The debate on the need for education qualification to contest gup elections had the 205 gups divided at the dzongkhag and gewog chairperson’s conference in Bumthang last month. In Samtse however, gups say functional literacy is not enough with changing demands and responsibilities on the local government.
To qualify as a candidate for a local government position, section 178 (d) of the Election Act of Bhutan 2008 requires a person to be functionally literate and possess adequate skills to discharge his or her duties.
However, with 50 per cent of the national budget given to the local government, gups in Samtse say functional literacy is a thing of the past.
“Before, gups did not have much hand in the developmental processes. But now with the process of decentralization and new developments, the budget for the local government is increasing every year. Without adequate education, it will be a problem to perform the required responsibilities,” said Nima Dukpa, the Chairperson for Samtse Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
“Now most civil servants in the gewog are university graduates. I think even the gups need to have a university degree. We get a university graduate as gewog administration officer, on the other hand, the gup is the head of the gewog and if the gup has a university degree, I think it would be more convenient,” Rinchen Dorji, the Norgaygang Gewog Gup in Samtse, said.
“Even from the people’s perspective they prefer someone who can get their work done as fast as possible. I think the public also wants educated people in this position, though they haven’t publicly spoken about it,” added Ganga Prasad Limboo, the Yoeseltse Gup.
Except for a few, most gups called for at least a class 12 graduate pass certificate to contest the gup election. The few who did not agree says the decision should be rested on the people and that this is in the spirit of democracy.
“I think if a university graduate and a person with functional literacy contest an election, people will choose the university graduate. This is something people should understand. So, I think it is not necessary to make education qualification limits. This is not so important,” said Kumar Singh Limbo, the Deputy Chairperson of Samtse Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
“When it comes to educational qualifications, it is not necessary to change everything at once. We should take it in stages. Maybe we can start by setting it at class 10 or class 12 and then see how it goes,” added Damber Singh Rai, the Doomtoed Gup.
The 15 gewogs in Samtse have seven university graduate gups and eight with either class 10 or 12 certificates. The general consensus among the incumbent gups is to review the functional literacy requirement in both the Election Act and the Local Government Act of Bhutan.
Sherub Dorji
