The post the gaydrung or gewog clerk will now be retained following an extensive deliberation in the National Assembly last week.
The gaydrungs’ term is supposed to expire in March this year. The issue on gaydrungs arose after the Royal Civil Service Commission’s (RCSC) organisational development exercise in 2016 pointed out that their posts were not required.
The Bongo_Chapchha Member of Parliament (MP), Tshewang Lhamo, moved the motion to retain the gaydrungs’ posts in the gewog administrations in the National Assembly.
“The post of gaydrung is not been established recently, some of them have served for over two decades. The post is important to achieve the objectives of the Five-Year-Plans as the gups and mangmis cannot reach all places.”
While most MPs agreed that the post of gewog clerk needs to be kept as it is, members were divided on whether to regularise them as civil servants.
The Home Minister Sherub Gyeltshen informed the house that at present there are a total of 199 gaydrungs in the country. No rules or laws cover the gaydrungs and even if they serve their entire life, their remuneration would not increase beyond Nu 13,000 excluding allowances.
While it was a unanimous decision to retain the post of gaydrung, eight members voted against regularising their contracts as civil servants, if possible, and nine abstained to vote on this matter.
At the moment, gaydrungs draft letters, legal documents, gewog correspondences, and collect taxes among other duties.
