BoB in Nganglam soon

19 October 2009

Nganglam Dungkhag in Pemagatsel will soon have a Bank of Bhutan (BoB) branch. Today, people travel to Samdrup Jongkhar, which is six hours drive away, for all financial needs, which is time-consuming and expensive.

Salary of government officials working in Nganglam is deposited in BoB, Samdrup Jongkhar. Like all other offices, Dungsam Cement Project Authority (DCPA) also maintains its accounts in Samdrup Jongkhar and pays its 51 employees by cheque. People go to the bank themselves or authorise someone to withdraw money on their behalf.

Because there is no bank in Nganglam and local suppliers preferred to be paid in rupees, DCPA has an account in State Bank of India (SBI) in Patasala in Assam, 50 km from Bhutan.

Nganglam Dungpa Kencho Tenzin said if everything went as planned, the dungkhag would have a BoB branch by December 17 this year. It was learned that a private house, which is under renovation, will house the bank.

The new branch will bring immense benefits to the dungkhag, said all the people BO talked to. They said, unlike in most eastern dzongkhags, the bank may not run on losses as a lot of developmental activities are taking place in the dungkhag. Many people in the dungkhag grow oranges as a cash crop. Once Gyalpoizhing -Nanglam highway is completed, Nganglam is expected to become a business hub where a lot of financial transactions will take place.

DCPA, which will be operational by the end of 2011, will employ over 650 people, of which 249 will be regular employees. Senior finance officer of DCPA said the new branch will save a lot of time and enable smooth and faster transactions.

The principal of Nganglam Middle Secondary School said support staff are sent once or twice to the bank to withdraw money for all the staff.

He said carrying a big amount of cash along the border is risky. When the amount is huge, the school withdraws money from the bank and deposit in Food Corporation of Bhutan in Samdrup Jongkhar and get reimbursed from Nganglam FCB.

Jigme Tshewang, a businessman, said it took at least two days to do any type of financial transaction. “Going to bank is expensive,” he said, adding that anyone visiting bank in Samdrup Jongkhar need to spend at least Nu 3,000, on food, lodge, and transportation.

Because of security reasons, no bank wanted to open its branch in Nganglam, officials said. These have sometimes caused delays in payments of staff salaries.

Dungpa Kencho Tenzin said the dungkhag administration had been pressurising BoB for the last two years to open a branch. He said, comparing to other bordering town, Nganglam is a peaceful place and people across the border are friendly. The dungpa said government officials in the dungkhag administration are paid their salary on time by the dungkhag.

A BO source said the dzongkhag administration seemed to have centralised the power as no budget for development activities, not even salary of government staff, is decentralised to the dungkhag. Travelling to bank leads to delays in executing development activities in the dungkhag, he said.

The dungpa said the dungkhag is functioning in an exemplary decentralised manner.

He said the dzongkhag was desirous of fully decentralising the authority to the dungkhag. But it lacked required facilities such as a bank to do at the moment.

He said, “We will have bank first and then fully decentralise authority to the dungkhag.”