With many Indian workers at the Punatshangchhu-I Hydroelectric Project Authority (PHPA-I) leaving for home in India, the project will prioritise employing more Bhutanese workers to solve its worker shortage. Hundreds of workers have already left for home while many more are expected to depart in the coming days.
The project so far employed 10 Bhutanese workers with welding skills and is still looking for more. The project is aiming to fill the need for both skilled and non skilled workers from within the country. There are over a thousand Indian workers with the project. According to the Managing Director, most of the workers who are leaving are from the underground powerhouse construction which is non-critical and will not have an impact on the overall project completion.
“People have left Bhutan because they come for a certain duration. They work for a certain duration in Bhutan and they would like to go back to their hometown. So, because of this lockdown situation, they could not leave earlier and they were stranded here. So, we have facilitated them for their exit by involving our Embassy here in Bhutan and the concerned ministry from the RGoB,” said Naveen ChanderBansal, the Managing Director of PHPA-I.
The project aims to fill the shortage with local workers through the Build Bhutan Project.
“We are trying to fill up by engaging the people from Bhutan itself. However, some worker from highly skilled category might be required to be brought from outside for which RGoB has already specified some procedures and we have started getting the approvals for bringing these people. So, we are very hopeful that these vacancies will be filled up very soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, the project has resumed the construction works iat all fronts with the available manpower after the relaxation of nationwide lockdown in the country and the works are under full swing again.
“In terms of PHPA-I, the Dam remains the critical works for which discussions are going on still with our technical consultants on how to move forward on this project. So, these people leaving the project site as of now will not impact our overall completion schedule of the project,” he added.
The project has also received permission from the government to bring in foreign workers by observing all the prescribed health protocols. However, foreign workers will only be brought in if the project is unable to fill the shortage with local workers.
Changa Dorji
