….housing shortage is one of the main challenges for civil servants

Neten Dorji

Samdrupjongkhar—For almost two years, a civil servant in Samdrupjongkhar has been sharing an apartment in a three-storey building with one of his friends near Samdrupjongkhar Middle Secondary School.

“Finding an affordable house is becoming increasingly challenging in Samdrupjongkhar,” the civil servant said. “Moreover, it is difficult to find a decent house in nearby areas, as the homeowners charge high rent.”

With limited government quarters for civil servants in the dzongkhag, some civil servants live in Dewathang, according to the dzongkhag officials.

A private employee, Karma, said with only a few houses available for rent, most of the new settlers in Samdrupjongkhar have to either manage with their friends and relatives or live in Dewathang.

“I have been looking for a house for almost a year now. It has been very difficult and I have still not been able to find an affordable house for rent. For now, I am staying with one of my friends by bearing half of the house rent,” Karma said.

Residents said that besides housing problems, the house rent was also very high in Samdrupjongkhar.

“It is challenging for low income people like me because we cannot afford to pay the rent,” a resident said.

He said that he had to live with his friend for almost a year before he could find an apartment for himself.

A driver said that house owners charged exorbitant rent which escalated to Nu 8,000 from Nu 4,000 in a month, which was unaffordable for a regular civil servant.  “ And we do not expect our homeowners to decrease rent because more houses will be needed for rent once Motanga Industrial Park is fully operational.”

A civil servant said that there was a need for proper policies and monitoring systems for those who built the houses. “Housing constructions are taking place every year but those are for commercial purposes only. Because of that, housing crunch is a serious problem in Samdrupjongkhar.”

A corporate employee Sangay, 24, said that it was challenging to find a house for rent in Samdrupjongkhar.

“I cannot understand the housing crisis here, thromde does not have a huge population. Whose responsibility is it to look after housing and address the issues?.”

She pays Nu 5,000 a month for the shared apartment. She said that construction projects were underway in the thromde, but most were for commercial purposes. “It is challenging when the relatives come to visit us.”

Dzongkhag officials agree that the housing crisis is one of the main challenges in Samdrupjongkhar.

“Civil servants from other dzongkhags refuse to come to Samdrupjongkhar because of the housing problem,” an official said. “Many are reluctant to come here and there are problems getting replacements for outgoing staff.”

However, the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDCL) is constructing 32 housing units in Draduel Thang and 88 units in the upper town.

The Asian Development Bank is funding Nu 398.939 million(M) to build 120 housing units in Samdrupjongkhar.

According to the Population and Housing Census of Bhutan 2017, there are 5,016 males and 4,309 females living in Samdrupjongkhar Thromde.

Thrompon Thinley Namgay said that thromde was encouraging private individuals to build houses for rental purposes.

More than 30 civil servants have applied to NHDCL for rent since 2018.

Rent for a three-bedroom apartment in Samdrupjongkhar  ranges from Nu 13,000 to Nu 15,000 per month, depending on the location and other facilities. Rent for a two-bedroom apartment ranges from Nu 9,000 to Nu 10,000 per month.