Druk Gi Kalapingka owner says he does not have the power to grant visa to Australia

“If I had the power to grant visas to all my participants, I would have granted them. My role is to invest the money as part of the scholarship, not to give them visas,” says Kelzang Phuntsho, the reality singing show organizer.

This statement comes in context of the visa refusal that the participants of Season 5 of Druk Gi Kalapingka, Kinley Dema and Nidup Zangmo, faced.

Kelzang Phuntsho said the show used to give prize money to the winners until Season 5. It was then decided that the top 5 winners would be given scholarships instead of prize money. According to the owner, there were no issues following such a change.

“The other popular shows that emerged provided scholarships to their participants. Since my show’s participants were students, my loved ones suggested that I should similarly organize my show for the benefit of the participants. They believed that if any show were to offer scholarships, it should be mine. Therefore, I decided to collaborate with SK Education Consultancy and announced during the auditions that the winners would be given scholarships. Initially, we did not announce it when we first began the show, but as the show progressed, we announced it live,” reads a statement from the show’s organizer.

After collaborating with SK Education Consultancy, Druk Gi Kalapingka decided to send the top 3 participants to Australia, and the other two to India. Among the top 5 winners, the fifth position holder decided to receive the cash prize as he already had a job in Bhutan, and the fourth position holder was able to go to India and is reported to have graduated.

Kelzang said, “The top three winners were prepared to go to Australia, and I covered the fees for the TOEFL exam. In the TOEFL exam, top winners, both named Kinley Dema, scored 5.5. However, the third position holder could not pass the TOEFL exam.”

Then Kelzang Phuntsho said that the processing of visas for the top two winners was initiated, and the first position holder was granted a visa. However, the visa for the second position holder was refused.

Regarding Nidup Zangmo, Kelzang told her to pay the fees for her second TOFEL exam, as the first one was paid by him, where she was able to pass.

He added, “Nidup Zangmo’s visa could not be lodged immediately as she gave birth to a child during this time and could not come to Thimphu. Only after 9 months could she come here and decide to lodge her visa.”

However, Nidup says that despite giving birth to her child, she traveled to Thimphu and filled out and provided the documents that were asked for, taking her child with her, and said, “The main reason for my visa refusal is not me having a baby, but it reads that the money was insufficient.”

The verdict reads that Kinley Dema’s first visa was refused due to insufficient funds, which included travel and living expenses.

Kelzang said, “For the second visa lodge to be granted for Kinley, after I consulted the consultancy, I made a document to show that she has sufficient funds. I also decided to write that she would receive AUD 1,000 as a stipend and a one-way air ticket to convince the Australian government that she had enough money. The AUD 1,000 was just for namesake, and I wrote that so that she would be granted a visa, as most of us do, but the visa was still refused. While this case was forwarded to further courts, they also said that I should pay her AUD 1,000, and one-way air-ticket for Nidup along with the price money which I find senseless.”

Kelzang says that he respects the verdict, but what made him take this to the Supreme Court is that both Kinley and Nidup has not reached Australia, and it does not make any sense to give the amount which includes travel expenses, stipends, course fees, and living expenses.

Earlier, the participants said that being women, they had to even borrow money to gain enough votes and hold the top 5 positions and that after the visa refusal, they were told that they would be given price money which they claim to be less compared to what they have invested.

To this, Kelzang Phuntsho said, “I did not urge them to go around asking for votes to the extent of getting into debt. If there are individuals who are willing to give, they shall receive it, but not to that extent.”

Kinley refutes to Kelzang Phuntsho’s statement, saying, “Even if he did not tell us to go around asking for votes, it is obvious that the show he is organizing is more of a money competition than a fair singing competition. Being a woman, even if we do not ask, there will be all sorts of people trying to harass in the name of vote.”

Kinley Dema and Nidup Zangmo mentioned that they were informed only in the later part of the show that if their visa was refused, they would be paid the prize money.

Regarding the prize money, Kelzang says that they have to make an agreement paper with Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA), and if he pays more than the mentioned prize money, BICMA does not intervene.

However, if the winners are paid less, BICMA interferes and will compel them to pay the mentioned amount. He also stated that once the prize money is given, the participants are asked to sign for it.

Kelzang says that the amount that he is to pay Kinley and Nidup. which is almost Nu 600,000 is also excessive as the participants should only receive the prize money, as mentioned on paper.

He says that from Nu 600,000 the only amount he shall be responsible for paying is the prize money, not the course fees and one-way air ticket that they have included.

However, he agreed to pay the amount as the court told him that the concern letter he created, mentioning the payment for the participant’s travel expenses and stipend, would be seen as a fake document by the Australian officials, and might tarnish the country’s reputation.

“Kinley and Nidup’s demands are that I pay them equally to what they have invested. From where will I bring such an amount and pay the amount, they tell me to pay? For every minute of the show, we have to pay about Nu 388 to BBS. How many minutes could Nidup and Kinley have sung altogether? Combining the amount given to all the people working in the show, about Nu 60 lakhs itself goes into the show alone.”

Kelzang says there are four contestants who could not get visas. The other two winners are willing to try for other countries, like Canada.