Power (Hi)jacked

Come July, and we will be paying more for every unit of electricity (see Kuensel story) we consume. This is quite ironic when we take pride in exporting hydro-electricity. The increases, ranging from 8% to 10%, seem more a blatant imposition of monopolistic powers of the BPC than anything else.

I am struggling to find at least one good reason for the revision.

The existing approval from the DoE cannot be a mandate for BPC to revise the tariffs. Nor can the corporation's miscalculation of last year's forecast be a good reason. The GM seem to say that since there will be a shortage of supply (till Puna-tsang chhu is commissioned) and that more industries are getting established, we will increase the tariff so that some other users will subsidise the power costs of the industries.

Such solutions cannot be sustainable. BPC should look at better solutions like renegotiating the current quota of 15% with the Government, better cost controls and improved management rather than externalising the costs to the customers. The increased tariffs will not only burden a normal customer but also reduce the competitiveness of our industrial sector.

Writing Styles and Guides

Writing doesn't come easily to me!. Over the years I have struggled to get it correct.


I read a lot of books, wrote a lot of essays and referred to a lots of guides. I followed "Wren and Martin" religiously and I credit my elementary knowledge of English grammar to this book. Still I am not an accomplished writer and often cannot avoid errors of usage and construction.


Over the last few years, I have graduated to using the following two style guides and often find it useful to review them once in a while.

"The Elements of Style" by "William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White" is succinct, prescriptive and extremely useful. It details elementary rules of usage and principles of composition. It helped me a lot in writing my application essays to the University correctly without many flaws. It is a book worth having and one can even get a pdf. format from the Internet (do a google search).



I also use "The Style Guide" from "The Economist" which is a bit more detailed. It is a good practical guide especially for business writing. This is followed by all the journalist at The Economist and is an entertaining read to getting your writing right.




These two books, I believe, are a must-haves for anyone desiring to be a masterful-writer.

Bhutan on Lonely Planet's Top-Pick Countries (2008)

Bhutan is one of the seven countries on the Lonely Planets' Top-Pick Countries 2008.

"The last surviving great Himalayan kingdom has long turned its back on the rest of the world, favouring Buddhist compassion over Western capitalism. With its gorgeous monasteries, towering fortress-like dzongs, intact Tibetan culture and pristine Himalayan environment, Bhutan offers an opportunity to glimpse a truly different way of living." - the caption reads.


Armenia, Eritrea, Mozambique, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Montenegro make up the rest. The list is a part of a bigger compilation of "Blue Lists" which unveils the "world's hottest trends, destinations, journeys and experiences!".

Source: lonelyplanet.com

Bhutan and World Trade Indicators 2008

Bhutan doesn't do well on the World Trade Indicators 2008 World Trade Indicators 2008 (WTI 2008) published by The World Bank.



WTI 2008 ranks countries by their progress in liberalising their tariff regimes using the five indicators (Bhutan's ranks in brackets): Trade Policy (no rank), External Environment (No rank), Institutional environment (119/178), Trade Facilitation (129/151) and Trade outcome (1/160). Our trade outcome is driven by the demands for our hydro-electricity by India.



"Trade-at-a-glance" explains our performance very well. There are several key data about trade provided which is very often difficult to come by in Bhutan, and this shows that we need to work harder to create a good environment for trade by developing efficient regulatory and physical infrastructure, simplifying procedures and becoming more efficient.

Kuenselonline’s lamenting Populace

The Kuensel’s online forum paints a very sad picture of an educated Bhutanese – educated Bhutanese because a lot of online readers/writers are sufficiently well educated to think, speak and act reasonably. The forum, initially intended to be a platform for positive and creative discussions, has become a place for deprecations and mud-slinging.

Even if the intent is to raise awareness about important issues that confront us, most of these posts are neither well-researched nor well-written and emotionally motivated which gives a picture of hatred for the subject of the post. They usually end up maligning and defaming the subject.

I have taken a few samples from the first few pages of the forum.

Organisations are the favourites of the writers. RCSC, City Corporation, Survey and now DPT are subjected to posts such as below–

“i really don't understand with my limited knowledge that why RSTA payment counter is being closed at 1 pm. it is also written that opening of payment counter is from 9:30-----1pm???? is working time starts at 9:30 am in our system or they are following IST...............public service delivery system should be enhanced urgently if it donot affects much inline. please advice me........” (RSTA keep open your payment counter open up to 5pm)

Individuals also get their fair share. Though most names are not disclosed, the Indian Idol received a lot of publicity and dislike from a few readers:

“I don't Understand Why you call that Tamang an Indian Idol, Gandhiji was an Indian Idol, What is Prashant? He was there because the ruthless people in the hills of North India were spending millions of money for voting for him. there were many good singer out of the show because he was there. He was a mistake. and Now we have done another. In both the mistakes he is the hero. The Hero of Mistakes" (Prashant Tamang synonom big flop)

Writings about our working culture and system often generate views of over 1000 within a few days. An example is the PCS which has become extremely popular because of these posts:

“RCSC "Beginning January 1, 2006, the Position Classification System will transform the Civil Service from a system almost exclusively based on individuals and years of service to one that is based on meritocracy, professionalism and efficiency." It furthers states that the senior civil service positions have to be filled through open competition to ensure transparency, accountability, meritocracy and, above all, professionalism. Are following appointments with or without PCS?" (Appointments with and without PCS)

Some indigenous ideas like GNH gets overly protected and often interpreted as seen fit:

“It is our sacred responsibility to uphold the concept of GNH both in the letter and spirit of what HM the 4th King has envisioned for the common Bhutanese! GNH should not be the victim and/or scapegoat of personality clashes ... Let's all wear the farmer's hat once, take a deep breathe and re-think the true realm of GNH!” (Distortions in HM's GNH Concept ...)

Some writers neither sympathises with the living nor allow the people who have passed away to rest in peace. Further he conjectures that a woman’s mind is weak:

“I was shocked to read the news of Dr. Devika Rana suicide in Thailand. I cannot believe this how can an educated person like doctor can make this blunder just because of room mate? Or does it sound fishy? does it need a real investigation? By the way who was the room mate? What do Bhutanese women think about this incident? If this is true I feel there is lot mainstreaming and sensitization worskhops required for the Bhutanese women to strengthen our mind power" (Doctor committing suicide?)

Many love to believe that they have the solutions to every problem we face –

“Therefore, the concern ministry, the new minister in particular who is believed to be the master mind in education had lot more to do to uplift the quality of education in sub-urban and the rural schools as we all know that these rural child need to compete with other Urban colleagues later in their higher or national level. So that our fellow civil servant will also feel going out of the urban centers as their child will also get equally good education in rural schools." (Quality of education)

Some feel that they are good enough and the system doesn’t allow them to excel:

“My appeal to the new government, please look into this issue seriously and please save the face of our education system. There is a chance of students loosing faith in our education system. Now all the parents wants to send their childerns to a cheap University in South India/Bangkok where they can score or buy high marks..which will help them in securing a job in the civil service....do we want such things" (sherubtseans....victims of our own education system)

And there are some who find problems with sick people in the hospital:

“Visiting OPD in JDW/NHR is a nightmare due to large number of people already in queue in front of the counter waiting for token by 7:30 AM. By the time we reach near the door of doctor's chamber it would be already 12 PM"(TOO MANY OUT PATIENTS IN JDW/NHR)

And such rantings, complaints and denigration have accumulated to over 5500 articles and 29 pages. I commiserate with the moderator who has to read every article that readers/writers submit. Given our attitude a compilation of these articles would sell like hot cakes but I know that is not where we are headed.

My hope is that we become more organised in our thoughts, more frugal with our words and civil in our action, and provide positive insights and possibilities to the other readers, be they individuals or organisations.

Bhutan in the SAFF-08 Semis

The Press were too early to dismiss Bhutan out of SAFF 2008. The most ardent of football fans in Bhutan wouldn’t be following our team. But they have done us proud and made history. We are now into the semi-finals of the SAFF tournament.

Our team has convincingly defeated Afghanistan 3-1 today to get 4 points and be the runners-up in Group B behind the co-host Sri-Lanka (7 Points)


We play against India, 4 time SAFF champions on 11th June. They are a formidable opponent and will want to retain the cup.

Can we beat them for once and get into the finals? We never know!

Joining the WTO bandwagon!

I can't think of any reasons why Bhutan shouldn't join the World Trade Organisation.According to Kuensel, we are just a year and two negotiations away from being a full member of the World Trade Organisation.

Even if we negotiated for a decade, 2009 is too soon! It is suicidal for our domestic industry players to open our goods and services markets because they are premature.

I don't refute that the market will determine the best and the most competitive of all the participants, but there is no good having a market dominated by foreign firms. It is important to understand if our firms have the capability (know-how, technology, managerial skills, etc.) to compete with the global players? Even our best firms run on old technology and lack proper quality management systems in place.

Our products cannot compete (on cost or quality) in the international markets at all. We may not even be able to compete on "uniqueness" (as many people like to think we do). Remember there is no assurance that "Red Rice" will not be grown in any other country.

We definitely should take a few years before becoming a full-member of the WTO. Use these years wisely: Inform and educate the private sector about what it means to join the WTO; Assist them in bettering their manufacturing technologies and IT skills; Let them upgrade their management skills; Support and let them achieve a certain level of competitiveness.

SAFF Championship 2008 - Bhutan to play today!!

After the premier league, it is football closer home....SAFF 2008 has started!

How do you think our team will perform? We are the lowest ranked (according to FIFA) at 199. It would do us proud if they manage o win a game or two or even get into the semi-final. We can do that and I hope we do.

Would India retain the title? Looks like they had a good start with a 4-0 win over Nepal.

Group A (To be played in Male): India (151), Maldives (160), Pakistan (161), Nepal (184)

Group B (To be played in Colombo): Bangladesh (180), Sri Lanka (162), Afghanistan (196), Bhutan (199)

The full schedule is:

June 3: India vs Nepal; Maldives vs Pakistan
June 4: Bangladesh vs Bhutan; Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan
June 5: Pakistan vs India; Maldives vs Nepal
June 6: Afghanistan vs Bangladesh; Sri Lanka vs Bhutan
June 7: Pakistan vs Nepal; Maldives vs India
June 8: Afghanistan vs Bhutan; Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh
June 11: Semi-finals
June 14: Final (Colombo)

From 7th it is football fest for the fans with the Euro 2008 starting. However, I will be keeping track of how we fare at the SAFF. Go Bhutan go...

Change and PCS!

RCSC's introduction of PCS confirms that bringing about change in an organisation creates discomfort and apprehension, and evokes a lot of resistance.

Two articles on Bhutan Observer website about PCS elicited eight comments in a day or two. I can think of no other topic that has generated more debate than PCS over the past few years, be it on the streets of Thimphu, during lunch breaks in offices or on the public fora like the one on Kuenselonline.

Why has PCS, a system introduced to improve the efficacy of the civil service, drawn much scorn and derision from the civil servants? Was there anything RCSC could have done to mitigate the criticisms generated in engendering this change?

I leave the readers to contemplate these questions with the following pointers on change:

1. Culture - Every organisation should have a certain unique culture that everybody subscribes to. Whatever an organisation does is underpinned to its culture and an organisation without a culture is hollow is set to become dysfunctional. Any change should strengthen the organisation's culture so that the employees welcome the changes without any dissent. For instance if a culture of performance measurement and reporting already exists, then a system introduced to make it more objective would be welcomed.

2. Know and respect the psychological contract- Apart from the written contract, there is a psychological contract- an understanding of expectations - between the employer and the employee. Know what the employee expects and if the change threatens this psychological contract, ensure that this is properly communicated. A damaged psychological contract means loss of trust and respect in an organisation.

3. Transparency - The effects the change is likely to have on every employee must be communicated properly. Support must be provided by way of training and workshops. Every employee and worker must be readied for the change.

4. Implementation - This must be carried out flawlessly and transparently. Else the organisation will incur additional costs in delays, cause dissent among various parties and become inefficient.

Hence managing change is not an easy task. I earnestly hope that the pay commission gets the PCS right during the review and do not add their share of disgruntled civil servants as well.

"It is only the wisest and the stupidest that cannot change"

Confucius