Thukten Zangpo 

The National Council (NC) yesterday endorsed the 13th Plan with all 23 members present voting in favour of the five recommendations submitted by the NC’s Economic Affairs Committee (EAC).

For the endorsement, the EAC’s chairperson and NC member from Samdrupjongkhar, Tshewang Rinchen, presented the committee’s observations and findings to the House.

The House recommended the requirement of details for major economic projects beyond hydropower and renewable energy in the 13th Plan, as the current Plan lacked clarity on specific plans and programmes for other sectors like agriculture, livestock, tourism, mining, and manufacturing.

Tshewang Rinchen emphasised the need to provide project details and indicative resource outlay to ensure transparency, predictability and consistency of the plan, its implementation, follow-up, and monitoring.

The House also recommended filling all local government positions by December this year to address human resources shortage in local government.

Additionally, the House recommended reviewing the current cluster of services and improving the system based on feedback from grassroots leaders and people who reported that the new structure has impeded service delivery.

The Government has allocated a total of Nu 10 billion to the local government in the 13th Plan, with Nu 7 billion to 205 gewogs, Nu 1.5 billion to 20 dzongkhags, and Nu 1.5 billion to four thromdes.

With shortage of skilled professionals in agriculture and livestock, engineers, architects, and accountants in the local government, Tshewang Rinzin said that it would impede service delivery and lead to lower levels of development in the villages.

The House recommended revisiting the resource allocation formula (RAF) in the 13th Plan.

Tshewang Rinchen said that the government should adopt the common minimum infrastructure (CMI) framework in the 13th Plan’s RAF rather than relying solely on RAF and standard deviation metrics.

He added that the new framework will not only promote equitable development but also ensure comprehensive and inclusive fulfillment of basic infrastructure needs, thereby fostering sustainable growth.

The House recommendation also included timely completion of hydropower projects.

The House observed that the country’s internal resources are largely dependent on earnings from hydropower and tourism.

However, the completion of hydropower projects is subject to repeated delays and the tourism sector is dependent on exogenous factors beyond the government’s control.

The House also recommended to include the Nu 15 billion economic stimulus programme in the main fiscal framework of 13th Plan for transparency, responsibility and accountability as mandated by Article 14, section 2 of the Constitution.

These recommendations will be submitted to the government for appropriate action.