East or West, We are one – All Bhutanese

“The highest poverty rates continue to be Lhuntse, Pemagatshel, Dagana, Samdrup Jongkhar and Samtse. Although these dzongkhags are home to only one quarter of the population, nearly half of the poorest Bhutanese people live there”  (From Kuensel).

When people in so called urbanized part of the country has more than enough, the far-flung villages in the country are still looking for their square meal. Forget about the luxurious life, they are not in the position to meet their day’s end. Whosoever is making the policy, never be proud, for the country still has a great lot gap in regional development.

When the core Thimphu city hardly has a safe place for one’s foot, road in Lhuntse hardly finds a vehicles plying; when it is very confusing to locate for a particular office in Thimphu, the same is as good as visiting the neighbor next door in Lhuntse.

The western part of the country is benefited with various developmental activities and industrialization. People have easy access to market for buy and sell. The basic amenities provided in this region are far more conducive. There are more than what people actually needed. My goodness! Four lane roads in the core capital city and well maintained. Do we have same road conditions in other parts of the kingdom? The answer is definite. NO.

The major developmental policy is always framed to the mainstream economic zone. Most of the institutions, offices, industries and factories are located in the western part of the country. Seemingly, there is a less attention being paid other dzongkhags.

Balanced regional development has been talk of our policy makers for long. We have heard so many of the talks and seen little been done in action. When Thimphu city has well paved road, most of the people in the rural parts of our country are using bumpy road. When Thimphu has 4G facilities, some of the rural communities are not able to get efficient mobile network. We boast of having cent percent connectivity with cellular phone but what is the use if the network provided is not efficient and useable?

If there is balanced regional development, am I in the position to name any industry that is backbone of the economy of Dagana, Lhuntse and Zhemgang apart from agriculture? Do these dzongkhags have any tertiary institutions? Or any regional offices?

These dzongkhags are distanced from the mainstream economy. People do not have proper market to sell their produce. They only cultivate for their own consumption. And the products are being shared with the wildlife. The produces depend on how kind the natural disasters are. Our people are less educated about the need for diversity. So when one crop fails, there is a total destruction. Thus, poverty.

…will be continued…