Thukten Zangpo

In a letter to the Chairperson of the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC), the Opposition Leader has raised concerns over critical gaps in the civil service, warning that these shortcomings could undermine the country’s ambitious development goals.

The letter, dated November 4, states that as mandated, Members of Parliament carry out oversight functions periodically to ensure smooth facilitation of the national development plans and programmes.

The Opposition Leader Dasho Pema Chewang states that these concerns are a result of observations from the field and feedback from senior civil servants.

“The shortage of human resources across all local government agencies were the concerns raised by the local government leaders during the constituencies and dzongkhags visits,” states the letter.

At the central level too, there are concerns over the professional void created due to attrition of seasoned civil servants, the letter states. “If the attrition goes on at this rate coupled with superannuation; it is apparent to derail the ambitious development targets and outcomes of the 13th Plan.”

Dasho Pema Chewang said that it is not the numbers or quantity that is filling the gap, it also has to be quality, the quality of services, professionals, and experienced people.

In addition, the Opposition Leader identified other emerging issues, such as ambiguity of lead agency for national planning and coordination, incoherent coordination of national planning and budgeting, and unclear line of reporting and monitoring of national plans and progress.

The letter states that these issues must have evolved consequent to the reform exercise on agency consolidation, which was intended to sharpen the governance structure and service delivery. “But unfortunately, neither the governance nor the services seem to have improved as envisaged.”

He said that an assessment needs to be carried out to find out whether the intended purpose of the reform exercise has been met or not, including the monitoring of the projects and plans.

The Opposition Leader also expressed that the forced ranking system was another notable issue across all agencies.

The first session of the third Parliament deliberated and resolved to remove the force ranking system from the performance assessment system owing to its risk of harming the working ambience and professional relationship among colleagues.

The Parliament also recommended and endorsed doubling the budget allocation to Nu 4.9 billion for human resource development in the 13th Plan.

In this upcoming second session of the fourth Parliament, the Prime Minister will report on the review of the RCSC’s Max Moderation System, including a proposal to abolish the forced ranking system.

Dasho Pema Chewang said that civil servants across the dzongkhags, raised concerns over the ranking system issues, adding that it creates trust gap, disharmony in the workplace and among peers.

The Opposition Leader urged the RCSC to expedite recruitment to fill in the void left by senior professionals and to strengthen human resources through adequate placements  across the agencies.

He also highlighted the need to strengthen the national planning and coordination agencies, ensure clear mandates, and improve human resource allocation across government institutions.

From 29,235 civil servants as of March this year, 2,724 civil servants left the RCSC while 3, 086 were recruited between July 2023 and March 2024, according to the RCSC’s annual report.