More than 30 police personnel terminated following the incident
Staff Reporter
Tourist guides, police personnel, and tourist drivers were allegedly involved in a coordinated scheme, siphoning off large amounts of monument fees for the Taktshang monastery in Paro.
Kuensel has learnt that more than 30 police personnel from Paro have been terminated due to their involvement in bribery and misappropriation of the entry fees.
Tourists visiting Taktshang monastery are required to pay Nu 1,000 monument fee at the ticket counter located at Ramthangka, the base of the monastery.
Tourists have to pay entry fees while visiting seven monument sites in the country.
These monuments include Taktshang and Kyichu Lhakhang in Paro, National Memorial Chorten, Changangkha Lhakhang, and Tashichhodzong in Thimphu, Punakha Dzong and Chimi Lhakhang in Punakha.
Except for Paro Taktshang, the entry fee for these monument sites is Nu 500 per person for all foreign visitors, including tourists, official guests, and personal guests.
In March this year, the total monument fee amounting to Nu 6.6 million was collected from the two sites in Paro, Nu 4 million from three monuments sites in Thimphu, and Nu 7 million from two monuments in Punakha.
In March, 5,277 adults and 167 students visited Taktshang monastery. Students get a 50 percent discount on entry fees.
Kuensel learnt that guides bypassed the ticketing process by stating that their guests were hiking up till the viewpoint and would not enter the monastery. This was the main modus operandi.
Sources revealed that guides, police personnel, and drivers then shared the monument fees among themselves.
In some instances, tourist guides also traded the tickets of those tourists who could not reach Taktshang with other tourist guides.
Usually, upon reaching Taktshang monastery, police personnel at the gate check and punch the ticket and enter the names of the visitor in the register.
The dzongkhag administrations manage entry fee collection at the monument sites. The dzongkhag accountants collect the funds on a daily or weekly basis, and crosscheck the number of tickets issued against the number of tourists visited.
The funds are then deposited into the current accounts of the dzongkhags.
The dzongkhags have the discretion to use up to Nu 300,000 from funds for developmental activities at the respective sites, after getting approval from the National Monument Supervision Fund Committee.
Although the government has introduced an online monument ticketing system, it is not widely used.
The Guides Association of Bhutan stated that it is waiting for a report from the police.
The police said that investigations are ongoing and declined to share information.
According to sources, the police are also investigating a similar case of misuse of monument fees in Punakha.