’ll know soon enough. But for now, what we need…

Visiting tourists

January 9, 2010Economy, Government24 Comments

The bedrock of our successes in the tourism sector has been the “low volume, high value” policy. This unique policy has served us exceedingly well ever since the first tourists started visiting our Kingdom in early 1970s. And today, Bhutan is both famous and envied the world over for its cautious tourism policies. This policy has proven itself. We continue to enjoy the rewards of tourism (government revenue, jobs and international attention) without sacrificing our culture, our environment, and our way of life. Equally important, our tourists swear, time and time again, that their experience in Bhutan has been…

Who’s in charge?

January 8, 2010Government

On 13 November 2009, the Prime Minister issued an Executive Order directing that: “The Ministry of Information & Communications (MoIC) is to develop airstrips in Trashigang, Gelephu and Bumthang and commence domestic aviation operations by Spring 2010, Dec 2010 and June 2011 respectively”. Today, Kuensel reported that: “The Gelephu domestic airport will start operations from June 2011, according to the Mckinsey’s milestone plan for civil aviation endorsed by the government and not December 2010, as stated in the government executive order.” Who, may I ask, is running our government?

Allowing allowances

January 4, 2010Government, Legislature

Last month, when, at the end of the Parliament’s Fourth Session, the National Assembly approved salary increases for MPs, I had complained that: Parliament does not have the powers to consider or grant pay increases unilaterally. Instead, according to the Constitution, it’s the Pay Commission’s job to recommend increases in the salaries and allowances of public servants. And that includes us, politicians. Now we hear that the Cabinet has approved allowances (equal to 45% of their basic salaries) for “ACC investigators and related professionals”. The Prime Minister had, in fact, announced that ACC employees would be given allowances, but…

Nomads

December 29, 2009Culture, Government

The Nomad’s festival that was recently organized by the Ministry of Agriculture was a good idea. The event, which was meant to show off our nomadic culture, heritage and traditions, also sought to help our nomads sell their produce while, at the same time, promoting “off season” tourism. But, the choice of the location is questionable. Transporting 90 nomadic groups from eight dzongkhags to Bumthang was not a good idea. Tourists perceive Bumthang to be too cold at this time of the year. And, Bumthang does not have a large enough local population to interact with the nomads and…

Demand for equity

December 20, 2009Government, Towns, Villages

Consider this: in rural Bhutan, our people are undernourished, stunting and wasting. Now consider this: in urban Bhutan, our people are overweight and obese. Time to get serious about the equity in the DPT’s Equity and Justice.

Hijacking democracy

December 18, 2009Democracy, Government

BBS reports that the Prime Minister, in his National Day address in Mongar, cautioned the people about threats to our democracy. On democracy, the Prime Minister said the threats to democracy are mainly from within, reminding the people to be aware of divisive politics for personal gain. He said in many countries in the world, democracy has been hijacked by people who seek power and privilege. I agree with our Prime Minister. I agree with him one hundred percent. We must never allow our democracy to be hijacked by people who seek power and privilege!

De facto increase

December 14, 2009Government, Legislature

The National Assembly’s decision to increase the salaries of MPs has caused widespread public outrage. Rightfully so. Not one person has registered support for the pay increase in any of the online discussion forums, including this blog where, in my last entry, I had suggested that the pay increase could be illegal. Since then, I’ve been thinking about another matter that the Government will soon have to deal with. After several ministers had argued that the salaries of MPs had to be increased, and increased to salary levels of Secretaries, one minister proposed to increase the salaries of Secretaries…

Educating officials

December 9, 2009Government

Yesterday, during the NA’s Question Hour, I asked the Education Minister: On 30th June 2009, the RCSC terminated (without benefits) seven civil servants from the Ministry of Education for embezzling Government funds. However, the RCSC and Ministry of Education had already taken various disciplinary actions against each of them. So the termination of these education officials may be in contravention to Chapter 19, Section 10.2 of the RCSC’s BCSR which states that “Only one penalty shall be imposed in each case.” How has the Ministry of Education sought to redress this possible injustice against the Education personnel? All seven…

Anticorruption

December 9, 2009Government

Earlier this week, the Anticorruption Commission’s annual report to the Parliament was discussed. Members of National Assembly – including the PM, cabinet minters, ruling party MPs, the opposition and the Speaker – registered their support for this important organization, and reiterated their resolve to fight corruption. The ACC’s annual report, however, was silent on one issue. The report made no mention whatsoever of the recruitment of DPT party workers by the Government. About a year ago, I had informed ACC that the unilateral appointments of the DPT party workers may be unlawful, but have received no response so far.…

Standing up for sitting fees

December 5, 2009Economy, Government

“Guest”, a frequent commentator, left the following note in my last entry: Please pardon me but I am going to deviate from the topic to register my unhappiness at your support for DHI during the discussions in the Parliament. I cannot believe that a man of your intelligence truly meant what you said. I do not believe that your blind support for DHI stems from your need to show allegiance to our King. I think it is wrong to do so. In fact, you ought to know, more than anyone else, that it would be a great disservice to…

Investing in Bhutan

December 1, 2009Economy, Government

During Question Hour today, I asked the Minister for Economic Affairs: Newspapers recently reported that 100% foreign ownership of hotels is allowed for foreign direct investments above US$ 200,000. Please explain why the minimum is fixed at US$ 200,000. I was basically concerned that the minimum investment required to qualify for 100% foreign ownership of hotels was too low. I reported that many Bhutanese have already demonstrated that they can build and operate hotels that cost many times more than US$ 200,000. And that, while foreign investors should be encouraged, policies should ensure that opportunities are not taken away…