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They fear losing gewog engineers to dzongkhag
Nima | Sarpang
The Sarpang Gups have expressed concern over the restructuring of the engineering sector of the dzongkhag, where all the engineers of the dzongkhag would be grouped together.
The reorganization plan should allow the sharing of knowledge, the specialization of engineers and lead to an improvement in the quality of work, as engineers with different skills and qualifications would be stationed together.
As part of the reorganization plan, the dzongkhag engineering sector would be reorganized into the dzongkhag engineering and human settlements sector with five different sections: human settlement, infrastructure design, municipal service, implementation and monitoring, and compliance section.
In the infrastructure design section, there would be three units of building, roads and bridge, and water and sanitation.
At the last dzongkhag tshogdu held on August 19, most of the gups said it was important to have engineers in the gewogs.
The TD decided that the gewogs could keep the engineers for a period of time, but had to comply with government guidelines, and sent the engineers to the dzongkhag.
TD Chairman Nim Dorji Sherpa said local government officials should support government plans and policies.
He said that although gewogs were supposed to have an accountant, engineer and administrative officer, only some gewogs have officials today.
“There is a need for an engineer in the gewog, but it is not appropriate to push the government in these difficult times,” he said. “The local government department has started to study the challenges facing gewog administrations. “
Gelephu gup Ugyen Wangchuk said an engineer plays an important role in the administration of the gewog.
“We face a lot of problems when they are away, even for a month. We will not be able to meet the target and the budgets will not be well spent if they are stationed in the dzongkhag, â€he said.
The dzongkhag could only spend more than 70% of the total budget in the 2020-21 fiscal year, while the gewogs used almost 100% of the budget, according to dzongkhag officials.
Ugyen Wangchuk said gewog engineers are busy compared to dzongkhag engineers, who only deal with big projects. “Big projects happen once every four or five years whereas in gewogs many small projects and plans are implemented frequently. “
He said the gewogs could not use the expertise of the engineers if they were stationed in dzongkhag. “The restructuring of engineers in the dzongkhag was a good initiative, but it may not meet the immediate needs of the gewogs.”
According to the gup, the government may have to bear additional expenses for travel and daily allowances for engineers once they are pooled in the dzongkhag. “The country is not in a good situation today. The pandemic is far from over. There can be a lockout at any time and it is important that we have them in the gewogs. “
Umling’s gup Ugyen Norbu said the restructuring of the engineering sector was aimed at providing improved services with the limited resources available.
He said the change shouldn’t impact people. “We have benefited the most from the gewog engineers. “
Gups said they had to seek approval from the dzongkhag even for an investigation in the past when engineers were not placed in gewogs, delaying service and progress at the grassroots.
Dzongkhag chief engineer Sangay Tenzin said that today there is only limited expertise and professionals in the dzongkhag. “Engineers are stationed in gewogs, drungkhag and dzongkhag. When gewogs ask the dzongkhag for help, it is not readily available. We have engineers with expertise in water and irrigation projects in Drungkhag.
He said it’s hard to keep an eye on engineers when they’re not stationed together.
Today there are 14 civil engineers in Sarpang, six in dzongkhag, three in gewogs and five in Umling drungkhag. There is one technician each in 11 gewogs and one each in drungkhag and dzongkhag.
The chief engineer said it would be much better to use the current set of engineers with the restructuring of the sector. “The design, estimation, monitoring and implementation from start to finish are now carried out by an engineer. The quality is compromised.
Sarpang dzongdag, Lobzang Dorji, said the restructuring of the sector was not aimed at removing engineers from gewogs. “The resource and the expertise remain in the dzongkhag, whether they work from the gewog or the dzongkhag. “
He explained that the restructuring plan is in line with the objective of the Royal Civil Service Commission to maintain a small, compact and efficient civil service. “This would allow efficient use of the limited resources of the dzongkhag. “
He also said that it should be more practical, transparent and that there would be more accountability with the different people involved in the design, estimation, implementation and monitoring.
Edited by Tashi Dema
