His Majesty The King granted patang to chairpersons of the Dzongkhag Tshogdu (DT) of the twenty dzongkhags, yesterday.
The patangs were granted in recognition of the important role that the local government plays in achieving the development goals of our country, and as an effort to further the process of decentralization.
His Majesty said to the gups that contrary to what is often perceived, Local government is not the lowest level of government, but the nearest and closest level of government for the people.
Local governments are indispensable avenues through which the rural population can participate in democracy and development, and the success of the democracy in the long run would be determined to a large extent by the success of local governments.