The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Radhi Sakteng MP, Tashi Tenzin, during the Question Hour session of the 15th Sitting of the 4th Parliament, said that in efforts to enhance public service delivery efficiency, previous governments have established community service centers (CSCs) in over 200 gewogs since 2011.
Currently, there are more than 350 online services under 17 government and autonomous agencies.
“The number of online services will increase over time with the improvement of ICT, and the government’s policy to go all services online. However, the following issues and challenges need to be considered and addressed: As per the Bhutan Living Standard Survey 2022 of NSB, the literacy rate is about 70 percent. Therefore, about 228,974 (30 percent) of our people cannot read and write and about 60 percent of households (100,000 HHs out of 164,331 HHs) are in rural areas,” said the MP.
The management and administration of CSCs in Bhutan underwent several changes, as from 2011 to 2015, CSCs were overseen by Bhutan Post; from 2016 to 2020 by Bhutan Development Bank Limited (BDBL); and from 2020 onwards by National CSI Bank Ltd (NCSIBL) or BDBL.
Considering this insight, the MP asked the Prime Minister (PM) Tshering Tobgay whether the government would continue CSC services to address the issues and challenges faced by people, both in rural and urban areas, who are illiterate, do not own smartphones, and lack access to 4G/5G networks.
Radhi Sakteng MP then asked the PM how the government plans to address the issue of management/administration uncertainty, and improve service delivery.
To this, the PM responded, “Recently, we have decided that public services, especially for people living in rural areas, are very important. Therefore, the Lhengye Zhungtshog has decided to delegate this responsibility to individual Gewog Administrations.”
The PM added that this decision would help people access public transport more easily.
Furthermore, PM stated that there are 203 CSCs, but many of the systems are not functioning properly. He assured that the government would initiate measures to address this issue.
“There are 191 workers in CSCs, and we are currently in discussion with the Royal Civil Service Commission to decide on how to proceed for the betterment of the public,” said the PM.
PM mentioned that the government will soon hold a meeting with responsible stakeholders, which will help ensure that the public can get the good services.
