The National Assembly unanimously adopted the Cooperatives and Farmer Groups Bill of Bhutan 2025 today. They decided to allow district administrations to register cooperatives and farmers’ groups which was previously done by the agriculture ministry.
The agriculture minister insisted that the ministry should be responsible to register cooperatives and farmers’ groups. He justified that a centralised system would ensure proper screening of applications and allow efficient monitoring.
Younten Phuntsho, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock said, “When government projects are introduced, people rush to take the opportunity. In some cases, this leads to irresponsible participation and poor results. Therefore, if the Ministry assumes this responsibility, the relevant departments will be able to monitor the projects more effectively.”
However, several Social and Cultural Committee members responsible for introducing the bill said otherwise. They said that local governments already work closely with farmers and therefore have the background needed to assist cooperatives effectively.
Kuenga Dorji, a member of Social and Cultural Committee said, “We consulted farmers who operate cooperatives and farmers’ groups, as well as district administrations. While there are several cooperatives and groups, only a few have been performing well. We found that many problems come from the ministry, its departments, and the groups not being able to talk to each other enough. In addition, proper monitoring could not be carried out by the ministry and relevant departments.”
Lam Dorji, Chairperson of Social and Cultural Committee said, “For instance, for the six eastern districts, the Monggar office will oversee areas such as Samdrup Jongkhar and Trashi Yangtse. In such a scenario, any dispute arising in Trashi Yangtse would have to be taken to Monggar. Therefore, if the Act is to truly benefit the people and farmers, the responsibility should be entrusted to the districts and gewogs.”
The bill will now be forwarded to the National Council for further review.
Sangay Chozom
