Taxing issues

July 2, 2012Posted inEconomy, Government12 Comments
The National Assembly passed the Tax Revision Bill last week. The Bill is now with the National Council. The Council will discuss the Bill, but, because it is a “money bill”, the Council can only make suggestions and recommendations that the National Assembly may, or may not, chose to accept. (Last year, the Assembly did not accept any of the Council’s recommendations on the budget and tax revision bills. In fact, the Assembly just skimmed through the recommendations, barely discussing them.) The National Assembly has passed the Tax Revision Bill. But, we didn’t discuss it properly. After the Bill…

Our drinking problem

August 5, 2011Posted inHealth17 Comments
We have a drinking problem. We reportedly consume 7.5 liters of alcohol per person per year. Much of that is served in the more than 3,000 licensed bars that we have. That works out to one bar for every 250 people. And that does not take into consideration the large-scale production, sale and consumption of home brewed alcohol throughout our country. That’s why alcohol abuse is a leading cause of non-communicable diseases. That’s why alcohol-related diseases make up a whopping 27% of all hospital inpatients. That’s why they account for a staggering 58% of all inpatient mortality. That's why…

Thimphu’s lifestyle

July 25, 2011Posted inHealth2 Comments
In 2007 the Ministry of Health conducted a survey in Thimphu to assess the state of non-communicable diseases in the capital. The results showed that we live dangerously. For example: One out of every five adults consumed tobacco – they either smoked or used smokeless tobacco. One third of the adult population consumed alcohol regularly. One third of them were associated with hazardous drinking and binging. Most adults did not exercise to meet minimum health requirement. More than three-fourths of adults did not get any exercise at all during their free time. Two thirds of the adult population did…

License to kill

June 16, 2011Posted inGovernment8 Comments
It’s good that the government will rake in an extra 10 million bucks from the auction of alcohol vendor licenses in Southern Bhutan. The bids were exceptionally high. Many of them sold for twice, thrice and even five-times the earlier amount. And one of them – the license to sell wholesale liqueur in Kuchidaina, Samtse – saw a whopping 2020% jump. That the government will make that extra money is good news. But we should also be concerned. Our readiness to pay huge license fees means that the alcohol business is thriving. And that just confirms that the government…