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After a decade of inaction, the government decided to increase the number of people in rural areas and the community service centers have been handed over to the Gewog administration.
The centers were inaugurated in 2011 and are operated and maintained by the Bhutan Postal Service. In 2015, the company handed over the centers to the Bhutan Development Bank. In 2021, the centers were handed over to the National CSI Bank.
The National CSI Bank merged with the Bhutan Development Bank last year and they maintain the centre.
The government allowed the Bhutan Development Bank to maintain these centers with the aim of integrating them with the public, including government employees and citizen services.
Previously, the ownership of the centre was transferred from the Ministry of Information Technology and Informatics to the Ministry of Local Government, but several discussions failed to resolve the issue.
If these centres are maintained by Bhutan Development Bank, the government will provide financial assistance of Rs.
The center’s goals include poverty alleviation, social rights and improving the quality of life in rural areas.
There are currently about 350 online service providers in Bhutan, including 17 government and independent agencies.
According to the Bhutan Bureau of Statistics’ 2022 Living Standards Survey, the literacy rate is 70%, with 30% of the 228,794 people being illiterate.
In addition, 60% of the 164,331 households with a population of 100,000 live in rural areas.
At the recently concluded National Assembly question-and-answer session, Rangdi-Sakteng MP Trashi Ten said the company will expand its online services as information technology and the government advance. He said all services should be conducted online.
He said there were still insecurity issues in service management and maintenance that needed to be addressed.
Chief Minister Tshering Tobgyal said the community information centres are under the jurisdiction of the Gewog administration and the centres will continue to be used by the Prime Minister’s Office, which will provide administrative and technical support.
The users of the centre have petitioned the prime minister since July 2020 and they are permanently employed and paid monthly by the Treasury.
The salary range is Rs.11,230 to Rs.12.0 cr.
However, in addition to salaries and expenses, computers, printers and stationery will be procured. No separate funds have been allocated.
The centres currently charge residents a small fee, and about 20 of them have had no users for three years.
The residents of these gewogs have to travel to different gewogs to get services.
There are 202 centres in the country but 3 gewogs do not have a centre. The Chang Gewog Community Information Centre in Thimphu is not functioning in Naro city.
Citizens can also use these centers to register birth and death certificates and family account files, obtain rural timber allotments and obtain rural house building permits.
Naro Garpo Gonam Tsering said that there is no community information center in Gewog, and if services are not provided, but there is electricity from time to time, the Gewog management will say: they want to provide services.
He said electricity service was spotty and officials were working to improve the network in Dzongkhag. Like other gewogs, his gewog has a community center, “which is a good idea,” he said.
Haga Gyallinga Powang Tsering said the centre had been working on the development of internet services and “if these centres are handed over to the wards, it will be a huge benefit to the community,” he said, “services can be provided faster”.
The Prime Minister discussed improving public services with Bhutan’s GovTech company.
It is planned to establish integrated services for the town.
Ugyen Dorje
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