Home > News > DPT has been in action only for 44 days

DPT has been in action only for 44 days

25 July 2008

A cabinet meeting was held yesterday to discuss policies, programs and the impact of the various measures adopted by the Druk Phuentshum Tshogpa (DPT) government. Lyonchen Jigme Y. Thinley said that though the DPT government has now completed 100 days, the party had fewer days to work. “Out of the 100 days, due to the National Assembly and National Council sessions including the government holidays, the actual working days were reduced to 44 days,” he said.

Ministry of Agriculture
MOA has initiated various policies out of which, some of the more important measures taken were for food security . “The ministry has managed to channel funds from FAO and IFAT a total of which amounts to $ 700,000 of which we have received $ 200,000,” said the Minister of Agriculture, Lyonpo Dr. Pema Gyamtsho.

The Minister said that policies are also being worked out to provide seeds for the forthcoming season of maize plantation, winter crops and cash crops. He said that devices were installed in order to prevent animal attacks on crops, especially in the southern districts. The ministry has decided to import chicken and egg from Delhi.

Another major achievement, he said, was creating a proper system of marketing Yartsa Goenbub. The total production from Lingshi this year was 80 kgs.

Ministry of Education Lyonpo Thakur Singh Powdyel
said that one of the most important achievements of the ministry was the recruitment of fresh graduates and retired teachers to address the shortage of teachers in the country. “We have recruited 20 teachers so far,” he said. The ministry has also focused on physical education programs in schools and has recruited 51 physical instructors for middle and higher secondary schools. The monthly stipend for apprentice teachers has also been increased from Nu 3,000 to 6,000. About five schools in the south have reopened with some 500 students enrolled.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The most signifaicant changes that the ministry is looking forward to are the establishment of new Bhutanese embassies in Brussels and the European Union within one year. The are also plans to form a council in Calcutta to enhance trade.

Lyonpo, Ugyen Tshering, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said, “The European Union has assisted us with over Nu 15 million.” Lyonpo said that talks would be held so as to start a SAARC Development Fund office in Bhutan.

Ministry of Health
The ministry of health plans to establish a medical school in the country to cover the shortage of doctors in the country. “At present we have voluntary doctors and those on contract from Mynmmar and Thailand,” said Lyonpo Zangley Dukpa. He said that the ministry was still holding talks with other nations so as to get assistance for achieving the promise that DPT made on having three doctors and two ambulances each in every hospital in the country.

Ministry of Labour and Human Resources
The Ministry is mainly focussed on generating more employment. For the job opportunities that will be created with the implementation of the 10th five year plan, the ministry has started extensive job prospecting.

The Ministry has rescued Drukonnet, a Business Processing Outlet (BPO) company from virtual collapse through the provision of stipend support for 143 agents. They have also launched a Pre-Employment Engagement Program to keep job seekers temporarily engaged. Recently, over 44 job seekers have been taken up for this program and another 250 are registered.

Ministry of Economic Affairs
The Ministry is mainly looking into generating 10,000 MW of Hydroelectricity by the year 2020. “By 2013 we are hoping to provide electricity to every one,” said Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk. He also said that cooking Gas supply and the ban of exports had been negotiated and that Bhutan would have no problems related to food security as long as India was willing to help. The Ministry is also working on renewing the trade agreement with Bangladesh as the agreement is soon going to expire. Another area it is looking into is the continuation of the low volume – high income tourism.

By next year, there are plans to increase the tourist tarriff (per head) to $ 250 a day during peak seasons.

The Minister of Works and Human Settlements
Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba said that the main challenge for the ministry was to get rid of the lack of implementation of rules and regulations. He said that tender documents needed to be scrutinized to make sure that the contracts went to the best companies in the buisiness. “Before we award tender documents and promote contractors to better grades, we will scrutinize their past performances,” he said.

Lyonpo said that in order to ignite the engine of growth, it was necessary for MOWHS to focus specially in the construction industry and ensure regular quality check on existing buildings as well. He also addressed issues on water sources for households and said that there were plans to build reservoirs in Thimphu to overcome the water problems.

By Pushkar Chhetri

Ratings: 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars
Loading ... Loading ...
Email this page Email this page     Print this page Print this page    

Posted by Bhutan Observer · Filed Under News 

Comments

2 Responses to “DPT has been in action only for 44 days”

  1. pd on July 26th, 2008 8:51 pm

    Where is MoIC update? is the minieter sleeping or are we just not bothered about being in information age?

  2. sangay on July 30th, 2008 12:08 pm

    ohh ya… where are other three ministries…are they not taken care of happenings in the country….should they not mention their achievements.???

    Moreover Minister for infor n communication is appearing no where…… is he not concerned of his ministry or his people?

    c’mon ya wake up minister……

Leave your comment





Note: Comments are moderated by Bhutan Observer, and may not appear until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.

Bhutan Observer is Digg proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache