The big daddy called DHI

Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) has been a subject of constant public debate ever since its establishment in 2007. And people continue to hurl a string of grievances and criticisms at it.

Some of the persistent comments on DHI have been: that its employees are overpaid, it is autocratic in its decisions, it is a corporate dictator, and that it tries to project an elite outlook with a pool of ordinary human resource. And most of all, people say the government has no reins over the institution.

Therefore, the media raised a question on this line during the 17th monthly Meet the Press with the cabinet yesterday. A broadcast journalist asked the cabinet to clarify why the government has no control over the functioning of DHI, especially with regard to the perks and entitlements received by the employees and board members.

A DHI board director receives a fee of Nu 15,000 per sitting along with other handy gadgets. Similarly, the DHI chairperson draws a monthly salary of Nu 147,000 while the prime minister takes a comparatively meagre amount of about Nu 80,000.

“All this reflects poorly on how the public money is being used to provide perks to a group of select individuals,” said the journalist, adding that DHI’s recruitment process also seemed flawed with the relatives of DHI officials being recruited for certain  posts in the company.

Responding to him, Finance Minister Wangdi Norbu said the government has little say in the functioning of DHI since it is governed by the Royal Charter which gives absolute power to its board directors.

“We respect the charter because it was issued by His Majesty the King,” he said. He said the direct government representative in the DHI board (the finance secretary) is generally out-voted while decisions are taken.

The finance minister said that the government can hence only request DHI not to take decisions which are harmful to the overall economy of the country.

Regarding the sitting fee of Nu 15,000, the government was told that was how it has been ever since DHI was born. The figure was reportedly arrived at with an order from the interim government.

Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu said the finance ministry had difficulties ameliorating the situation as other government corporations did not have as many and as high perks and salaries as the DHI companies enjoy.

“With the charter in place, there wasn’t very much we could do. From the government’s point of view, what I had in mind was that at least the [DHI] system should not disrupt the economy,” he said.

The minister said that due to high salaries, talented, educated and trained people are lost from the civil service and other corporations to DHI.

The high DHI salaries not only dent the government exchequer but also disrupt human resource scenario in the private sector. As a result, the cost of production in the economy increases making indigenous products un-competitive which in turn hampers exports.

The finance minister said DHI has not complied with the ministry’s advice. “Just a couple of months ago, I requested them that there should not be any further raise because they were thinking of raising the salaries again. I hope DHI will see reason and come together with the government.”

There were further questions from the media about the contracts of DHI employees getting extended automatically irrespective of performance, and about why contract employees are sent on training.

To this, the finance minister said that DHI must be doing so as per the service rules of the company and that if these developments are against the norms laid down in the service rules, DHI would be answerable to the audit.

By Pushkar Chhetri

3 Responses to “The big daddy called DHI”

1. karma says:

   November 2, 2011 at 9:13 pm

   Well, all I can say is if DHI keeps bullying rest on the Royal Charter, a day will not be far when people protest in streets for change in charter. Or people will loose trust in the charter.

   Reply
2. DHI for us - Tshering Tobgay’s Blog says:

   November 8, 2011 at 12:16 am

   [...] Charter. And during the very press conference which featured the iPhone controversy recently, the finance minister protested that “the government has little say in the functioning of DHI since it is governed by the Royal [...]

   Reply
3. DHI and us - Tshering Tobgay’s Blog says:

   November 8, 2011 at 12:37 am

   [...] Charter. And during the very press conference which featured the iPhone controversy recently, the finance minister protested that “the government has little say in the functioning of DHI since it is governed by the Royal [...]

   Reply