The National Council approved the supplementary budget of Nu 262 M, today. The finance ministry had proposed the budget to upscale employment facilitation programme to address youth unemployment.
A few members of the Upper House had questioned the sustainability.
“…is the idea going to sustain forever and will it address youth employment consistently…? said Samtse’s NC MP, Sangay Khandu.
He gave an example of Direct Employment Scheme.
“From what we have seen, Direct Employment Scheme’s employees, who are paid on cost sharing basis, have lost their jobs once the government stopped paying.”
Trongsa’s NC MP, Tharchen asked what new programs the supplementary budget would cover.
The finance minister, Namgay Dorji said the budget would employ over 10,000 youth in this financial year.
Lyonpo had earlier said the money will be allocated from the interest received from the government’s borrowing to financial institutions under the Economic Stimulus Plan.
The budget will be allocated to fund the ongoing Guaranteed Employment Programme which will benefit 1,600 youth, according to the minister.
It will also be used to employ 1,300 youth overseas. Livestock farming and farm mechanisation, among others, are some of the areas the budget will cover.
Lyonpo also said the civil servants have reported the programme is sustainable.
“As an interim measure, to address the immediate challenge of youth unemployment, we have resorted to the programme. But, we will review the measure in six months, and will look for other solutions to address the issue.”
With the approval of Nu 262 M as supplementary budget, the total budget for the financial year 2016-17 stands at over Nu 55 B.
The house also adopted recommendations made by various committees on agriculture and education policies and strategies, among others.
