The Dewathang Gomdhar MP asked if the Ministry of Finance has plans to allocate sufficient budget as a single package for entire length of farm roads. He said Nu 2.1 million (mn) is insufficient to build and maintain farm roads.
The Finance Minister said “If we look at farm roads development guideline book once, it is stated in there that each km costs Nu 2.9 mn that is almost Nu 3 mn but we cannot follow the policy uniformly.” He said such problems are not only faced in Dewathang but in all 205 gewogs.
“ As of now, 1 km for construction of farm roads is allocated with Nu 3m budget but that does not mean it will be applied in all the places. Some places are located near cliffs, whereas some in plain areas, so it will differ accordingly since it’s easier to build roads in plain areas than on the cliffs,” said Lyonpo.
He stated that the local government should locate the place for building farm roads and send it to the government. “Since we are elected by the people, no matter how limited money, we have a lot to do so it ends up as if there is no productivity from the elected government’s side,” said the Finance Minister.
He said if a proper estimation is done by the local government and is sent to the government, then their proposal for farm roads will not be denied.