The Bhutanese Leading the way.
His Majesty’s compassion and kidu has brought comfort and happiness to the destitute and underprivileged through improved quality of health, welfare and education.
Land kidu granted through the ongoing land reforms initiated by His Majesty in 2007 is helping to bridge economic disparity in rural Bhutan and create an equal stake in the country for all people.
As His Majesty stated land ownership is the ultimate share or investment that a person has in the success of his or her nation.
From the thousands of Bhutanese people bestowed with land kidu, a few of them shared the significant change brought to their lives.
Yangdon, 48, from Trashigang, said the five acres of land at Bhur in Gelephu, received as a kidu from His Majesty gave her hope and a better life. Despite limited source of income she could educate her three daughters and secure their lives.
Yangdon said that having limited ancestral land holdings and many siblings she did not inherit much. “I thank His majesty eternally for such kindness to poor people,” she said.
Land kidu has also helped generate rural employment and enhance income of the farming community.
The fertile land and rich biodiversity provides plenty of opportunities in addressing food security, livelihoods, poverty and employment, which is done through commercialization of agriculture and putting in more effort towards achieving self-sufficiency in cereal production, fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, poultry and fisheries.
According to the Agriculture minister Yeshey Dorji, His Majesty has played a significant role in looking after the kidu of the people related to land. Lyonpo said that His Majesty has been personally visiting all the people in every dzongkhag and granting land kidu and excess land.
Lyonpo said that the people, especially the farming communities, are dependent on agriculture to generate income and the kidu on land has brought tremendous change to the live of the people.
Through land kidu much of the fallow land was brought under cultivation, which has ultimately helped Bhutanese people earn income and enhance their livelihood. “Through land kidu, it has helped elevate poverty and also Bhutanese citizens own some potion of land from being landless,” said the minister.
His majesty began granting land kidu from Lhuentse and similar kidu was granted in all 20 dzongkhags in short period of time.
Pema Wangdi, 74, from Khaling, Trashigang, expressed his gratitude to His majesty for granting excess land as Kidu.
He said that acquiring excess would result in paying huge sums of money but His Majesty, during one of his visits to eastern Bhutan, discovered his plight and granted him ownership of land.
“I used the land to educate my children and the source of income has doubled which helped my family build prosperous lives,” he said.
Another kidu recipient from Pemagatshel, Sangay Lhamo, 41, is humbled for being so fortunate to receive three acres of land in her name.
She narrated the difficulty of being landless and for many years her family who depended on a plot of land to generate income suddenly changed after His Majesty’s kidu.
“Now we can cultivate, build a home and enhance our living,” Sangay Lhamo said.
Former Gup, Sangay Wangdi a recipient of land kidu in Sarpang also shared that having a large family and limited land was difficult for his family.
He said that he inherited little less than five acres of land and later dividing it among nine children resulted in small fragmented plots.
He said that his family was surviving on subsistence farming. To his family’s rescue His Majesty granted land kidu, which he shared that his children are is now able to enjoy a prosperous life.
“I am very blessed to be born under the leadership of a compassionate king, I pray for His Majesty’s long live and good health,” he said.
“We must do everything to ensure that our limited arable land is of greatest benefit to the people and their children,” His Majesty said in one of his royal addresses.
In 10 years of his reign His Majesty has granted land kidu to 111,902 thram holders, which significantly transformed the lives of many the Bhutanese people and pulled them out of poverty.
