Work from home system isn’t effective but we are trying, says PM

Office for notary services to open soon

Although there have been complaints from the public on the inadequate online services, however, the government offices and agencies claim that their services are being facilitated on time. The agencies say they are following the work from home system during the lockdown.

Some of the construction firms told this paper that the procurement agencies are taking too long to pass their running bills by citing various excuses. The construction firms pointed out that some of the agencies have even claimed that they get a month’s time to pass the bill, which is why they are deliberately not passing the bill.

Likewise, those people applying for further studies have claimed that the lack of document notary and biometric during the lockdowns has prolonged their documentation process. They said they have had to make phone calls to various agencies, only to be directed to different individuals, which eventually led to no outcome.

In line to the issue raised by the people, this reporter, during a press brief, questioned the government on the effectiveness of the work from home system.

Responding to the question Lyonchhen Dasho Dr Lotay Tshering said the government is aware that the system of work from home is not effective, and there is no monitoring to see who is being sincere with the system.

“We have issued the notification (on work from home), and there are people who are following it, and there are people who are not abiding by the system. It is difficult to ascertain who has worked and who has not. The only request I can make to the civil servant is to facilitate the services which are within their capacity,” PM added.

The PM said to provide all the services during a lockdown means allowing movement of people as well, which would ultimately contradict the government’s decision of the lockdown.

“Lockdown is imposed to restrict the movement, which is done to limit the transmission of the virus. There is no second way of handling this, yet the government agencies are trying their best to facilitate all the services done online,” Lyonchhen added.

The government has been criticized for not being able to provide the services, given the COVID-19 norms; including the services like conducting the IELTS.

PM said, “We have a huge number of the youth who wants to take IELTS, to which we have hired experts from outside to conduct the test in the bubble mode on 25 – 26 March 2022. We are paying the experts extra to come and conduct the exams.”

In addition, the government has talked with all the relevant agencies and requested the judiciary to open the notary service office, whereby they can make a sequence of people and provide timely services, he said.

Not all the services are available, PM said, however, they will allow the opening of a few government offices that can provide maximum services.