For many villagers, the Chiwog Zomdu (meeting) is time-consuming and most of the time disorganised whereby few influential people dominate the discussion. However, to tackle such problems, the Department of Local Governance (DLG) initiated a pilot Community Engagement Platform (CEP) also know as Nangzom in six gewogs in three Dzongkhags. The group consists of few people and has encouraged community participation and accurate and timely information sharing. According to the department, the pilot project was found effective which ended this month.
Drepoong in Monggar is one of the gewogs where the pilot project was carried out. There are three CEP groups. Initially, the villagers did not understand the concept but later, they said it was effective. The groups were established in 2015 as a pilot project.
In each group, there are few people and they conduct the Nangzom at least once a month.
During the chiwog meeting, there are many participants and we hesitate to raise our concerns. But when it comes to Nangzom, we can contribute to the discussion since it is a small group,” said Cheki Wangmo, from Drepoong Gewog.
“There is a difference between CEP groups and Chiwog zomdu. The CEP group is small and, we can understand the problems faced by an individual. While in the Chiwog zomdu, the problem remains unsolved as people cannot raise it,” added Tashi Yangzom, from the same gewog.
The Drepoong Gewog Administrative Officer, Sonam Chophel said everyone can share their views during the Nangzom irrespective of their status since the group is small.
Passang Wangchuk, the Project Manager for Support to Community Engagement in Local Governance said since Nangzom is quite informal, it has avenues to discuss any issue.
The villagers were also engaged in voluntary activities such as maintaining the farm road, especially during the monsoon and waste management.
“Since the establishment of the group, we use to volunteer in activities like cleaning the water source area and maintaining the farm road during the monsoon. Earlier for these works, we use to rely on the government but now with the establishment of the CEP group, we are initiating such works by ourselves,” said Tashi Yangzom.
“Many economic activities were initiated. Economic activities such as dairy, agriculture, vegetables and associate groups like farm road users are also some of the tangible output,” said Passang Wangchuk.
The DLG also hopes to replicate the Nangzom to other gewogs in the country.
Tshering Zam
