Starving the milking cows?

Penstar photo: Dying spirit of the bankers

I am not a banker (well, I was once and no more now), but the recent decision by the central bank to suspend the dividend and bonus payouts is outrageous to say the least. I am not a financial expert. Yet I believe the central bank’s decision to withhold the bonus payouts to the employees working in the bank does not hold water. I am sure that’s not a big number by any means.

The issue cropped up when one day RMA suddenly woke up and decided to close accounts held in banks acby non-resident Indians in the banks in the border towns. Accounts worth millions were closed following the order. And then suddenly they claimed there is liquidity issue.

Earlier some banks had excess liquidity – meaning the banks were accepting more deposits but giving out less loans. But now with huge amounts being withdrawn, banks are no more in position to lend money. That’s where banks fail – will go out of business. Of course any payouts would hurt the lending positions of the bank.

But the point is central bank’s decision to withhold only the bankers’ bonus payout does not make sense at all. After all I am sure it is not much money especially in DHI companies – with DHI putting a two-months’ basic caps on bonus payout starting 2011. And why only bankers, while RMA has no problem if other companies pay out bonuses to their employees? Will that not contribute to liquidity issue? That’s nonsense unless someone gives us a logical reason.

We might be in this current situation because of the decisions our people in the decision-making portfolios had made, but why should someone who has no role in it be penalized; for instance, a cashier, whose work is only to make payments and accept deposits or a branch manager who just follows the orders of their superiors? Maybe the authorities should withhold the bonuses of those people in decision-making positions for obviously it is their decisions, good or bad.

For bankers, bonus is something that they look forward to once in a year. But now even that being suspended, I don’t think bankers see good futures ahead of them. Government (or DHI) consider banks as the revenue-making machines and nothing more. It is like – punishing the doctors for a cancer patient’s death or blaming automobile companies for the road accidents or tossing blames at the teachers for unemployment, and likewise.

An endemic sense of place

A sense of place is a feeling that makes one feel at home and thereby at peace whenever he or she is in a particular area or think of one. It is the first impression or a deep sense of recognition that is deeply rooted in our memories. It is a feeling of happiness, and a sense of safety, an expression of endearment toward a particula r place (Cross 2001). Before I travelled to Perth for my studies, I used to work in Thimphu, though I was born and raised in a small village called Wamling in central Bhutan. Although Thimphu offers modern facilities and infrastructure, it is only back in the village that I feel entirely at home. It's here I get a sense of peace and experience a sense of belongingness; it's where I can genuinely be myself. In Wamling, our day breaks with a crowing of a rooster and mooing of cows in the distance. Somewhere a horse neighs, and another reciprocates from nearby. A dog howls and chickens chuckle in the coup. A stream gurgles down the hill turning p...

Utpal Academy - Bhutan's first All-girls High School

Academic Block Welcome to Bhutan’s first all-girls school. Isn’t that wonderful news to all our parents? Certainly, as a parent of a one-year old daughter I am excited about the coming of a school exclusively dedicated to the needs of girls. Our girls need special treatment, which we can for sure entrust the responsibility to Utal Academy, Paro. Dinning Hall I really like the name – Utpal – in Buddhist world, Utpal is another name for lotus flower, which is believed to grow from mud and yet blossoms into a beautiful and majestic flower. It stands for purity and many deities are depicted holding flower Utpal, more prominently Jestusn Dolma, the Goddess Tara. Symbolically, it also stands for the transformation of our girls. What an apt name for the school! Hostel Room The Principal’s message posted on the academy’s website promises providing our young women an “opportunity to participate fully in a wide range of extracurricular activities to develop skills and qualities that...

When they are ready

The Ministry of Education discovered 890 'underage' children admitted in schools across the country in 2019. Thus, the ministry in May 2019 issued a notification revoking the admission for these children. Majority were in urban centres. Desperate, parents and the affected schools requested the government to intervene. They also requested the government to consider lowering the enrolment age to five years. Currently, in Bhutan a child can legally go to school only when s(he) is six years old. And that policy was strictly followed a few years ago to the extent that some schools refused to admit children even if they were short of a few weeks. So, parents, mostly in urban areas, resorted to faking their children's ages. Many parents were guilty of adding years onto their children's actual ages. However, most parents, we are told, managed to correct their 'mistakes' later. Faking a child's age was rampant...

Nawang P Phuntsho

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