Tshering Tobgay

Country roads

May 6, 2012Villages6 Comments

I am in Dorikha. I got here this evening having walked up from Dorithasa. My ancestors did this journey every year, at this time of the year, over the course of many centuries. They migrated to escape the oppressive summer heat of Dorithasa in favor of the much cooler Dorikha. And in the winter, they moved right back to Dorithasa to enjoy the mild weather there. Most of my relatives no longer migrate between two farms. They now live, throughout the year, in one of the two villages. But the two villages are closely related. So our people still…

Nima Dorji

April 30, 2012Youth34 Comments

One of the Youth Development Fund's most active programs is its young volunteers in action, better known as Y-VIA. The volunteers are typically young students still going to high school. Last week, in Changjiji, Y-VIA put on a delightful show to launch UNICEF's state of the world's children report. They sang, danced, acted and joked for their President, Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck, and other guests from the civil service, education system, international organizations, and the local community. But the Y-VIA volunteers also used the occasion to launch their own report, based on three case…

Not so fast

April 22, 2012Education20 Comments

What do you make of this? The cabinet has reportedly “further ratified” the Education City project bid, and awarded the bid to a consortium of bidders (infinity Infotech Parks Ltd., and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd.) It appears that a contract agreement will be signed this month following which work on a detailed project report will begin. Good? I don’t know. I still have serious misgivings about the size and feasibility of the project. True, education is a viable business, and we must harness its potential to service both local and foreign demand. But planting a bunch of…

Insurance claims

April 18, 2012Government23 Comments

It's been seven whole months since the 18th September earthquake. But many of the earthquake victims, including all the victims in my constituency, have still not receive their insurance claims in spite of the Home Minister's assurances during the eighth session of the Parliament. So I felt compelled to send this letter yesterday.

More essential stuff

April 17, 2012Economy, Legislature21 Comments

In my previous post I had proposed that, “the government is getting ready to sell even more foreign currency from our reserves.” What if I am correct? What if the government is, indeed, preparing to sell foreign currency to alleviate the rupee crunch? If so, what is the procedure? Last year, four months ago, the government sold US$ 200 million of our foreign currency reserves. At that time, US$ 200 million worked out to Nu 10.3 billion, which in turn worked out to 14% of our GDP. That was, and is, a lot of money. But no one questioned…

Essential stuff

April 13, 2012Government27 Comments

Article 14 Section 7 of the Constitution requires that, “A minimum foreign currency reserve that is adequate to meet the cost of not less than one year’s essential import must be maintained.” But what constitutes essential import? Salt, shoes, sicnidizole – surely they are “essential”. But what about construction material, like, say, CGI? And raw material for industries? Are they essential? And how about arms and ammunition? I think they are essential, very essential. It’s important to have a proper definition of what, in our context, constitutes essential import. It’s important because that definition will determine the “minimum foreign…

Stop the bleeding

April 10, 2012Economy19 Comments

During their interview with BBS TV last week, Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba and Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu went to great lengths to inform us that the so-called rupee crunch wasn’t a crisis. They told us that the situation was normal; that they’d been aware of it for a long time; and that they were in full control of it. They told us that we should not be worried, that we should not panic. And they warned us that any talk about a crisis “could be deliberate attempts to discredit the government.” I’m not one to worry needlessly. But I’m not reckless…

Prayers for our fighters

April 8, 2012Security19 Comments

Whenever we hear of forest fires, no matter where and no matter when, we hear of our armed forces fighting those fires. We've become used to seeing them arrive first on the scene, and leave last, only after containing the wild fires. Indeed, many of our forests have been saved thanks mainly to the bravery of our men in uniform. And so it was this afternoon, when a fire broke out in the forests above YHS. Our armed forces mobilized themselves in no time, and rushed to contain the fire that, fanned by the early afternoon winds, was spreading…

Thank you

April 4, 2012Economy, Government23 Comments

A couple of late meetings prevented me from watching TV last night. So I watched BBS TV’s rebroadcast this morning. In particular, I watched Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, the officiating prime minister, and Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu, the finance minister, talk about the current economic situation. I thank the government for going on national TV to explain the ongoing currency situation to the public at large. The two ministers are our most experienced financial experts. The two of them have served as finance ministers for a combined total of 14 years, and as finance secretaries for more than 10 years. So…

Rupee statement

April 2, 2012Economy30 Comments

Some friends have suggested that I should use my YouTube account to incorporate a bit more audio-visual in this blog. I agree. Here is the statement I recently made on BBS TV urging the government to inform the people about the rupee situation. I'm happy to report that, according to BBS, the acting prime minister and finance minister will appear on TV tomorrow, Tuesday, 3 April. I've posted the English transcript of my statement after the video. Our economy is in a crisis. Just last year, the government was forced to sell US$ 200 million from the country’s…

GNH and Bhutan

March 30, 2012Government54 Comments

Here's an insightful cartoon from Bhutan Observer. The message is loud and clear. There's no need to elaborate. But one dangerous element is missing in the murky background: the rupee crunch and the growing economic crisis, about which the prime minister has not yet uttered a word.

Right to information

March 28, 2012Democracy, Media36 Comments

Article 7 of the Constitution is about our fundamental rights. Section 3 of that important article declares that "A Bhutanese citizen shall have the right to information". By this provision, any citizen has the right - a fundamental right - to ask the government for any information. And the government must provide that information, whatever it may be. That is because the fundamental right of the citizen to government information, as granted by the Constitution, is unqualified. And it is unconditional. "A Bhutanese citizen shall have the right to information" - that's all the Constitution says, simple and straightforward.…

Water and food security

March 25, 2012Economy, People13 Comments

Students and teachers of Thimphu’s schools came together in Changangkha to commemorate World Water Day on 22 March. The celebrations included a wide array of well-thought-out presentations and entertaining performances highlighting the importance of water. I was given the opportunity to talk to the students. So I told them a story, one that is relevant to this year’s World Water Day theme: "water and food security". But one that is also relevant to the current rupee crisis. Here’s a quick summary of my story: Nob Gyeltshen is 77 years old. He hails from Dorithasa, a small village in the…

Sexual harassment

March 21, 2012Women60 Comments

My wife and our daughter, aged 12, walk home every afternoon. They enjoy their walks, but they’ve been harassed by all sorts of men including commuters, taxi drivers and even school students, in uniform, younger than our son. The eve-teasing is offensive and hurtful. Yet, they’ve continued to walk, even if they have to suffer sexual harassment, hoping that, sooner or later, we, men, will learn to respect our women, and permit them the freedom and simple pleasure of walking home from school or work. During their walk today, they met the procession of vehicles carrying effigies and other…

Perks and peeves

March 21, 2012Government17 Comments

Two years ago, I had been surprised to hear that the cabinet had issued each minister with an additional car, a Wagon R. I had been surprised because that additional perk does not feature in the government's approved list of "Entitlements of Cabinet Ministers and Equivalent Posts", and because the additional expense had not been declared when the budget was discussed in the Parliament. Now I'm surprised to hear that each minister has been receiving "an allowance for cooks and housekeepers from the cabinet". I'm surprised because this perk is not part of the government's approved list of "Entitlements of…