As the 117th National Day celebrations come to an end and thousands of spectators return to their duties and lives, there will be a lot of reflection to do on what was conveyed through the Royal address to the nation.

The Royal address yesterday provided a clear perspective for the Bhutanese to keep up with the pace of changes happening in the country, particularly with the royal vision of building the Gelephu Mindfulness City. As many left the celebration ground, a message to contemplate was on the 10-year deadline given  to transform our civil service and the reforms needed in our legislations and policies that would be vital in ensuring the success of our plans and propelling the sluggish economy

His Majesty said that there is no urgency, but at the end of the 10 years, Bhutan should have an enlightened and an entrepreneurial bureaucracy. The vision is that the civil service and the entire country should grow with the GMC. The resounding message is that the rest of the country should not be left behind when the GMC progresses.

The call to transform the civil service is not new. His Majesty had, on many occasions in the past,stressed the need for reform in the civil service, on some occasions bringing  renewed sense of urgency. We have seen transformation exercises in recent years. The civil service will need to keep evolving with changing times and needs.

The call on the bureaucracy  until now was to live up to the expectation of the people, improve service delivery through efficiency and professionalism, uphold the highest standards of ethics and integrity, and exhibit qualities of adroitness and compassion. It is now transformation and to ready a population equipped with necessary skills, successors, to take over grand projects like the GMC.

A good start is acknowledging our mistakes. The bureaucracy should not be seen as a hurdle to ideas and initiatives. Even better is to identify what ails our system and look for solutions.  The priorities are changing and it is not only the civil service that is expected to transform. The last few years saw organisations or institutions transforming, all with the expectation to perform better while improving service delivery and lives.

With the pressure to transform, new ideas and initiatives were explored most of which are conflicting or violating current laws, policies or regulations. In pointing out the flaws in our policies that restrict ideas, His Majesty has spelled out a flaw that many  are aware but unwilling to take the initiative. Some of our legislations are stifling growth because they are outdated or irrelevant to current needs and ideas. Others use it as a tool to avoid risk at the cost of growth and progress.

Today, even if organisations want to deal with challenges and circumstances that are changing every day or manage institutions or companies on the principles of multinational companies—performance, efficiency, hire and fire—our rules restrict them. If laws and policies are to help spur the economy, drive efficiency, and benefit the country, it has to keep up with the changes. 

The 117th National Day is over. The Royal address should start a discourse on the way forward to keep with the constant transformation.