Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering says the government is working on interventions to ease the lives of Bhutanese living in Japan under the Learn and Earn programme.
Lyonchhen was speaking at the Friday Meet with Media Persons today.
“What we are going to do is to offer them a choice. Why are they not able to come back? If it’s because of loan, we will try look into this,” he said.
Legally speaking, the prime minister said, they opted for it. “Legally, it’s their fault but socially we understand their situation,” he added.
“I’m already working with the labour minister to see what we can do. How much loan outstanding they have and if the government comes to pay that, what can we do, or should we waive off the interest so that they can be a little comfortable.”
Lyonchhen said one of the options is to enroll them in a technical internship programme.
“That’s a much better programme. It’s professional and also pays better. We discussed with the Japanese ambassador to see if we can qualify our students into that so they earn a little more and the work environment becomes a little better.”
More than 700 Bhutanese have been placed in Japan under the Learn and Earn programme.
