One of the biggest complaints of ordinary people in Bhutan over the years has been that you cannot get your work done if you do not know someone in an office.
This simple line says much more than a voluminous consultant’s report on the problems of governance and service delivery.
One of the biggest reasons why systems and things do not improve in Bhutan is that the high officials and the well connected who can do something to improve it do not face the same problems and issues as their work gets done easily.
These officials and people do not rely on the public service delivery system which they know is slow, but they rely on their authority, juniors and connections to get things done.
There have been many instances when senior officials convinced of the perfection of the system while in office complain bitterly when they become an old retiree.
Even then, they are not facing the full reality as their status as former high officials still accords them respect and access.
This system of doing each other favors and helping each other works just fine for a small minority on the top, but it comes at a huge cost for the majority below.
Not everybody’s uncle is a Dasho, not everyone’s father is a minister, not everyone’s friend is sitting at the public counter and not everyone comes from well connected families.
The majority have to use an imperfect system that is slow and ineffective, while the connected few at the top live in a much smoother and faster Bhutan where they get the first pick on everything and where normal rules and laws do not apply.
Our senior leaders, and the cream of society do not need to hire consultants and spend a lot of money. They should just disguise themselves as ordinary people and try to avail services and see how the system in general treats them.
In the bigger picture, the biggest danger of such a dual system is that the majority may one day lose faith in the system.
The real test of our system is that it should treat a Dasho and a villager the same and the same rules should apply with no ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’.
You got to take a deep breath and give up. The system is rigged against you.
Bo Burnham