TENTH PLAN

Posted in Labels: | 3:41 AM

Jan 28, 2009: Although the first year of the tenth five-year plan has expired, geogs in Sarpang dzongkhag have started to push forward their action plans. Chuzergang was the first geog to hold meetings yesterday to discuss plans and programmes worth Nu  2,000,000 in consultation with the public. The meeting discussed various developmental issues affecting the lives of the people. Like most of the geogs in the dzongkhag, the  issue of safe drinking water is a serious problem. According to the gup, a large chunk of the budget will be used for providing safe drinking water for three chiwogs which are most hit by water crisis.A project, that will include construction of a 500- cubic meter water tank in Chasker,  has been approved during the current financial year, to solve the problem of acute water shortage in the four chiwogs, according to the Chuzergang gup. Farm road has been seen as the most important and immediate need of the people of the geog.  Nu 200,000 will be utilized from the budget to construct a three-kilometer farm road according to the chairperson of Geog Yargay Tshogdu. Public raised the concern over the uneven labour contribution by the residents as many of the villagers were reluctant to contribute labour.  “Every household should contribute labour equally,” said a resident of the geog.One of the major issues discussed in the meeting was the difficulty in collecting tax by the geog office. More than 60 households live away from the geog and do not pay annual taxes and insurances, according to the chairperson of the meeting. The gup said that the tenth plan in the geog would be unique from the current development year. According to him, work will be divided and distributed among the people of the geog for easy implementation and faster completion. “It will be very much decentralized,” he said. However, the details of the plan will be finalized by the GYT. There are 458 households in nine chiwogs with more than 90% resettlement population.

Written by M.B. Subba, Gelephu 

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The Representative to NC

Posted in Labels: | 8:57 PM


Karma Donnen Wangdi 
Total Votes received during 2008 elections: 5,968

Karma D Wangdi, 37, is from Gelephu having legal background. He is from a well to do family. His father, a landlord, owns the maximum land in Sarpang and is a popular and influential figure. He is but an easterner. He is married to Lhotsampa, Kalpana Humagain.  

Wangdi's father was the Gelephu dzongda back in the 1980s. Karma is appreciated for his oratory skills and was soccer during the college years. 

He has post graduated with distinction from Maastricht School of Management, the Netherlands. He also holds a post graduate in information technology from the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. 

He worked as the deputy director of information and communication division with the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industries and is a topper from a batch of students who undertook militia training in 1989.

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The Representative to NA-2

Posted in Labels: | 8:54 PM

Constituency: Gelephu; Total voters: 9427
Name: Prem Kumar Gurung
Political Party: Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT)
Votes received during 2008 elections: 6398

Mr. Prem Kumar Gurung represents Gelephu Constituency, Sarpang as the Candidate of Druk Phuensum Tshogpa. He graduated from Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College, Allahabad, India in 1985 with Bachelors of Engineering. In 1986, he joined his service as Assistant Engineer and climbed the ladder until he was promoted to Executive Engineer in 2002. He was associated with urban development, sewage systems and river embankment works including paramount work on industrial estates’ planning and development. Prem joins the Party with immense knowledge and experiences in human settlement, environmental planning, communication skills, low cost housing, use of global position system and geographical information systems. He is married and they have two sons.

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The Representative to NA

Posted in Labels: | 8:53 PM

Constituency: Shompangkha; Total voters: 7995
Name: Nandalal Rai
Political Party: Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT)
Votes received during 2008 elections: 4879

Maj. (Redt) N. L. Rai represents Shompangkha Constituency, Sarpang as the Candidate of Druk Phuensum Tshogpa. He graduated his Bachelors of Arts in 1975 from NDA, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and obtained his Masters in Science in 1990 from University of Madras. He joined as a cadet officer and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in RBA in 1976. He has worked in various capacities as Platoon and Company Commander and the Chief Administrative Officer and took a voluntary resignation in 2003. He was awarded Indian Military Academy "Gold Medal" for Best Sportsman of the Year 1976. His thorough discipline in the defense abounds him with ample experience in organization and management skills that will be highly benefiting the Party. He is married and they have a daughter and a son. He is currently serving as Information and Communication Minister in DPT cabinet.

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National Assembly seats

Posted in Labels: | 8:50 PM

Sarbhang (renamed as Sarpang) Dzongkhag is allocated 2 seats in the National Assembly with the constituencies delineated as per the existing boundaries of the Gelephu Dungkhag and the other Gewogs together.

Accordingly, Dekiling, Dovan, Hilley, Sengye and Shompangkha Gewogs form the Shompangkha Constituency while Bhur, Chuzargang, Gelephu,Jigmechholing, Shershong, Taklai and Umling Gewogs form the Gelephu Constituency as shown in the map.

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Chuzagang (Danabari)

Posted in Labels: | 8:45 PM

Let me begin from my own locality. It is Danabari or recently renamed a Chuzagang.

Chuzagang Gewog (Block) has an area of 56.6 Sq.km. It is located in middle of three other gewogs like Gelephu, Sershong and Umling and shares its southern border with the India. It consists of 9 Chiwogs. The nine Chiwogs are Danabari, Upper Phunphaney, Lowe Phunphaney, Dandagaon, Thewar, Limbutar, Samitar, Kalikhola and Tatopani. However, most names of the chiwogs have been changed after 1998.

After the mass eviction from the geog, most land remains forested. About 80 percent of the land has been under forest cover now.

The block has a total population of 3498 and 458 households including 1,865 males and 1,633 females. Of these, 1,151 males and 1115 females are eligible to vote. There were only three polling stations in the entire block, which means, people need to travel a longer distance to cast their votes during elections. The constituency is Gelephu (Gaylegphug) and Prem Kumar Gurung represents this constituency in National Assembly.

There is only one RNR Center and 18.65km long irrigation cannel. There are no black-toped road but has 10 Km long feeder road. The entire block has only eight telephone lines. After the commissioning of the Talahyro power, the whole block has been electricity facility, except one household.  Three villages have RWSS serving 177 households.

The major crops grown in the Gewog are paddy, wheat, millet, maize and cash crops orange. 1321.77Acres of the blocks land is dry while 1021.33 Acres is wet and 35.40 Acres is covered with orange orchard. The nearest market is Norbuling in Sersong block or Gelephu, beyond the Mao river –about three-hour journey. Those in southern part of the block have easy access to Bagmara market in Assam for trading and buying daily consuming goods. It has no school or a health clinic, the nearest clinic is located in Norbuling. 

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Armed bandits rob rice

Posted in Labels: | 3:23 AM

14 January, 2009 - A group of seven armed men robbed a house in Dolungang village under Dekiling gewog, Sarpang, on January 10 and threatened to kill the inhabitants if they reported the matter to authorities. 

According to police, the seven men, armed with guns, broke into the house of Wangda at around 7 pm and took away cooking utensils and 30 kg of rice when they could not find anything else. Two of the men were masked.

The men claimed to have come from the camps in eastern Nepal and claimed that the land, where Wangda had settled, belonged to their father. “They warned Wangda to vacate the land the next day or face death as a consequence,” said the police source. The men also demanded information on the village volunteers deployed to guard villages in the gewog.

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Post Blast Sarbhang

Posted in Labels: | 3:20 AM


8 January, 2009 - Following the recent bomb blast, which killed four and injured two foresters, Sarpang dzongkhag has asked Bhutanese to refrain from travelling to Dadgari and Salapara, across the border, for security reasons.

Gelephu and Sarpang residents often visit Dadgari and Salapara, the adjoining settlements in the Indian state of Assam to shop.

Sarpang dzongda, Sangay Thinley, told Kuensel that people should not go to Dadgari and Salapari for their own security. “There are possibilities of our people being kidnapped by the militants,” he said.

But dzongda Sangay Thinley assured that the ban would be lifted once the situation returns to normal. “It’s a time-being measure. We’ll lift it when things calm down,” he said.

On January 3, the dzongkhag called a security meeting and discussed the need for a voluntary security force. The meeting was attended by dzongkhag officials, regional heads, representatives from the armed forces, the business community and village gups.

“What’s important is the prevention of future mishaps,” said a dzongkhag official.

Gups from the 13 gewogs in the dzongkhag said that volunteer groups were formed to guard communities at night, the moment they heard about the incident in Singye. A person from each household is volunteering to patrol every night.

The group will check on community centres, like the school, hospital and community lhakhangs.

Even in Gelephu town, residents had formed volunteer groups to guard the town during the tsechu, which ends today. Dzongda Sangay Thinley said that their responsibility is to ensure safety of the people living in the dzongkhag and security had to beef up.

Meanwhile, the committee discussed volunteer vigilance in villages, that do not share porous border, to be discontinued after the tsechu. However, villages at the border, from Singye to Tarithang, will provide voluntary security for the communities’ safety.

Vehicles will not be allowed to ply between Hilley bridge and Gelephu, about 33 km, from 9 pm to 6 am.

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More southern schools resurrected

Posted in Labels: | 3:19 AM

7 January, 2009 - About nine schools in southern Bhutan, which closed down for more than a decade for security-related issues, will finally reopen this academic year.

The schools, in various gewogs of Samtse, Sarpang, Tsirang, Chukha and Samdrupjongkhar, are expected to benefit more than 500 children, ease admission pressure in community schools and help students, who had been travelling long distances to study, according to education officials.

Education officials said that over 30 schools in the southern dzongkhags remained closed since the early 1990s for security reasons. About four schools in Tsirang, Sarpang and Samtse dzongkhag reopened in summer 2008 after the government directed the education ministry in May 2008 to revive the schools at the earliest possible.

Chhukha’s Pa chhu community school in Pheuntsholing has already enrolled 64 pre-primary students for this year’s session. The classrooms were already in good shape and the school site needed little renovation, according to the dzongkhag education officer.

But coming back to life after years was not easy for the Chisopani community school in Biru gewog, Samtse, which was destroyed by fire in the 1990s. The Biru gup said that the school would be reopened in a new location in the gewog and would benefit children of more than ten villages. “It’s centrally located,” he said, adding that, without the school, about 500 children in nearby villages had to walk more than two hours to study in Peljorling school and schools of other gewogs.

A resident in Tshokhana gewog in Tsirang said that the community was willing to do everything possible to help the education officials reopen the school. “Villagers realise the importance of education but we were frustrated when our children could not get admission in schools far from the village because of admission pressure,” he said.

But the dzongkhag education officer said that the two schools to be reopened in Tsirang would be able to enroll only about 42 to 45 students in each school because of teacher shortage in the country.

On the other hand, Sarpang’s district education officer said that two community schools in Dovan and Jigmechholing gewogs would reopen this year with two sections of pre-primary classes each to accommodate more students. They have requested the ministry for two teachers each in the reopened schools to support the number of students enrolled.

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Nepal-based group responsible

Posted in Labels: | 3:19 AM

3 January, 2009 - The United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan, believed to be the militant arm of the Nepal-based Communist Party of Bhutan, has claimed responsibility for the attack on Bhutanese forest guards, in which four were killed and two injured.

The Bhutanese foresters were killed and injured on December 30 in Sarpang, after their tractor was blown up by an improvised explosive device planted on the road about four km west of Singay village in Sarpang.

The six foresters were going from Sarpang to their camp in Phibsoo when the device exploded at about 3:00 pm. The attackers then fired at them, killing four on the spot, and burned their bodies using the tractor tyres.

One forester escaped, with two bullet wounds, to Singay village and informed the police. Another injured forester hid in the jungle until rescued by a search team at 10:00 pm. Both are being treated at the Gelephu hospital.

The militants took away two SLR rifles with 40 rounds and a motorola handset used by forest personnel.

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4 foresters killed, 2 injured

Posted in Labels: | 3:18 AM

1 January, 2009 - Four Bhutanese foresters were killed and two injured on December 30 in Sarpang after their tractor was blown up by an improvised explosive device planted on the road about four km west of Singay village in Sarpang.

The six foresters were going from Sarpang to their camp in Phibsoo when the device exploded at about 3.00pm. The attackers then fired at them killing four on the spot and burned their bodies using the tractor tyres.

One forester escaped, with two bullet wounds, to Singay village and informed the police. Another injured forester hid in the jungle until he was rescued by a search team at 10:00 pm. Both are being treated at the Gelephu hospital.

The militants took away two SLR rifles with 40 rounds and a motorola handset used by forest personnel.

A police spokesman said that militants of the Communist Party of Bhutan, based in Nepal, were believed to be responsible for the crime.

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Gelephu gets regional labour office

Posted in Labels: | 3:13 AM


25 December, 2008 - With the establishment of a new regional labour office in Gelephug, contractors need not travel to Thimphu to process labour permits.

Contractors based in Sarpang and Gelephug said that, although there was a regional immigration office in the border town, they had to travel to Thimphu to process the permit. “Things improved after the labour ministry posted online permits, but not many were Internet friendly,” said a contractor.

The inauguration of a regional office for employment and labour office in Gelephug on December 20 brought services closer to the people. The regional office will issue labour permits and ensure labour management Policies. The office will also cater to job seekers on employment-related information and counselling, and corporate and private sector employees on human resource developments of six dzongkhags: Sarpang, Tsirang, Dagana, Trongsa, Bumthang and Zhemgang.

“The establishment of the regional office in Gelephug is a part of the government’s commitment to enhance service delivery to the general public,” said the labour minister, Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi.

The minister said that providing employment has become the greatest challenge for the government, as about 93,000 job seekers will be entering the job market in the next five years. “This regional office will cater to job-seekers like the offices in Thimphu and Phuentsholing,” the minister said, adding that the youth will no longer have to come to Thimphu.

A mother of five school-going children, Pema, said that the regional office would be of great help to her. Without any close relatives in Thimphu, she dreaded sending her sons to the capital to seek employment.

“I’m happy they can now apply for jobs here,” she said.

The deputy director for department of labour, Pema Wangda, said that the regional office would also solve problems like labour disputes and discrepancies in the region.

Pema Wangda said that a labour inspection system would be established to improve working conditions in all workplaces and make workplaces safer, healthier and more productive. “Labour inspectors will assure good working conditions, including wages, safety, and health of the workers.”
(Kuensel)

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Introduction

Posted in Labels: | 9:09 PM


The district map of Sarbhang


The Sarbhang District is located in the central part of the southern foothills bordering Assam. Lhamoy Zingkha in the west separates it from Chhuka and Manas National Park in the east separates it from Shemgang, covering a total area of about 2288 sq km. It has plains and mountain terrains with an elevation ranging from 200m to 3600 m above sea level.

The district is divided into two Dungkhags* and 14 geogs and geogs are further divided into number of chiwogs. Geographical coordinates for the districts are 26° 52' 0" North and 90° 16' 0" East but precisely central part of the district lies at 26.866670 North and latitude and 90.266670 East longitude.

Northern part of the district is covered with low hills, terrain field and forests while the southern part is plain land. Due to flat land, it is one of the heavily cultivated districts and is sometimes referred to as the food basket of the country.

Around 12 percent of the total land is under agriculture while northern hills are used for dry farming such as barley, maize or millet. Paddy is abundant in southern plains. Cash crops such as orange, areca nut, cardamom, ginger, guava, lemon, banana and mango are grown extensively and major market for these cash crops is neighboring India.  

Favorable terrain and climatic conditions combined with fertile agriculture land offer tremendous opportunity for farm mechanization and commercial horticultural development.

* Lhamoizingkha Dungkhag was handed over to Daganda district administration on 26 April 2007. 

(Photo source: Dzongkhag Office, Sarbhang)

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