19 April, 2008 - Development priorities in the 10th Plan will not change when the new government takes over, according to the prime minister, Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley. Economic development will be the main driver and poverty reduction, the main focus.
“The general observation by the cabinet ministers was that there is near total consistency and coherence between the DPT manifesto and the plan,” said Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley who pointed out that the Plan was initiated by many of the ministers, who had been involved as members of the previous planning commission.
After a day-long discussion on the draft plan on April 18, political leaders and bureaucrats agree that there would be some adjustments needed when it came to details. Such adjustments were needed mostly in the main priorities like electricity and roads.
The secretary of the ministry for economic affairs, Dasho Sonam Tshering, said that the differences between the draft plan and the DPT manifesto were visible in terms of the size and targets. The main consideration would be the resources.
“For example, according to our old plan, we expect to achieve electricity to all by 2020,” he said. “For our plan of rural electrification, our total fund requirement is US$ 40 million. I think they are looking at achieving this goal by 2013. If we need to finish the entire country within the 10th plan, I think the resource requirements will be quite huge. We might require almost double of what has been identified for rural electrification.”
The hydropower goals of the DPT manifesto are ambitious. “We’re saying that, by 2020, we should add another 5,000 MW but, in the manifesto, they are thinking of 10,000 MW, which is almost double,” said the secretary. “Do we have both the manpower and resources to achieve these targets? This will definitely be an issue to look at, but perhaps we may need to look at more innovative ways to achieve these targets.”
According to the director of roads, Phuntsho Wangdi, the 20-year road master plan would guide the construction of roads in the country, and what the DPT has promised might not feature in the plan. “Some of the promises they have made for the next five years might not even fall in our 20-year plan,” he said. “A good number of promises will not be fulfilled.”
He said that a lot of prioritization has to be done at the national level, because of the limitations made by resources available.
The officiating secretary of the agriculture ministry, Tenzin Dhendup, said that a lot of synchronization of the 10th Plan and the DPT manifesto had to be made. He said that what the DPT candidates promised was just a wish list of the people. “As an implementing agency, we’ll prioritize and match the plan with the resources available,” he said.
Agriculture director, Chencho Norbu, added that the decision of resource allocation would be based on ground realities supported by facts, figures, and studies, and not on promises. “We’ll see which activity is feasible, beneficial and which will pay back,” he said. “Now’s the time to face reality. They (the DPT government) will have to compromise even if they have resources, because we have to prioritize activities in line with the 10th Plan.”
The prime minister explained that most of the promises had been made in response to the requests of the people and that these would have to be incorporated into the plan. “We don’t want to lie to the public,” he said, “We will keep our promises. We’ll devise ways and means to integrate those promises and those pledges, which may not be a part of the 10th plan.”
The secretary of the GNH Commission, Karma Tshetum, said that the draft 10th Plan was similar to the DPT manifesto because both were built on the concept of GNH and continuity.
“As we move forward with more in-depth discussions, there could be changes at the sectoral level, but it’s up to the new government on how they might want to bring changes to the draft plan,” he told Kuensel. “The government must first adopt the draft Plan as their own. The ball is in their court on how they might want to go about it.”
As the GNH Commission presented the draft 10th Plan to the Cabinet and senior bureaucrats, there was also a consensus that the government had to answer to the people. The key question now was the substantial budget deficit currently estimated at Nu 13.2 billion, out of a total of Nu 141.69 billion estimated for the 10th Plan.
According to the prime minister this would now be the focus of the government’s discussions. “We’re concerned over this,” he said.
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