Nawang P Phuntsho

What is a vibrant village? What does it take to create one? Can a village vibrancy prevent and curb rural-urban migration? A village is vibrant when it has happy and content people. A village is vibrant where content people help each other. A vibrant village is where everyone is involved in or concerned with building a strong community. Such a village is connected with a well-maintained road that provides farmers with access to the outside world.  A vibrant village grows its food and has no need to import anything from outside. Such a village booms with economic activities and here farmers look beyond subsistence farming. That is not to inject greed; it is rather, to encourage hard-working people to work harder. These farmers have at their service useful and modern farming tools to ease their work on the farms. In a vibrant village, farmers have the right to harvest their crops without having to share them with wild animals.  A vibrant village has...

One of our most significant events this year is that of Bhutan’s exporting of eggs to India. A few years ago, we were importing them – in truckloads. This goes to show that we have the potential to grow and progress as a country, provided we put in a little more effort and work harder. Did you know, Bhutan today has 422,648 hens and produces 251,678 eggs a day?  In July 2016, Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA) banned the import of chilies from India reasoning that the laboratory tests conducted confirmed presence of pesticides. And right there was our opportunity to grow on our own. The news was like winning a lottery and it sure was a boon to many a Bhutanese chili growers, as they now had ready market san competition from cheap chilies from across the border. Then came the ‘off season’. That is when the price of chilies unreasonably shot up as high as Nu. 300-400 per kg. It was unreasonable and daylight robbery, many people proteste...

He is a king who finds pleasure in combing every part of the country to meet his people and hear their plights. He is a king who treasures the nation’s young people and finds time to share golden moments with young graduates entering the job market. He is a king who goes out of his way to inspire our leaders with his invaluable wisdom. He is a king who is the first leader to console his people when natural disasters strike them and who takes time  to share important news to his people. He is a perfect role model to the young people, a dutiful son, caring father, and a champion of “kindness, justice and equality”. Druk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is the People’s King! In his heart-warming coronation speech to the nation, His Majesty made the following promise, “Throughout my reign I will never rule you as a King. I will protect you as a parent, care for you as a brother and serve you as a son. I shall give you everything and keep nothing; I shall live such a ...