The Government launched, “Meet-the-People”, one of their 100 day pledges in Thimphu, today.
Meet-the-People is one of the programs the People’s Democratic Party’s had pledged to initiate during their campaign. The initiative allows the people to meet the Prime Minister and his Cabinet every week to address the grievances and issues affecting them.
Chencho, a fresh graduate from the Royal Thimphu College, was the first person to meet with the Prime Minister at the opening of Meet-the-People program. Timid yet composed, he sat across the Prime Minister, who was accompanied by the Agriculture Minister, Yeshey Dorji, discussing his grievance –finding a job.
“I have been unemployed and that is why I came here hoping that the government would help me. I have told the Prime Minister that I am interested to find a job in a media fraternity,” said Chencho.
A 30-year-old Sangay Tenzin, the deregistered staff nurse of the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital who was made to compulsorily retire due to his drug problems, appealed the Prime Minister to help him re-register his medical practices.
“It is quite difficult to get employed elsewhere if you have been deregistered. I have applied to the Punatsangchhu as a nurse and not having a certificate of your medical practice; I doubt if I will ever get employed.”
Dr. Vagwat Bhandari, a dentist by profession, waited for his turn to meet the Prime Minister with a hope to get a job soon. He had resigned in 2011 hoping to find a work in one of the hydropower projects.
Just like them, there were 16 others who had come to meet the Prime Minister. Their grievances varied from security clearance, standard bidding procedure, project proposal and transfer cases. But the job-seekers topped the list.
The Prime Minister had given each of them a letter addressed to agencies concerned, if any, with his signature on it.
Meanwhile, Chencho got a letter addressed to the head of one of the up-coming private television stations.
