On Friday, in the National Assembly, the infrastructure and transport minister announced ongoing discussions to establish a high-level committee to review and address thromde development issues. The minister said that district administrations currently hold the authority to prepare local area plans despite lacking expertise and resources. The ministry hopes the Construction Approval System will help address these challenges, assist local governments, and improve urban planning processes.
Minister Chandra Bahadur Gurung said that local government budgets are insufficient to meet development needs in thromdes and remote districts.
The minister said, “The rural areas have experienced limited development for many years. We discussed this in the first session. The government will support the development of these areas. I agree that gewogs have a limited budget, and allocating it for throm development is not feasible. The government has many priorities, but we have requested that at least 10 per cent of the annual budget be allocated for town development. We will work on the policy and find ways to address this issue.”
Sonam Yuden
Edited by Sherub Dorji