…through arts, communication, and vocational training

Yangyel Lhaden

Paro—The soft hum of focused activity fills the air as 25-year-old Janki Uraon, her eyes fixed on the canvas, deftly strokes her pencil, creating the outlines of her latest creation—a depiction of the Four Friends (Thuenpa Puenzhi)—a traditional artwork that symbolises friendship, cooperation, and harmony.

Janki Uraon joined Wangsel Institute for the Deaf at 22 after attending a Special Education Needs school in Tendu, Samtse.

Vocational training at Wangsel Institute

She faced an uncertain future after her hearing loss progressively worsened, making it increasingly difficult for her to communicate. But her path took a positive turn when she enrolled at Wangsel Institute, where she learned Bhutanese Sign Language (BSL) and found a new calling in painting.

Today, she communicates fluently with her peers, and is, in fact, a top performing student in her painting class.

“I see myself painting for the rest of my life. Painting will support my livelihood,” Janki says.

Her journey reflects the broader mission of Wangsel Institute, which provides Deaf students with an adapted curriculum and vocational training tailored to their needs.

While academics help them communicate through writing with hearing people, vocational training, like painting, is key to their future careers.

At Wangsel, students are introduced to a range of vocational skills, including painting, wood carving, carpentry, and tailoring. The institute has also recently introduced yathra on pangtha weaving, using traditional handlooms.

The institute offers Bhutan Qualification Framework Certificate (BQFC) II courses, similar to the courses provided by the Zorig Chusum Institutes.

Currently, Wangsel Institute is home to 115 students.

The educational model starts with pre-vocational courses in the early grades, transitioning to more intensive vocational training in later years.

Students of classes VII and VIII attend pre-vocational courses for one period. In classes IX and X, students take four periods of vocational courses alongside academics. By classes XI and XII, students can choose a vocational trade for full-time study.

To qualify for academic courses in class XI, students have to score above 75 percent. If students are uninterested in vocational training, they can opt for academics. Currently, there are only two students in class XI who are into academics and none in class XII.

Wangsel Institute’s Principal Dechen Tshering says that Deaf students struggled in academics due to their needs and the limitations of BSL in conveying lessons. “If it takes five minutes to teach a concept to general students, it takes about an hour to convey the same message to Deaf students.”

He said that this is also a reason why the Institute emphasises  vocational training as many Deaf students excel in vocational skills and find meaningful career paths.

Despite its success, Wangsel Institute faces challenges. It currently operates under the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD), alongside general schools, which limits its access to specialised resources.

The Institute has been lobbying to be placed under the Department of Workforce Planning and Skills Development (DWPSD), which is also part of MoESD, and focuses on developing and implementing policies, programmes, and initiatives related to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the country.

“Although the Institute is for the Deaf and requires more resources, the school functions under the same fund as a general school, making it challenging to meet the needs of the students,” Dechen Tshering says. “If the Institute was registered under the DWPSD, we would be able to acquire the necessary support.”

To supplement its funding, Wangsel Institute sells student-made products such as artwork and furniture, reinvesting the proceeds into the school.

The furniture workshop, which operated from a temporary shed since 2018, finally moved into a new, one-storey facility funded by the Asian Development Bank, which opened in May this year.

A new workshop has been a game-changer.

In the workshop, the carpentry students are already working—displaying their vocational skills. With orders pouring in, they are working hard to keep up.

It is the same story for the wood carving and painting groups. Their task? To craft traditional Bhutanese tables.

The wood carvers etch intricate designs into each piece, passing them to the furniture group, who assemble the carved wood into tables. The final group paints the finished products, bringing them to life.

A student in wood carving, Chador Gyeltshen, pauses to reflect. Like his peers, he is optimistic about his future in carpentry and is excited about the possibility of working beyond his village.

“I did on-the-job training at the Royal Academy, and I communicated through writing,” he says, flashing a warm smile.

Wangsel Institute has shaped him into a confident, forward-looking individual. It has given him something his village could not—language and connection, and, sense of purpose. 

“Before, I was frustrated, unable to express myself and communicate with others. But here, at Wangsel Institute, we are learning new skills and communication. We can see our future,” Chador Gyeltshen says.

The number of people seeking counselling has doubled in the last few years

Neten Dorji

Mongar—Twenty -two- year-old, Kinley Dorji’s life could have spiralled out of control, either landing him in jail or worse, had he not reached out for help. 

For nearly four years, he struggled with cannabis addiction. And despite repeated warnings from teachers and a suspension from school, his struggle continued until he was referred to the Mongar Drop-in Centre (DIC).

Counselling at the centre was a turning point for Kinley Dorji, leading him to realise that rehabilitation was the only option. “I tried to quit multiple times but the cravings were overwhelming,” he said.

After completing a rigorous four-and-a-half-month rehab programme in Thimphu, he has never looked back. “Cannabis was easier to get than tablets. I regret wasting so much time and money on drugs,” he said.

Clean for two years now, Kinley Dorji lives a stable life, helping his parents with their business.

His story is one among many at the Mongar DIC, which has seen a significant rise in its clientele over the years. Students, school dropouts, civil servants, and employees of both public and private sectors seek help from the centre.

Between 2021 and 2022, the centre managed around 52 referrals each year. This number doubled to 112 in 2023, and in just eight months in 2024, 65 individuals have been referred to the centre.

Peer Counsellor Tshewang Jemo said the increase is mainly due to the Treatment Assessment Panel (TAP) programme. “We provide counselling whenever someone is referred to the centre. Those at high risk are sent to rehab centres,” she said. “Many return with changes, but that does not mean they are completely free from substance use disorder.”

The TAP programme assesses students and youth who are referred by police, parents, schools, or hospitals. They are categorised as low, moderate, or high risk. Those at high risk are sent for rehabilitation while those at low or moderate risk receive outpatient or residential counselling.

“Repeat offenders are given three chances. After the fourth offense, they face charges and compulsory treatment for one month to a year,” Tshewang Jemo said.

Another peer counsellor Sonam Yangchen shared that many alcoholics are referred from hospital wards, but they are often reluctant to undergo rehabilitation.

“Many alcoholics do not want to go to rehabilitation centres because of fees and distance,” she said. “Moreover, they do not come to the centre for counselling due to distance and then relapse.”

An official said that while those addicted to alcohol are interested in taking the services, they withdraw the moment they learn about the fees.

A health official said that alcohol addiction is particularly becoming a major public health issue in the country, mainly driven by the widespread availability of alcohol. “Alcohol-related problems are severe and costly, with each patient’s treatment costing more than Nu 122,000.”

Currently, the Mongar DIC caters to four dzongkhags—Mongar, Lhuentse, Trashigang, and Trashiyangtse.

The health official said that as more people seek help for addiction at the Mongar DIC, there is a growing need to establish a rehab centre in the eastern region.

Eight players head to 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary

Thinley Namgay 

Eight national chess players will represent Bhutan at the prestigious 45th Chess Olympiad, to be held in Budapest, Hungary, from September 10 to 23.

The team, a blend of students and professionals, includes four students and four working adults, three of whom are engineers.

Like all participating countries, Bhutan will compete in both the open and the women’s teams. In the open team, both men and women will participate.

The Chess Olympiad, organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), is the premier global chess competition, held biennially.

This year, Budapest is set to host over 1,800 players, with 193 national teams registered in the open section and 181 women’s teams vying to establish their chess supremacy.

Bhutan will participate in both the open and women’s categories, with the team set to face 22 matches, including 88 individual games.

The Olympiad serves as a platform where top-tier players from across the globe gather to showcase their chess prowess and learn from one another.

The interim president of Bhutan Chess Federation’s (BCF), Thinley Palden Dorji, who is leading the Bhutanese delegation, said that the Bhutanese team is optimistic about the competition.

“It will be challenging for our team to defeat world-class players but I expect some improvement in our international ranking,” he said, adding that the BCF could have sent more players to the competition if it not for financial constraints. 

Currently, Bhutan stands 171st in world chess ranking among 190 countries.

Thinley Palden Dorji said that besides competing in national tournaments, Bhutanese players received commendable online training from International Master Atanu Lahiri from India after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with him in December last year.

Team Bhutan will leave the country on September 9 and arrive at the venue on September 10.

Bhutan will play 22 matches in total: 11 matches in open team section and 11 matches in the women’s team competition. “In 22 matches, we will play 88 individual games. Four games make up a match,” Thinley Palden Dorji said.

In addition to the chess matches, the Olympiad will feature an array of side events, including conferences, exhibitions, and artistic performances, highlighting the cultural and social impact of the game.

The event will also incorporate cutting-edge technology, such as a 5G high-speed wireless network, real-time visual broadcasts, and innovative chess boards for the visually impaired.

To promote inclusivity, diversity, and support for displaced individuals, the organisers have included a chess team from the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, under the approval of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 

Participant Pema Yangsel, a Class XII science student at Ugyen Academy in Punakha, who is making her second appearance at the Chess Olympiad said that it is an important international event.  “I am excited for the tournament. We received good training, and I am optimistic about making improvements to our international ranking.”

Another player, Bhakta, an engineer, said that the Bhutanese team is strong. “I hope to win some games and beat a few master-level players.”

Officials and players believe that Bhutan’s chess representation at both national and international levels has improved over the last four years. 

After forming a chess club in 2021, Bhutan participated in the 44th Chess Olympiad in India in 2022, after eight years of inactivity in the chess federation. The country also competed in the inaugural World School Team Chess Championship in Kazakhstan last year.

Before 2022, the only major international chess tournament Bhutanese players participated in was the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Norway, where five players represented the country. 

Chess enthusiasts regard the sport as a sustainable one, enhancing creative thinking, planning skills, and focus, among others. Unlike other sports, chess does not require many facilities and can be played online.

The main challenges for chess development in Bhutan include limited equipment and lack of  professional trainers, budget constraints and limited exposure to international competition.

The first official Chess Olympiad, held in London in 1927, featured 16 nations. The Olympiads were held occasionally and at irregular intervals until World War II. Since 1950, the event has become a biennial fixture.

The surge in vehicle bookings following the government’s decision to lift the vehicle import moratorium raises serious concerns about Bhutan’s transportation system and its long-term sustainability.

With over hundreds of cars booked, including luxury vehicles like Toyota Land Cruisers priced at Nu 24.89 million, it is evident that our appetite for private cars remains high. This trend forces us to confront a pressing question: do we have the infrastructure to accommodate more vehicles, or should we rethink our approach to transportation altogether?

Our urban areas, particularly Thimphu, are already struggling with congestion and limited parking spaces. Every new car adds to the problem, creating more traffic, pollution, and pressure on our road infrastructure. While the convenience of owning a car is undeniable, it is clear that we are not equipped to handle an unchecked rise in vehicle numbers. More cars mean greater fuel consumption, higher carbon emissions, and a heavier import burden on an already fragile economy. Continuing down this path without strategic planning would be irresponsible.

Instead, we must urgently shift our focus towards developing an efficient, reliable, and eco-friendly public transport system. Public transport not only reduces the need for personal vehicles but also provides a cost-effective and sustainable solution to urban mobility. Investment in buses, electric or otherwise, as well as the expansion of routes, could drastically ease congestion and reduce environmental degradation. Additionally, improving public transport services to cover more areas and meet the needs of a growing population is crucial for Bhutan’s future.

We should rethink the types of vehicles that we are importing. The recent bookings of high-end vehicles such as Land Cruisers and Toyota Hiluxes demonstrate that consumer preference is skewed towards expensive, fuel-intensive models. The government should look into promoting the import of electric or hybrid vehicles, which are far more suitable for a nation that prides itself on environmental conservation. Encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

However, regulating the import of vehicles should not be based solely on engine capacity, which has been the primary criterion for restrictions in the past. A broader and more nuanced policy is needed—one that factors in fuel efficiency, environmental impact, and long-term sustainability. For instance, vehicles with low emissions, regardless of engine size, should be encouraged over larger, fuel-guzzling models. The government’s role here is critical in setting the right policies and incentives to promote sustainable vehicle imports while ensuring that our roads and environment are protected from further strain.

The lifting of the moratorium should have been accompanied by more stringent measures to address these concerns. Without a well-thought-out transportation policy, we risk flooding our roads with vehicles that neither serve the public good nor contribute to Bhutan’s broader goals of sustainability and self-reliance.

It is time for the government to take decisive action to curb unnecessary imports and focus on creating a modern, efficient public transport system that benefits all citizens. Failing to do so would be a missed opportunity to steer the country towards a more sustainable future.

སྤྱི་ཟླ་༩ པའི་ཚེས་༥ ལུ་ བློན་ཆེན་ཚེ་རིང་སྟོབས་རྒྱས་ཀྱིས་ ཐའི་ལེནཌི་གི་རྒྱལ་ས་ བེང་ཀོག་ལུ་ འབྲུག་གི་གཞུང་ཚབ་ལས་ཁང་གིས་ ཕེ་མི་ལི་ བི་ཟི་ནེསི་ ཨེགསི་པོ་ནེན་ཤེལ་དང་ ཅའོ་པར་ཡ་ ཨ་བའེ་རཱ་ཇ་གཞི་ཚོགས་དང་གཅིག་ཁར་ མཉམ་འབྲེལ་ཐོག་ལས་ འགོ་འདྲེན་འཐབ་མི་ དམིགས་བསལ་ལས་རིམ་ཅིག་ནང་ དགེ་ལེགས་ཕུག་ཁྲོམ་གསར་པའི་སྐོར་ལས་ གསལ་བཤད་གནང་ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ ལས་རིམ་དེ་ནང་ ཐའི་ལེནཌི་གི་ ཚོང་པ་མིང་གཏམ་ཅན་དང་ གོ་གནས་ཅན་གྱི་མི་ངོམ་ འབྲུག་གི་ དཔལ་འབྱོར་གོང་འཕེལ་བཀོད་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་འཐུས་མི་ དེ་ལས་ དགེ་ལེགས་ཕུག་ཁྲོམ་གསར་པའི་ ལས་བྱེད་སྡེ་ཚན་གཙོ་ཅན་བརྩིས་ཏེ་ མགྱོནམ་༢༥༠དེ་ཅིག་གིས་ གྲལ་གཏོགས་འབད་ཡོད་པའི་གནས་ཚུལ།

ད་རིས་ འབྲུག་ལུ་ རྒྱ་གར་གྱི་གཞུང་ཚབ་ སུ་ད་ཀར་ ད་ལི་ལ་གིས་ ཕྱི་འབྲེལ་དང་ཕྱིར་ཚོང་ལྷན་ཁག་གི་ བློན་པོ་ཌི་ཨེན་ དུང་གེལ་ལུ་ དཔལ་འབྱོར་ལྷན་ཐབས་མ་དངུལ་གྱི་ གོ་རིམ་༢ པ་སྦེ་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༢.༥ གི་ ཤོག་འཛིན་ཅེག་ རྩིས་སྤྲོད་འབད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
འབྲུག་གཞུང་གི་ཁ་ཐུག་ལས་ བློན་པོ་ཌི་ཨེན་ དུང་གེལ་གྱིས་ གཞུང་ཚབ་དང་ རྒྱ་གར་གཞུང་ལུ་ བཀྲིན་དགའ་ཚོར་ཞུ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
དཔལ་འབྱོར་ལྷན་ཐབས་མ་དངུལ་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༡༥ པོ་དེ་ སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༢༤ ཟླ་༥ པའི་ཚེས་༡༨ ལུ་ ནད་ཡམས་ལུ་བརྟེན་ དཔལ་འབྱོར་མར་ཉམས་འགྱོ་མིའི་དཀའ་ངལ་ སེལ་ཐབས་འབད་ནི་དང་ གཙོ་རིམ་ཅན་གྱི་ ལས་སྡེ་ཚུ་ བསྐྱར་གསོ་འབད་ནིའི་དོན་ལུ་ འགོ་འབྱེད་འབད་ཡོད་པའི་གནས་ཚུལ།

KP Sharma

Samtse—Located about 40 kilometres from Samtse town toward Tashicholing, Jamtsholing, formerly known as Sathbotay—otherwise a sleepy foothill settlement, has gained historical significance following the inauguration of the Gyalsung Academy by His Majesty the King yesterday.

The Jamtsholing Gyalsung Academy, one of the four such institutions across Bhutan, now houses 569 young recruits—279 men and 290 women—who will undergo an intensive three-month programme focusing on basic military training.

This first cohort is poised to undergo a training designed to instill discipline, unity, and patriotism.

The arrival of the Gyalsung Academy has sparked joy and excitement among the residents of Samtse.

Many feel honoured that Jamtsholing was chosen as one of the sites for the academy, a major boost to the area’s historical and future prospects.

A local from Tashicholing, Namgay Dorji, expressed his excitement at the launch of the much-awaited Gyalsung Programme. “The programme is not just a celebration but a hope for a stronger future for our youth and country,” he said. “His Majesty’s personal visit to inaugurate the academy is a moment of immense pride for us.”

He said that previously many high school graduates remained idle, often falling into unhealthy habits. “This programme offers a solution to such issues, giving hope that the future will be more responsible and reliable,” he said.

He expressed confidence that the Gyalsups will emerge from the training as more responsible individuals, equipped with valuable skills for the future.

A resident of Gola Bazar in Tashicholing, Dilip Kumar Giri, also shared his optimism for the programme. “I expect the youth will gain important skills and learn to be more responsible, which will benefit the country,” he said.

He stressed the importance of self-reliance, pointing out how Bhutan often relies on foreign workers for skilled tasks. “During the programme, our youth will learn various skills, which is really crucial, and I am hopeful that they will live up to the expectations and fulfill His Majesty’s vision.”

He also expressed his gratitude to His Majesty for the initiative. “I want to express my heartfelt thanks to His Majesty for this noble initiative which will ensure that our country will be led by responsible future leaders.”

Another resident, Rudra Bdr Ghalley, hailed the Gyalsung Programme as a major milestone for the country. “The introduction of Gyalsung reaffirms our commitment to nurturing responsible and talented future leaders,” he said.

He highlighted the success of the Desuung programme, which has already made a positive impact through volunteer services. “Gyalsung adds another layer of promise for a future led by capable citizens,” he added.

Beyond its impact on youth, the academy is also expected to stimulate the local economy.

Residents expect that the Gyalsung Academy will create new markets for their agricultural products and contribute to economic growth.

The people of Samtse expect that this initiative will uplift livelihoods, creating opportunities for the community to thrive alongside the academy’s development.

Gyalsung programme launches with hope and positivity in Mongar

Neten Dorji

Gyalpoizhing—In a historic moment towards shaping the future of Bhutanese youth, His Royal Highness Gyaltshab Jigme Dorji Wangchuck graced the inaugural ceremony of Gyalsung programme at Gyalpoizhing Academy yesterday.

His Royal Highness was accompanied by Ashi Yeatso Lhamo, alongside His Eminence Tshugla Lopen Karma Rangdol, Minister of Education and Skills Development Yeezang De Thapa, and other government and dzongkhag officials.

The launch of this groundbreaking programme has ignited excitement among parents, who are eager to see their children grow into capable and responsible citizens.

A father from Lhuntse, Kinzang La, said that although his son got the opportunity to study at the College of Science and Technology, he chose the Gyalsung Programme.

“It offers invaluable opportunities for personal growth and skill enhancement, preparing our children for the 21st-century world,” he said.

Kinzang added that the programme will not only benefit his son but also the future of many other young Bhutanese.

The three-month Gyalsung programme for 2024 and 2025 batches includes basic military training, national education lectures, and life skills courses.

The Royal Bhutan Army will conduct the military training while the Royal Institute of Governance and Strategic Studies will offer leadership courses.

The Zhung Dratshang will offer Choeshey Larim (religious teachings) and experts will teach Driglam Namzha, Bhutanese history, and national security, among others.

Another parent, Namgay from Paro, expressed his gratitude to His Majesty the King for the opportunity. “When I heard about the Gyalsung project, I was filled with excitement to enroll my son for the Gyalsung programme.  I am hopeful that this programme will help him develop into a productive citizen.”

A mother from Pemagatshel, Sangay, said that the Gyalsung programme will equip her daughter with essential skills and prepare her to serve the nation effectively. “I have witnessed widespread enthusiasm among the youth to join this transformative programme.”

A relative of a trainee, Tashi Phuntsho, said that the Gyalsung programme will foster positive changes in attitudes and behaviour of youth.  “I have heard so much about what the programme offers. It is a pivotal moment for our youth, and I am encouraging my brother and other relatives to participate.”

Thanking His Majesty the King for initiating the Gyalsung programme, a retired civil servant expressed that the programme will instill a strong sense of discipline, order, and structure. “The programme will help develop crucial life skills and the ability to become a productive citizen.”

The first cohort’s training began yesterday and will conclude on December 3, 2024. The second cohort will start on December 16 and end on March 15, 2025. For the second batch of the following year, training will commence on April 1 and end on June 30, with a subsequent session starting on August 1 and concluding on October 30.

The Gyalsung programme is provided at the four Gyalsung academies: Khotokha Gyalsung Academy in Wangdue, Jamtsholing Gyalsung Academy in Samtse, Gyalpoizhing Gyalsung Academy in Mongar, and Pemathang Gyalsung Academy in Samdrupjongkhar.

YK Poudel

Chanachen village in Geling Gewog, Chukha is on the threshold of a major transformation. A Japanese company renowned for its expertise in natural food production, Sun Smile Co., Limited, will adopt the village as a model for organic farming.

The initiative, titled ‘Improvement of Low-Input Organic Farming Techniques and Stable Sales’  aims to support local farmers grappling with low yields and limited market access.

The project’s goal is to enhance income through advanced organic farming methods and improved sales stability.

The Department of Agriculture Marketing and Co-operatives (DAMC) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Bhutan Office formalised the partnership with the signing of the Minutes of Meeting on September 3.

DAMC Director Tashi Dorji and JICA Bhutan Office Chief Representative Tomoyuki Yamada signed the document.

Project Formulation Advisor of JICA Bhutan Office, Shin Suto, said that this is a part of the JICA’s Technical Cooperation Project. “With the signing of Minutes of Meeting, the village will be supported by Sun Smile Co., Limited, with focus on local and niche agricultural commodities in the village.”

The expected outputs of the project are to increase income of the farmers through adoption of organic farming techniques by improving low-input organic farming techniques and improvement of sales, price, and stable production of organic commodities.

“The Japanese company implementing the project has over 25 years of experience in production and sales of naturally grown and organic foods,” Shin Suto said.

Set to run until November 2027, this project is aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1—No poverty, SDG 2—Zero hunger, and SDG 8—Decent work and Economic growth.

As a part of the project, the Japanese company will introduce and improve the concept of low-input organic cultivation technology in collaboration with the National Centre for Organic Agriculture (NCOA) in Yusipang.

“The project will introduce chemical-free fertilizer, natural cultivation methods, and low-input organic farming techniques,” Shin Suto said. “Soil improvement methods and trial farming will be enhanced through NCOA assistance.”

The project will also conduct market research in Thimphu, exploring effective marketing strategies with local food vendors and aggregators to establish robust sales channels. While Thimphu is a primary market, opportunities in Paro and Phuentsholing will also be explored to expand the reach of the village’s organic produce.

Anywhere in the world, national service has always been one of the most powerful instruments for nation building.  In Bhutan, Gyalsung Academy represents the image and soul of this endeavour. As the first cohort embarks on their journey, it is imperative to understand that Gyalsung is not just another training programme; it is an engagement of our young people who will ultimately shape our nation’s future.

What is Gyalsung? This is the question many still ask.

Gyalsung is much more than academic and military training. It is a holistic approach to nation-building that will nurture young minds, strengthen their character, and equip them with the skills they need to contribute to our country’s development. At its core, Gyalsung is about fostering unity, instilling a sense of responsibility, and developing the leadership skills that will propel our country forward. More important, by bringing together youth from different regions, backgrounds, and aspirations, the programme cultivates a shared sense of national identity, critical for building a cohesive and resilient society.

The investment in Gyalsung is unprecedented, both financially and philosophically. It is a project that demands success, not merely because of the resources it consumes, but because of the promise it holds for Bhutan’s future. With proper guidance, this initiative stands to create a generation of disciplined, knowledgeable, and patriotic citizens who are ready to take on the responsibilities of nation-building. The importance of Gyalsung goes beyond individual transformation; it is a collective movement that will help shape the trajectory of our nation.

Our youth are the heart and soul of our progress, and it is through such programmes that we can harness their potential. In a rapidly globalising world, young Bhutanese must possess the skills, confidence, and dedication to ensure that our nation remains strong and resilient. Gyalsung prepares our children for this by providing not only physical training but also courses in civics, entrepreneurship, and disaster response, ensuring that they are well-rounded individuals capable of facing modern challenges.

At the heart of the Gyalsung programme lies the capacity to promote a culture of service. National service is not just about military drills; it is about nurturing a spirit of volunteerism and commitment to the greater good. Appreciating this in its many forms and manifestations is vitally important. Whether in times of peace or crisis, national service must ensure that we are prepared, united, and focused on collective goals.

It is also worth noting that Gyalsung can help bridge the urban-rural divide, a key issue facing our country today. By bringing together young people from diverse backgrounds and fostering mutual understanding, it can help break down barriers that may otherwise hinder social cohesion. This unity is crucial for us as a nation, as it will allow us to address our challenges with a collective spirit.

For Gyalsung to truly succeed, however, it requires the full support of every citizen. It is not only the responsibility of the participants but of all Bhutanese to champion this life-changing cause. Our future depends on it. The seeds planted through Gyalsung today will blossom into a stronger, more confident, and self-reliant Bhutan tomorrow.

Sense of belonging, as I have mentioned in a past article, What it means to be Bhutanese?- is our authentic connection to our common heritage, our collective present, and our shared future. Losing the sense of belonging means that people have lost this connection – as in not knowing where they come from, or where they belong, and see no future ahead of them. This is a terrible state to be in because one feels worthless, un-recognised, and increasingly pushed away. Humans are social animals and we always seek a place and a community where we feel accepted, valued, and validated.

I have also pointed out that the sense of belonging is an emotional question and not an economic one. A case in point is my generation and the one before who were happy with the little we were paid but worked happily and with pride because we felt a sense of belonging, and duty towards our country, and responsibility towards our community.

The problem of the decline of belongingness is not confined to Bhutan. It is a global issue. For instance, a study from Stanford University shows that one in five Americans do not feel a sense of belonging and suffer from chronic loneliness. Sense of belonging is defined by psychologists “as the experience of personal involvement in a system or environment so that persons feel themselves to be an integral part of that system or environment”.

How have we got here?

Major psycho-social shifts do not happen in a vacuum. They are caused by many factors – big and small. Here I will point out a few of them.

Social media and mobile phones: The mass proliferation of communication technology, such as smartphones and social media, has connected humanity more than at any point in history. However, the newer and faster connections have made the connection itself shallow – giving us less time to absorb and appreciate.

More significantly, social media amplifies the illusive greener pasture – making us always feel that there is something “out there” that is better than what we have in front of us – be it people or places. It promotes distant heroes and role models instead of nearer natives and achievers. It tends to devalue everything in front of you if you are not careful.

Power and money over meaning
The rapid urbanisation, the bureaucratisation of society, and the monetisation of every aspect of our lives are eating into our souls as a nation. Adding to that is the social hierarchy that seems to turn off the younger generation. I don’t make a judgement on whether that is right or wrong. Some degree of social structure is required to maintain the social order. Beyond that, it can be suffocating for everyone.

I don’t undervalue money either – or the need to pay for services. However, the anti-freebies section may not realise that in social democracies such as the Nordic countries, many things come free from the state as a part of ensuring some egalitarian ideals. I view money as a means and not as an end in itself – as in to pay my bills, support my family, help others, build religious structures, and not let it rule my mind or life. However, truth be told, we are putting greater emphasis on money and hierarchy over men and meaning.

Education that competes
Enough has been said about the modern education system. And so, let me just add that what we measure is what we will eventually get – with everything in life. Assessment is a key component in education and learning. Putting one student on the pedestal estranges the rest. Grading them like factory products will make them compete against each other. And if history as a subject is taught as numbers and names to be memorised, it will just be a number or a name, and not a feeling. All these have alienated our youth, and not helped them to learn to appreciate our heritage and traditions, build communities, or make them feel like an integral part of the greater whole.

All is, however, not lost and below I will reiterate the ongoing Desuung and the new Gyalsung programme as solutions and initiatives to restore these feelings.

How do the Desuung and Gyalsung programs help?

I have mentioned in another article that the success of the Desuung programme can be attributed to making our youth feel proud and validated. They find a community that accepts them, and their works and efforts are recognized. They get an opportunity to serve the country – something that every Bhutanese look forward to. As I see pictures of the Gyalsung programme kicking off, I feel the same sense of duty, diligence, discipline, and pride can be achieved for the younger Bhutanese who will undergo the Gyalsung programme.

World over, national service has three recurrent themes – an enhanced feeling of shared purpose and patriotism, instilling loyalty and diligence, and giving a sense of belonging, resilience, and direction. I will elaborate on a few of these points.

Sense of shared purpose and resilience
As one begins to be a part of a bigger Bhutanese community, dreams and aspirations will be shared and will find acceptance. They will forge life-long and meaningful friendships and fraternity. They will learn to look out for each other and build trust and confidence – and not indulge in unnecessary competition and in self-destructive ego and confrontations that they have seen elsewhere.

As the program extends to a year, our youth will have time to go through a roller-coaster of emotions and self-discovery. Many will harden up and might find their meaning in life, which eluded them from being in their comfort zone. They will find a shared purpose, build a collective dream, and envision a future for themselves and for those around them.

Sense of belonging and patriotism
The over-emphasis we give to one small section of the society – the esteemed civil service, has us questioning our basic fundamental duty and rights to patriotism – as in if those who are outside of it should feel less Bhutanese and lack the love for the country. This has ramifications on the psyche of the young as they see their parents and relatives increasingly feel estranged – and not contributing meaningfully to the country.

With Gyalsung, young boys and girls will learn to love the country and be loved and find their way to feel belonged through service to the King and country – irrespective of profession, social standing, race, or wealth. They will learn that no one has a monopoly on patriotism and each one of them is entitled to feel for their country like any other. They will find a culture to be experienced, traditions to be learned, relationships to be nurtured, and an inner self to be discovered. They will learn that the country is big enough to fit every dream and find things to do, places to go, people to meet and communities to serve. They will discover that they have a place in the world. It will be a worthwhile journey, I am sure.

Contributed by

Dorji Wangchuk (PhD)

Professor, Engineer, Communication Scholar

Thinley Namgay

Despite maintaining significant ball possession, Bhutan’s senior national men’s football team lost 1-0 to Bangladesh in their first match of the FIFA Friendly at  the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu yesterday.

The tempo of the game was slow from both sides.

Bhutan fielded a young squad this time, and their passing precision was commendable. However, their attacking efforts were limited. Many attribute this to the limited training together under the new coach who joined last month.

Bhutan conceded a goal five minutes into the game due to a mistake by the goalkeeper. Instead of holding onto the ball within a short distance from the opposing player near the post, the goalkeeper punched it into the path of the opponent, leading to an easy goal. 

Bhutan enjoyed commendable ball possession in the first half. However, most of the passes didn’t go beyond the centre of the pitch.

Bhutan’s new striker, Dilip Monger, didn’t get an opportunity to score in the first half. Bangladesh played a defensive game and their players stayed relaxed in their respective positions.

During the three minutes of added time in the first half, one of the opponent’s players collapsed on the pitch, and the referee called for a stretcher.

However, one of the stretcher bearers who went to pick up the Bangladeshi player also fell to the ground. He was then taken to the national referral hospital by ambulance.

The first half ended 1-0 in favor of Bangladesh.

Compared to the first half, Bhutan played more swiftly in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to break the strong defensive line of the opponent. There were also many missed passes.

Bangladesh was quick to respond whenever they had the chance. Despite playing at an altitude of around 2,400 metres above sea level without their home crowd, Bangladesh displayed a mature performance yesterday.

Crucial national players such as Chencho Gyeltshen, Tsenda Dorji, and Lobzang Chogyal, who contributed to Bhutan’s success against Hong Kong last October, were missing from the team.

The next match is scheduled for September 8 at Changlimithang Stadium.

Gyalsung—Bhutan’s National Service, was launched simultaneously at the four Gyalsung Academies in Khotokha in Wangdue,  Pemathang in Samdrupjongkhar, Gyalpoizhing in Mongar, and Jamtsholing in Samtse yersterday.

His Majesty the King graced the launch ceremony at Jamtsholing Academy in Samtse, and addressed Gyalsups at their various academies from there.

His Majesty thanked the armed forces, praising their devotion and courage, and said that they will continue to be relied on to make National Service hugely successful.

His Majesty also thanked the Gyalsung core team, ministries, departments, civil servants, and the people of Bhutan, particularly the parents of the Gyalsups.

“The National Service has been built based on who we truly are. It is grounded in our courage, our resilience, our humility, our righteousness. It is based on our discipline, our culture, and our values. It is also built upon what we aim to achieve and where we envision Bhutan in the future,” His Majesty said.

“We are not going to leave anything to chance—everything is going to be by design. It is providence.”

His Majesty described the present as a momentous time in the nation’s history, in which decisions and actions we take today will determine Bhutan’s future as a strong, independent, sovereign nation into the next millennium. “What we do here today will live on, in the time of our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren, and long after we are dead and forgotten,” His Majesty said.

His Majesty also spoke about Bhutan’s goal of becoming one of the most relevant countries in a catchment area of two billion people, and the comprehensive and major initiative—a transformation—being carried out to secure our future.

“We will have to make up for the numbers we don’t have with talent, coordination, discipline, intellect, and by fully understanding the world we live in, down to every minute detail. We will have to take full advantage of our sovereign prerogatives, guided by our sensibilities and ambition,” His Majesty said.

“It is our good fortune that we get this honour and privilege of building that beautiful Bhutan,” His Majesty said.

“We all love our country very much. We are proud of who we are. But I truly believe we can become even better. The world has not seen who we really are or what we are capable of. I intend to unleash that potential. Every single step we have taken so far has been to amplify who we are, to reinforce our identity, and to align it to a prosperous, stable, and bright future.”

Promising to visit them frequently, His Majesty expressed confidence that Gyalsups will see tremendous transformation in themselves and one another, and embody the values that will enable them to achieve great things.

His Majesty conveyed Bhutan’s gratitude to India’s Prime Minister Modi and the government of India for their invaluable support, encouragement, and contribution.

Over 2,000 Gyalsups are part of the historic pioneering batch, whose three-month training period begins with the launch today. During this period, Gyalsups will undergo basic military training (BMT) interspersed with lessons on national education, Driglam Namzha, Choeshey Larim, leadership development, life skills, and other activities that will prepare them for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

༉ འཕྲུལ་རིག་གཙང་སྦྲ་བཟོ་གྲྭའི་དོན་ལུ་ དམིགས་གཏད་བསྐྱེད་མི་ བསམ་རྩེ་དམ་དུམ་བཟོ་གྲྭ་ས་ཁོངས་དེ་ ལོ་ངོ་མང་རབས་ཅིག་གི་རིང་ ཐོགས་ལུས་པའི་ཤུལ་ ད་རེས་ ལོག་སྟེ་ར་ ལཱ་འབད་ནི་འགོ་བཙུགས་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༡༦ ཟླ་༨ པའི་ནང་ འགོ་འབྱེད་འབད་མི་ ས་ཁོངས་དེ་ནང་ གླ་ཁར་སྡོད་མི་ ངེས་བརྟན་མེད་མི་ལུ་བརྟེན་ དཀའ་ངལ་ཚུ་བྱུང་ཡོདཔ་ད་ འདས་པའི་ལོ་༨ ཀྱི་རིང་ ཏན་ཏན་མེད་མི་ གླ་ཁར་སྡོད་མི་༨༠ དེ་ཅིག་ བཏོན་བཏང་ཡོདཔ་ད་ དེ་ཡང་ ཁོང་གིས་ ཚོང་ལཱ་འགོ་བཙུགས་མ་ཚུགས་ནི་དེ་གིས་ཨིན་པས།
ད་རེས་ནངས་པར་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་ལས་ཁུངས་ཀྱི་ སྙན་ཞུ་དང་འཁྲིལཝ་ད་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་ས་ཁོངས་དེ་ནང་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་འཐབ་མི་ཚུ་གིས་ ས་ཚན་སྟོངམ་ཚུ་ནང་ ག་ཐོབ་རྐྱབ་སྟེ་འོང་དོ་ཡོདཔ་ལས་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་ས་ཁོངས་ཀྱིས་ ཤུལ་མའི་ལོ་༢ ནང་ ཡར་དྲག་སྦོམ་སྦེ་ར་ འགྱོ་ཚུགས་པའི་ རེ་བ་ཡོད་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
ད་ལྟོ་ ང་བཅས་ཀྱིས་ ལས་འགུལ་གྱི་དོན་ལུ་ དང་འདོད་ཡོད་མི་ཚུ་ལུ་ གོ་སྐབས་བྱིན་ཐབས་ལུ་ ཞུ་ཡིག་བཙུགས་མི་ཚུ་ ལེགས་ཤོམ་སྦེ་ དབྱེ་ཞིབ་འབད་དོ་ཟེར་ འགོ་དཔོན་ཅིག་གིས་ བཤདཔ་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ད་ལྟོ་ ས་ཚན་སྟོངམ་ ཉུང་སུ་ཅིག་ལས་བརྒལ་མེདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ བགོ་བཀྲམ་འབད་བའི་བསྒང་ཡོད་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
དམ་དུམ་བཟོ་གྲྭ་ས་ཁོངས་དེ་ ས་ཆ་ཨེ་ཀར་༢༣༤ ནང་ཁྱབ་སྟེ་ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ ས་ཁོངས་ཁག་༣ ལུ་ བགོ་བཤའ་རྐྱབ་སྟེ་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ས་ཁོངས་ཨེ་ནང་ ས་ཨེ་ཀར་༡༤༣ དང་ ས་ཁོངས་བི་ནང་ ས་ཨེ་ཀར་༦༥ དེ་ལས་ ས་ཁོངས་སི་ནང་ ས་ཨེ་ཀར་༢༥ ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ས་ཚན་༤༥ བགོ་བཀྲམ་འབད་མིའི་ནང་་ལས་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་༡༨ མཇུག་བསྡུ་ཡོདཔ་ད་༡༡ རྐྱབ་པའི་བསྒང་དང་ ༡༦ ཡིག་ཆ་བཟོ་བའི་བསྒང་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
མ་གཞི་ ས་ཁོངས་བི་དེ་ནང་ ཆུ་རུད་འོང་ནིའི་ ཉེན་ཁ་ཡོདཔ་ལས་ ད་ཚུན་ ས་ཁོངས་དེ་ གོང་འཕེལ་གཏང་མ་ཚུགས་པར་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ས་ཁོངས་དེ་ནང་ ལྟ་རྟོག་འབད་དོ་ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ ད་ལྟོ་ ས་ཆ་ཨེ་ཀར་༧ རྡོ་དཀྲུམ་འཕྲུལ་ཁང་༢ ལུ་ གླ་ཁར་སྤྲོད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
བཟོ་གྲྭ་ས་ཁོངས་དེ་ནང་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་སྣ་ཚོགས་ཡོདཔ་ད་ དེ་ནང་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་ལས་ཁང་སྦོམ་༢ ཡོད་མི་དེ་ཡང་ ཕྱི་ཁའི་ཐད་ཀར་མ་རྩ་བཙུགས་མི་ལས་སྡེ་ དགྲ་ལྷ་ཚར་བཟོ་སྒེར་སྡེ་དང་ ཨི་ཀོ་སིན་ ཕའེ་བར་ལས་སྡེ་ཨིནམ་ད་ དེ་བཟུམ་སྦེ་ ལས་སྡེ་སྦོམ་༡༩ དང་ ཆུང་རིམ་༡༧ དེ་ལས་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་ཁང་ཆུང་བ་༣ ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
བཟོ་གྲྭ་འཕྲུལ་ཁང་གི་ འགོ་འདྲེན་པ་ཚུ་གིས་ ས་ཁོངས་ཀྱི་མཐུན་རྐྱེན་ཚུ་ འཕྲོ་མཐུད་དེ་ར་ གནོད་སྐྱོན་དང་ཉམས་འགྱོ་ནི་ལས་ བཀག་ཐབས་ལུ་ དེ་འཕྲོ་ལས་ རྒྱུན་སྐྱོང་འཐབ་དགོཔ་སྦེ་ སླབ་དོ་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ལ་ལོ་ཅིག་གིས་ རང་གི་མིང་ཐོ་ཁར་ ཚོང་ལཱ་གཞན་ལུ་འཐབ་བཅུག་པའི་ ཚ་གྱང་ཚུ་ བཤད་དོ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ཚོང་པ་གཞན་ཅིག་གིས་ སླབ་མིའི་ནང་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་ཁང་རྐྱབ་ནིའི་དོན་ལུ་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ལེན་མི་ ལ་ལོ་ཅིག་གིས་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་དེ་ ལཱ་གཞན་གྱི་དོན་ལུ་ ལག་ལེན་འཐབ་ནུག་ཟེར་ཨིནམ་ད་ ད་ལྟོ་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ལོག་བཏབ་ནིའི་དུས་ཚོད་ཨིན་རུང་ མང་ཤོས་ཅིག་གིས་ ལས་འགུལ་འགོ་བཙུགས་མ་ཚུགས་པར་འདུག་ཟེར་ ཁོ་གིས་ བཤདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
སྤྱི་ཟླ་༣ པའི་ཚེས་༢༥ ལུ་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་ས་ཁོངས་དེ་གི་ འགོ་འདྲེན་པ་ཚུ་གིས་ ས་གླར་སྤྱོད་གོང་ཚད་ མར་ཕབ་འབད་དགོ་པའི་ ཞུ་བ་ཕུལ་བའི་ཤུལ་ལས་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་ལས་ཁུངས་ཀྱིས་ རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ས་ཆ་ལྷན་ཚོགས་དང་ འབྲུག་ཚོང་དང་བཟོ་གྲྭ་ཚོགས་སྡེ་དང་གཅིག་ཁར་ མཉམ་འབྲེལ་ཐོག་ལས་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་ས་ཁོངས་ཀྱི་ ས་གླར་སྤྱོད་གོང་ཚད་ མར་ཕབ་འབད་ནི་གི་ བསྐྱར་ཞིབ་འབད་དོ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ལས་ཁུངས་ཀྱི་ འགོ་དཔོན་ཅིག་གིས་ སླབ་མིའི་ནང་ ད་ལྟོའི་བསྐྱར་ཞིབ་དེ་ བསམ་རྩེ་ལུ་ཡོད་པའི་ དམ་དུམ་དང་ ནོར་བུ་སྒང་ དེ་ལས་ བསམ་གྲུབ་ལྗོངས་མཁར་ལུ་ཡོད་མི་ མོ་ཏང་ག་ལུ་ ཆ་གནས་འབད་དེ་ཡོད་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ས་ཆ་ལྷན་ཚོགས་ཀྱིས་ ས་གླར་སྤྱོད་གོང་ཚད་དེ་ དུས་ཅི་ལས་འགོ་བཙུགས་ ས་ཆ་ཕིཊ་གྲུ་༤ རེ་ལུ་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་༠.༡༥ འབད་མི་དེ་ ས་ཆ་ཕིཊ་གྲུ་༤ རེ་ལུ་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་༤.༡ ལུ་ ཡར་སེང་འབད་ཡོད་པའི་གནས་ཚུལ།
བཙན་སྐྱོགས་དབང་འདུས།

༉ སྤྱི་ཟླ་༩ པའི་ཚེས་༢ ལས་ འགོ་བཙུགས་ཏེ་ རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ཀྱི་ དངུལ་འབྲེལ་གཙུག་སྡེ་ཚུ་གིས་ དཔལ་འབྱོར་ལྷན་ཐབས་ལས་རིམ་གྱི་དོན་ལུ་ ཞུ་ཡིག་ལེན་ནི་ འགོ་བཙུགས་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ཨིན་རུང་ ཞུ་ཡིག་བཙུགས་མི་ཚུ་གིས་ བསྐྱར་ཞིབ་ཀྱི་བྱ་རིམ་དང་ འོས་འབབ་ཀྱི་ཁྱད་ཚད་ཚུ་ དམ་དམ་སྦེ་བཟོ་དགོཔ་ཨིན་པས།
དཔལ་འབྱོར་ལྷན་ཐབས་ལས་རིམ་རྩོལ་སྒྲུབ་ཀྱིས་ དངུལ་འབྲེལ་དང་ སྐྱེད་ཆུང་ དེ་ལས་ གཏའམ་མེད་པའི་ རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་འབད་ནི་ ཁས་ལེན་འབད་མི་དེ་ཡང་ དཔལ་འབྱོར་ལོག་ཡར་དྲག་གཏང་ཐབས་ལུ་ཨིན་པས།
ཞུ་ཡིག་ཚུ་ཡང་ དུས་ཅི་ སྤྱི་ཟླ་༡༢ པའི་ཚེས་༢༡ གི་ནང་འཁོད་ལུ་ བཙུགས་དགོཔ་ཨིན་པས།
འབྲུག་གི་དངུལ་འབྲེལ་ཁང་གི་ ཚོགས་སྡེའི་ཁྲི་འཛིན་ འབྲུག་གི་དངུལ་ཁང་གི་ བཀོད་ཁྱབ་གཙོ་འཛིན་ རྡོ་རྗེ་ཀ་དིམ་གྱི་ སླབ་མིའི་ནང་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་འོས་འབབ་དང་ འོང་འབབ་ཐོན་ཁུངས་ དེ་ལས་ སྐྱིན་ཚབ་བཏབ་ཚུགས་མི་ཚུགས་ བལྟ་ནིའི་དོན་ལུ་ ཞུ་ཡིག་བཙུགས་མི་ཚུ་ དངུལ་འབྲེལ་གཙུག་སྡེ་ཚུ་གིས་ ཚད་གཞི་དམ་སྒྲིང་བཟོ་འོང་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
མ་རྩ་གཞི་བཙུགས་སྦོམ་འབད་མི་དང་ ཁ་སྐོང་གནད་དོན་ རྒྱུ་ཆས་ཐོབ་སྤྱོད་དང་ ཐབས་རིག་མཁས་མཆོག་ འཛིན་སྐྱོང་སྡེ་ཚན་ དེ་ལས་ ཚོང་ལམ་གྱི་ གོ་སྐབས་ཚུ་ ལེགས་ཤོམ་སྦེ་ བདེན་དཔྱད་འབད་ནི་ཨིནམ་ད་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་གི་ གྲོས་འཆར་ནང་ རྒྱུ་ཆས་ཀྱི་ཟད་འགྲོ་དེ་ དབྱེ་ཞིབ་འབད་ནི་གི་ ཆ་ཤས་གཙོ་ཅན་ཨིན་ཟེར་ ཚོགས་སྡེའི་ཁྲི་འཛིན་གྱིས་ བཤདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
དབྱེ་ཞིབ་འབད་ནི་ དུས་ཚོད་དེ་ ལས་འགུལ་དང་འཁྲིལ་ཏེ་ འགྱོ་ནི་ཨིནམ་ད་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ཆུང་ཀུ་ཚུ་ཨིན་པ་ཅིན་ དངུལ་འབྲེལ་གྱི་རྩིས་བཤད་ ཁེ་སང་དང་ རྒུད་ཀྱི་རྩིས་ཁྲ་དང་ རྩིས་ཤོག་ལ་སོགས་པ་ཚུ་ ཚངམ་སྦེ་ཡོད་པ་ཅིན་ ཉིནམ་༢ དང་༣ གྱི་བར་ན་ བྱ་སྒོ་འབད་ཚུགས་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
དཔལ་འབྱོར་ལྷན་ཐབས་ལས་རིམ་རྩོལ་སྒྲུབ་ནང་ དངུལ་འབྲེལ་གཙུག་སྡེ་ཚུ་ནང་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༥ བགོ་བཀྲམ་འབད་མི་ཚུ་ཡང་ རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་ས་གོ་༢ སྦེ་ དབྱེ་སྟེ་ཡོདཔ་ད་ དབྱེ་ཁག་དང་པའི་ནང་ སྐྱེད་ཕབ་ཆག་ནང་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༣.༣ དང་ དཔལ་འབྱོར་བསྐྱར་གསོའི་ མ་དངུལ་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་གྱི་དོན་ལུ་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༢ ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
མ་དངུལ་ཚུ་ཡང་ འབྲུག་གི་དངུལ་ཁང་དང་ འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་དངུལ་ཁང་ འབྲུག་གོང་འཕེལ་དངུལ་ཁང་ བཀྲིས་དངུལ་ འབྲུག་པཱན་ཇབ་དངུལ་ཁང་ དེ་ལས་ འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་ཉེན་སྲུང་ལས་འཛིན་ དེ་ལས་ རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ཟུར་ཕོག་དང་འཚོ་རྟེན་མ་དངུལ་ལས་ འཐོབ་ཚུགས་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ཕབ་ཆའི་ ལས་རིམ་འོག་ལུ་ ལས་འགུལ་གྱིས་ ངོས་འཛིན་ཅན་གྱི་ ལས་སྡེ་ནང་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་གསརཔ་དང་ རྒྱ་སྐྱེད་ནང་ རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་འབད་ནི་ཨིནམ་ད་ དངུལ་འབྲེལ་གཙུག་སྡེ་ཚུ་གིས་ དཔལ་འབྱོར་ལས་སྣ་དང་ ཕྱི་དངུལ་ཟུར་གསོག་ བཟོ་གྲྭ་ བཟའ་འཐུང་བྱ་སྒོ་ཚུ་ནང་ ཕན་གྲོགས་འབད་མི་ ལས་འགུལ་ཚུ་ལུ་ གཙོ་རིམ་བཟུང་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
ལས་འགུལ་དེ་གི་འོག་ལུ་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ཡང་ སྐྱེད་བརྒྱ་ཆ་༤ དང་ གཏའ་མ་བཙུགས་མ་དགོ་པར་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ས་ཡ་༡ ཚུན་ འཐོབ་ཚུགས་ནི་དང་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ས་ཡ་༡ ལས་༡༠ཚུན་ཚུ་འབད་བ་ཅིན་ གཏའ་མ་ཚུ་ཡང་ ལས་འགུལ་གྱི་ འཕྲུལ་ཆས་ཚུ་ བཙུགས་དགོ་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
རྡོ་རྗེ་ཀ་དིམ་གྱིས་ སླབ་མིའི་ནང་ ལས་འགུལ་གྱི་ ཉེན་བཅོལ་མ་རྩ་གཞི་དེ་ ལས་འགུལ་གྱི་ཟད་འགྲོ་སྦེ་ བཙུགས་ཏེ་ཡོདཔ་ལས་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་བྱིན་མི་དང་ ལེན་མི་༢ ཆ་ར་ ཉེན་སྐྱོབ་འབད་ཚུགས་ནི་ཨིནམ་ད་ སྐྱིན་ཚབ་བཏབ་ནི་ དུས་ཚོད་དེ་ དངུལ་འབྲེལ་གཙུག་སྡེ་ཚུ་དང་འཁྲིལ་ འགྱོ་འོང་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
སོ་ནམ་དང་ སྒོ་ནོར་ལས་ལས་སྡེ་ཚུ་གིས་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ས་ཡ་༡ ཚུན་ འཐོབ་ཚུགས་ནི་ཨིནམ་བཞིན་དུ་ ལས་སྡེ་དེ་ཚུ་གི་དོན་ལུ་ མ་དངུལ་ཡོངས་བསྡོམས་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ས་ཡ་༥༠༠བགོ་བཀྲམ་འབད་དེ་ ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
དེ་ནང་ ལོ་ཐོག་འཛུགས་སྐྱོང་དང་ བྱ་དང་ཕགཔ་གསོ་སྐྱོང་ ནོར་དང་སེམས་ཅན་གཞན་གསོ་ནི་ ཟུར་འབྲེལ་སོ་ནམ་ སོ་ནམ་མཐུན་རྐྱེན་དང་འཕྲུལ་ཆས་ དེ་ལས་ ཨོམ་ཆས་ཁང་ཚུ་ ཚུདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ནང་བཟོ་དང་བཟོ་གྲྭ་ཆུང་བའི་ཐོན་སྐྱེད་ལུ་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་གསརཔ་དང་ གློག་བརྙན་བཟོ་སྐྲུན་ཚུ་ལུ་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ས་ཡ་༡༠ཐོབ་ཚུགས་ནི་དང་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་གཞི་བཙུགས་ཀྱི་དོན་ལུ་ མ་དངུལ་དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ས་ཡ་༣༠༠དང་ གློག་བརྙན་ལས་སྡེ་ལུ་ འཆར་དངུལ་དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ས་ཡ་༢༠༠བགོ་བཀྲམ་འབད་ནུག
ཨིན་རུང་ ཞབས་ཏོག་དང་ བཟོ་སྐྲུན་ ས་གཏེར་ དེ་ལས་ གཞི་རིམ་སོ་ནམ་ཚུ་གིས་ མ་དངུལ་དེ་ཚུ་ འཐོབ་མི་ཚུགས་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
བཟོ་སྐྲུན་བར་མའི་ ལས་འགུལ་ཚུ་གིས་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ས་ཡ་༡༠དང་༡༠༠བར་ན་ ཐོབ་ཚུགས་ནི་དང་ མ་དངུལ་ནང་ ཞབས་ཏོག་དང་ བཟོ་སྐྲུན་ ས་གཏེར་ དེ་ལས་ སོ་ནམ་ཐོན་སྐྱེད་ལས་སྡེ་ཚུ་ མི་ཚུད་ནི་ཨིནམ་ད་ ལས་སྡེ་ཚུ་གི་དོན་ལུ་ གཞུང་གིས་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༡.༨ བགོ་བཀྲམ་འབད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
དཔལ་འབྱོར་བསྐྱར་གསོའི་ མ་དངུལ་ནང་ ཐབས་ལམ་༢ ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ ཐབས་ལམ་དང་པའི་ནང་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་གྱི་ རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་མ་དངུལ་འོག་ལུ་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་བྱིན་ནིའི་ ཐབས་ལམ་༢ ཡོད་མི་ཚུ་ཡང་ སྐྱེད་ཕབ་ཆ་བྱིན་ནི་ཨིནམ་ད་ དེ་ནང་ ལོ་༣ གྱི་རིང་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་པ་ཚུ་གིས་ སྐྱིན་ཚབ་བཏབ་མ་ཚར་མི་ལུ་ སྐྱེད་བརྒྱ་ཆ་༤ གཞུང་གིས་བཏབ་ནི་ཨིན་རུང་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ལེན་མི་ཚུ་གིས་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་བརྒྱ་ཆ་༤ སྦེ་ འཐོབ་ཚུགས་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
དངུལ་ཁང་ཚུ་གི་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་གྱི་སྐྱེད་དེ་ བརྒྱ་ཆ་༡༠ ཨིན་པ་ཅིན་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ལེན་མི་ཚུ་གིས་ སྐྱེད་བརྒྱ་ཆ་༦ ལས་བརྒལ་ བཏབ་དགོཔ་མི་བྱུང་ནི་དེ་ཡང་ བརྒྱ་ཆ་༤ དེ་ དཔལ་འབྱོར་ལྷན་ཐབས་མ་དངུལ་གྱི་ ལམ་ལུགས་ལས་ ཕབ་ཆ་བྱིན་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
ཐབས་ལམ་༢ པའི་ནང་ ལོ་༣ གྱི་རིང་ ལོ་བསྟར་སྐྱེད་ཕབ་ཆ་༤ ཐོག་ལུ་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་གསརཔ་ཐོབ་ཚུགས་ནི་དང་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ལེན་མི་གིས་ ཚད་གཞི་ཚུ་གི་ཁྱད་པར་གྱི་ འགན་ཁྲི་འབག་དགོཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ཁྱིམ་བཟོ་དང་ རང་ཉིད་སྐྱེལ་འདྲེན་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་(ནང་འདྲེན་དང་འབྲེལ་བའི་ཚོང་འབྲེལ) རང་སོའི་སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་(དངུལ་བྱང་དང་ ཤེས་རིག་ དུས་ཡུན་འབྲེལ་བའི་བཙུགས་བཞག་ བགོ་བཤའ་) ལས་བྱེད་མཐུན་རྐྱེན་ དེ་ལས་ ཟ་ཁང་དང་ལྟ་བཤལ་ལས་སྡེ་ཚུ་གིས་ མ་དངུལ་འཐོབ་ནིའི་ འོས་འབབ་མེད་པའི་གནས་ཚུལ།

ཨོ་རྒྱན་རྡོ་རྗེ།

Thukten Zangpo

Financial institutions (FI) in the country have started accepting applications for the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) starting September 2, 2024. However, applicants should brace themselves for an exhaustive review process and a stringent set of eligibility criteria.

The ESP initiative promises financial support, and low interest and mortgage free loans, aimed at re-invigorating the economy.

Applications must be submitted before December 31, 2024.

The chairperson of the Financial Institutions Association of Bhutan and chief executive officer of the Bank of Bhutan, Dorji Kadin, said that the FIs will employ stringent assessment criteria to review applications to judge business viability, income sources, and repayment capacity.

For large investments, additional factors such as raw material availability, technical expertise, management team, and market access will be scrutinised. “The cost of raw materials is one of the main components of assessment for manufacturing proposals,” he said.

The assessment timeline will vary depending on project size. Smaller loans may be processed within two to three days, provided that applicants submit all required documents, including comprehensive financial statements like profit and loss accounts and balance sheets, among others.

The ESP initiative includes financial injection of Nu 5.3 billion into the banking sector, divided into two distinct funding windows. The first window includes Nu 3.3 billion for concessional credit lines while the second window includes Nu 2 billion as reinvigoration fund.

This funds would be available from five commercial banks—Bank of Bhutan Limited, Bhutan National Bank Limited, Bhutan Development Bank Limited, Druk PNB and T-Bank limited—and three non-banks—Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan, Bhutan Insurance Limited, and National Pension and Provident Fund.

Under the concessional credit lines, the programme will support new and expanding businesses in designated sectors.

The FIs will focus on projects that contribute to economic activity and foreign currency earnings, such as manufacturing and food processing.

Loans under this window are offered at 4 percent interest rate without collateral for amounts up to Nu 1 million. For loans ranging from Nu 1 million to Nu 10 million, collateral requirements may include project assets like machinery.

Dorji Kadin said that the insurance premium amount for the project would constitute a part of the project cost to protect both the lender and borrower. The gestation period for these loans would depend on individual FIs.

The concessional credit window is tailored to various sectors.

Primary agriculture and livestock projects can receive loans up to Nu 1 million. A total of Nu 500 million has been allocated for this sector. This includes crop cultivation, poultry farming, piggery, raising of cattle and other animals, mixed farming, agri-infrastructure and machinery, and dairy products.

In production and manufacturing (cottage and small industries), it will support new and scale-up existing start-ups and movie production with loans up to Nu 10 million. Scaling-up start-ups have been allocated Nu 300 million and Nu 200 million for movie production.

However, services, construction, mining in raw form and primary agriculture will not be eligible for this fund.

Medium-scale manufacturing projects can access loans between Nu 10 million and Nu 100 million. The funding excludes services, construction, mining, and agro-based sectors. The government has allocated Nu 1.8 billion for this sector.

The reinvigoration fund is designed to assist  distressed businesses that have faced setbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other external challenges. It will support viable projects struggling with financing or operational difficulties.

The reinvigoration fund offers two modalities.

The first modality provides a 4 percent annual interest rate subsidy on outstanding loans for up to three years, with borrowers covering the difference between the subsidised rate and the existing rate. This means, if a bank’s interest rate on a loan is 10 percent, the borrowers will have to pay 6 percent interest rate since 4 percent will be subsidised under this scheme.

The second modality subsidises interest rates on new loans by 4 percent annually for up to three years, with borrowers responsible for the rate difference.

Borrowers can choose between the two modalities but cannot access both.

The reinvigoration fund excludes loans for housing, personal transport, import-oriented trade and commerce, personal expenses, credit cards, education, term deposits, shares, medical costs, staff incentives, and the hotel and tourism sector.

Dorji Kadin said that FIs will conduct rigorous assessment of each application, based on market availability, raw materials, and loans availed for projects under the National Credit Guarantee Scheme, among others.

The gestation period for the loan is a maximum of two years, which means borrowers will have to repay after two years.

Chencho Dema

Gasa—Travelling to the highland village of Laya in Gasa, which hosts the annual Royal Highland Festival among its rolling hills, will become much easier, as the road inches closer to this remote gewog.

Located at an elevation of 3,820 metres above sea level, Laya gewog is one of the highest settlements in Bhutan—home to the indigenous Layap people. This remote and rugged gewog is the second largest in size among the four gewogs in Gasa.

The road construction project, which began in the 2012-13 fiscal year with an initial budget of Nu 70 million, has seen significant progress. The 24-kilometre stretch from Gasa to Tongchudrak was completed in 2018.

However, the original plan was to construct the road till Tongchudrak, requiring Laya residents to walk the last leg of their journey to their village, which would take an additional four hours.

To address this, the road construction was extended to Taktse Makha, adding another 6.1km. This extension, now under the Department of Surface Transport, includes the construction of two Bailey bridges—one at Tongchudrak and another at Tshatshamchu.

In the fiscal year 2023-24, the government has allocated Nu 65.5 million for the construction of this 6.1km stretch, covering formation cutting and other permanent works.

Officials from the Department of Surface Transport (DoST) said that the final leg to Laya gewog centre from Taktse Makha, which is around 10 km, has not been decided yet.

The construction of the 6.1km road began on September 21, 2023, and is expected to complete by April 7, 2025.

Officials from DoST highlighted several challenges in executing the project. The remote location presents significant challenges, including labour shortages, equipment delays, and adverse weather conditions that hinder progress.

“Harsh weather, including light rains from April to June and heavy monsoon downpours from July to September, severely limits the working season,” a DoST official explained. “Additionally, a flash flood during the 2023 monsoon caused further delays, requiring additional countermeasures.”

Laya shares an international border with Tibet in the north and has a population of more than 1,000 people.

Gasa Dzongkhag was connected by a 74-km National Sub-Highway from Punakha only in 2011. What once took two days on horseback can now be done in just three hours by car.

Neten Dorji

Mongar—With increasing population and number of vehicles in Mongar town, residents are pushing for the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to improve safety and manage littering.

Currently, there are only a few privately installed cameras in individual shops, leaving major parts of the town without surveillance.

A local resident, Ugyen Wangchuk, expressed the need for CCTV cameras in the town. “While Mongar is not unsafe, we also need CCTV cameras like other towns. Dzongkhag towns should receive the same level of attention from the government.”

Another resident, Talman Mohara said that CCTV cameras could help address illegal garbage disposal. “It would assist in monitoring and curbing the problem of waste dumping,” he said.

He said that surveillance will also aid traffic police and road safety officials by providing crucial evidence for monitoring vehicle-related incidents and crime.

“Vehicle tires  of my car were flattened thrice by people. After that, I installed CCTV cameras, which helped me a lot,” Talman Mohara said.

Shopkeeper Sangay Choden said that since there are only a few cameras inside the shops, the town has experienced numerous cases of burglary, vandalism, and incidents involving vehicles being hit.

“Late night party goers create public disturbances.  Once my car mirror was broken,” she said.

Another resident, Namgay Dorji, said that CCTV cameras can help nab people who dump garbage in the night.

A health official said that littering and dumping waste will reduce if the surveillance cameras are installed in different locations. “The core town and outside the town will be clean if cameras are installed,” he said.

A civil servant said that CCTV has proven useful for law enforcement in other towns like Thimphu and Phuentsholing.

“Surveillance cameras help police monitor suspicious activities, control crime, and aid in criminal investigations,” he said. “The CCTV cameras have been crucial in arresting offenders, like in the case of the Dechencholing murder.”

However, some residents are skeptical about the effectiveness of CCTV cameras if enforcement is lacking. They said that without strict monitoring and fines for littering, CCTV alone may not resolve the issues.

Mongar Dzongdag Lungten Jamtsho said that the dzongkhag administration has plans to install CCTV cameras in strategic locations, which will help deter crime and reduce littering.

“If anyone is found littering, they will be dealt with in accordance with the Waste Management Act.”

The dzongkhag administration’s proposal for CCTV installation is included in the Small Development Programme.

The allocation of Nu 200 million as part of the Economic Stimulus Plan to rejuvenate Bhutan’s struggling film industry is indeed a welcome move. This financial intervention comes at a critical time when the industry, like many others, is still reeling from the economic repercussions of the pandemic. However, while the announcement is promising, the focus of the investment needs careful reconsideration if we are to truly revitalise the film industry.

The Bhutanese film industry is more than just an entertainment sector; it is a vital cultural and economic force. Films have the unique ability to reflect and shape societal values, preserve our cultural heritage, and serve as a platform for artistic expression. They influence public opinion, foster national identity, and even play a role in economic growth by attracting tourism and creating jobs. Films have the power to educate, raise awareness on critical issues, and contribute to social change. They are an indispensable part of modern society.

Yet, despite these significant contributions, our film industry has long been under-resourced. The plan to construct new cinema halls in places like Bajo, Wangdue, and Samdrupjongkhar, is welcome news. This will certainly benefit the industry by increasing screening venues. However, alongside, it is also critical to address the fundamental issues faced by our filmmakers-developing the capacity of our filmmakers to produce quality films that resonates both locally and internationally.

The industry needs investment in the filmmaking process, including funding for better production equipment, training programmes for filmmakers, scriptwriters, and actors, and financial support for production and post-production phases of filmmaking. Without these essential components, even the most state-of-the-art cinema halls will remain underutilised, as there will be little quality content to showcase.

Fostering a thriving film industry requires creating an environment where creativity can flourish. This means offering grants and subsidies for independent filmmakers, encouraging co-productions with international film companies, and promoting Bhutanese films in global film festivals. By doing so, we can help our filmmakers gain the experience, exposure, and financial backing they need to elevate their craft and compete on a global stage.

There is a need to establish film schools that can provide formal education and training in various aspects of filmmaking, from direction and cinematography to sound design and editing. Such institutions could serve as incubators for the next generation of Bhutanese filmmakers, equipping them with the skills and knowledge required to tell compelling stories that resonate with audiences both at home and abroad.

It is crucial that support and financial resources are channelled into areas that will have a lasting impact.

Thinley Namgay

In recent years, sowa rigpa or traditional science of healing is gaining momentum, if  the growing public interest in traditional treatment and therapies is any indication.

This is thanks to a string of initiatives to reinvent traditional medicine practices, including the introduction of advanced educational programmes, particularly a three-year master’s degree programme in laynga (cleansing therapy) and tsubchey (invasive therapy).

These programmes build upon existing educational pathways, which include diplomas and bachelor’s degrees in traditional medicine.

According to Tandin Chogyal, a Programme Analyst with the Traditional Medicine Division of the Department of Health Services, these additional programmes reflect a broader trend. “Many other initiatives have also been in place in the last few years, which showcase the growing momentum of traditional medicine and its services.”   

Among the recent advancements include elderly care packages and palliative care for terminally ill patients.

To address the rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases, traditional methods like sorig zhiney and leujong have been integrated into the healthcare system.

In addition, short courses on menjong sorig spa and wellness are now offered in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Skills Development. These courses aim to stimulate interest in therapeutic professions and encourage more people to engage in traditional healing practices.

The Menjong Sorig Pharmaceuticals Corporation has also launched a range of traditional health supplements, including soap, shampoo, and herbal tea, broadening the reach of Bhutanese traditional medicine.

Bhutan’s traditional medicine sector comprises 80 traditional medicine units, an independent National Traditional Medicine Hospital (NTMH), a Faculty of Traditional Medicine, and the Menjong Sorig Pharmaceutical Corporation.

The NTMH in Thimphu currently offers 21 different services beyond its outpatient consultations. The number of visits to traditional medicine hospitals nationwide has been steadily increasing, with 234,145 visits recorded in 2023, compared to 215,098 in 2019.

The push for traditional medicine is driven by several factors. Officials said that these practices preserve Bhutan’s cultural heritage while offering effective healthcare alternatives.

“Our traditional medicines are highly effective and have fewer side effects than contemporary options,” Tandin Chogyal said. 

Bhutan’s abundant natural resources and growing human resource capacity present significant opportunities for expanding the traditional medicine sector in the country.

Moreover, officials said that investing in traditional medicine could spur economic development, improve trade balance, and attract tourists interested in traditional healing practices.

“The perception that traditional medicine is primarily for older individuals is also changing,” an official said. “Therapies such as acupuncture, massage, and herbal compression are gaining popularity among a broader demographic.”

Tshering Lhamo, 38, who is receiving acupuncture treatment at the NTMH for chronic migraines, said that it has provided her substantial relief. “Modern medicines did not help me but after a few sessions of acupuncture, the pain was drastically reduced. I encourage others to try it,” she said. 

Despite these positive developments, challenges remain.

The deputy medical superintendent at the NTMH, Drungtsho Lobzang Dawa, said that the main issue at the hospital is old infrastructure and aging facilities. 

There is also a lack of representation for traditional medicine practitioners in decision-making processes within hospitals. Officials said that some modern medicine doctors are skeptical of traditional practices, which hampers the integration of these therapies into mainstream healthcare.

Budget constraint is another major issue.

The 13th Plan reduced the  budget for traditional medicine to Nu 134 million from Nu 196 million in the 12th Plan. This is partly due to the department’s reclassification as a division.

Discussions are underway to restore department status for the Traditional Medicine Division, which is likely to happen, according to officials. 

Officials said that being relegated to a division hampers the allocation of resources and decision-making authority.

According to Tandin Chogyal, the Traditional Medicine Division is currently investing in research to ensure that traditional practices are scientifically validated.

It is also developing an inventory of medicinal resources to address the risk of depredation of traditional medicine resources due to climate change, overharvesting, and illicit trading.

In the 13th Plan, the health ministry is planning to position Bhutanese traditional medicine as a centre of excellence in the Southeast Asian region. Strategy documents are currently under review to guide this vision.

Traditional medicine was formally integrated into Bhutan’s national healthcare system in 1968 under the Royal Command of His Majesty the Third King of Bhutan.

The Faculty of Traditional Medicine was established in 1971 at Dechencholing, Thimphu, as an Indigenous Training Centre. Following a resolution by the 32nd National Assembly, eight students were enrolled in a three-year Menpa training programme.

The training programme for Drungtsho (degree) was started in 1978 following a Royal Command of the Fourth King His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck. The training centre was upgraded as the National Institute of Traditional Medicine in 1992.