… built a two-storey conference hall for the drungkhag

Rajesh Rai | Phuentsholing

Following the acute shortage of workers, 14 civil servants in Dorokha drungkhag, Samtse took matters into their own hands and have now built a two-storey building.

It houses a conference hall and guestrooms equipped with basic amenities.

The officials volunteered to contribute to labour after work. They worked for more than a year to complete it. The project worth Nu 4.5 million (M) was completed at Nu 900,000 which was for the purchase of construction materials. Their contribution saved Nu 3.6M in project costs.




Dorokha Drungpa Karma Jurmi said the structure is a contribution to the public.

“Moreover, with the economic instability due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we cannot always rely on government support to address the shortage of conference halls and guestrooms,” he said.

On the other hand, the “very purpose” of initiating this project was to enable the officials to have hands-on experience in taking up various aspects of construction work. It was to encourage teamwork, collaboration, social work and volunteerism among officials and the general public.




“Such initiative will also enable the officials with different skills to learn from each other and acquire all the required skills in construction,” Karma Jurmi said.

He said that those involved in the construction have acquired most of the skills required for construction such as concreting, plumbing, electrical, and traditional painting through shared knowledge.    

The drungpa said that the structure will serve as a model building with all the Bhutanese traditional designs for the general public in the drungkhag.




The drungpa said, “We would now like to dedicate this humble contribution to the upcoming National Day from us.”

Apart from this project, Dorokha drungkhag officials also volunteered in 2021, during the peak of the pandemic, when there was an acute shortage of workers. They converted an old and unused BHU facility into a 30-bed room to be used as a quarantine facility, flu clinic and duty room.