“SecuringSaZhi the priceless land for prosperity and happiness ”

National Land Commission’s quarterly newsletter January–March, 2017 Vol. IV, Issue I Inside this Issue New Secretary joins Office of the International Citizen Portal for urban Pg. 2 Boundaries land and property trans- actions Mr. Lethro Tobden Tangbi Taking Land Services to Pg. 3 joined as the new Secretary for the grassroot level International Boundary Office, th Land Dashboard Pg. 5 on 15 February, 2017. Well- to be developed wishers, friends and family members gathered to offer Empowering NLCS fe- Pg. 9 male employees khadhar during Tendrel ceremo- ny.

Overall concept & advisor: He served in the Office of the Pema Chewang, Secretary His Majesty’s Secretariat of the New IB Secretary Lethro Tobden Tangbi Fourth prior to the Editorial Team present post. He first joined the He holds Masters in Public Ad- civil service in the Ministry of ministration from International Gonpo Tenzin- Chief, PPD Home & Cultural Affairs in 1989. Institute of Public Administration During 28 years of service he Gungsang Wangdi- PPD (IIPA) in Paris, France. served in various capacities. Dorji Wangchuk, LMD

New Lagthrams Issued

Thromde along with copies of Chazhag thrams to Dzongrab Nima Gyeltshen on 18th January, 2017. There are 464 thramhold- ers under Bajo Throm including 22 government institutions.

The new lagthrams contain not only land details of the landown- er but also respective cadastral maps with coordinates. The landowners will have to pay a minimal fee of Nu.200 for urban The Director handing over New Lagthrams to Wangdue Dzongrab Lagthram. The Director for Department of ment Mr. Tenzin Namgay hand- Land Administration & Manage- ed over 382 lagthrams of Bajo SaZhi Page 2 Citizen Portal for urban land and property transactions

In an effort to improve service delivery to the general public, the Secretariat has been vigor- ously exploring the means to expedite land transactions pro- cess. Citizen portal is one such means. It is a web based sys- tem to enable urban land trans- action. The web is hosted in NLCS Data Centre at citi- zen.nlcs.gov.bt. It is an im- proved version of an online sys- tem of urban e-Sakor which was Webpage view of citizen portal for urban land and property transactions developed and used before to execute urban land transaction. registration/transaction accord- Finally, the system will be The current system has many ing to the Doing Business re- rolled out to all Dzongkhags/ improved features, functionali- port 2016 by World Bank . On where Urban e- ties, and performance. There is an average it takes 77 days to Sakor is operational and a citizen interface for applicants complete property/land convey- where new thrams are issued. to directly apply for land trans- ance. With the establishment of action themselves. New mod- online transaction system, it is Contributed by: ules such as grievance submis- expected to reduce turn around Mr. Tshering Wanchuk sion and urban land mortgage time to 47 days (or could be ICT Officer, NLCS information have been incorpo- lower). Further, it will reduce rated in the system to alert the paper usage. It will also im- verifier during land transaction. prove existing Urban e-Sakor The interface for financial insti- functions and enhance its per- tutions can verify and authenti- formance. cate the status of the land pro- posed for mortgage. The development of citizen por- tal was commenced in May The new portal has a dashboard 2016 and implementation start- for monitoring and report gener- ed from October 2016 with the ation. financial support from the World Bank. The local consultant, ’s cadastral Athang ICTech was awarded maps are published online and the contract for the task. Get your doubts on land accessible through the system. related issues clarified by The files and database are set Once the system is fully devel- dialling toll free number up and updated daily, weekly oped and further improved oth- and monthly basis. er Dzongkhags and Thromdes 152 during office will also be linked tentatively by hours. Bhutan ranks 51 among 189 June 2017. countries in the ease of property Volume IV Issue I Page 3 Taking Land Services to the grassroot level

The National Land Commission took land services to the local level by initiating Land Aware- ness Program and Mobile Land Services from 17th January 2017 to 22nd January 2017. It is first carried out in Lhuntse Dzong- khag on pilot basis with the aim to: create awareness on limited arable land in the country and resolving land disputes.

Land issues within the purview of existing Rules and Regula- Secretary attending to a land issue of a women in Lhuntse tions were resolved on the spot. Most of the disputes are related sensitized on importance of Rural-urban migration is seen as to boundary, inheritance, sale- making optimum utilization of the the main reason. purchase. Clarification on the land granted on kidu. difference between land substi- There are plans to carry out tutes and land exchange were Excess land received as kidu, such programs in other Dzong- provided. The public were also are left fallow and uncultivated. khags.

Certificates for land leaseholders

lease monitoring and check en- croachments on state land the land on lease are surveyed us- ing the same equipment used for surveying the registered land and cadastral maps are pre- pared with coordinates.

The land Lease Certificate will be issued only by the National Land Commission Secretariat. It has to be displayed at all times and produced as and when de- The Director, Tenzin Namgay handing over Lease Certificates to Timhphu Thromde manded by the authorized per- The National Land Commission ties approved on lease such as sonnel. A lessee should strictly handed over 38 Lease Certifi- mining, business, and commer- adhere to all terms and condi- cates of Thromde and 49 of cial agriculture. tions laid in the lease agreement Dzonkghag for Thimphu on 28th and confine activities within the March, 2017. The Commission Until recently, lease lands were demarcated area. Violation of issued Land Clearance letter not mapped properly and it was terms and conditions will be lia- prior to the introduction of Lease surveyed using hand held GPS. ble for action as per the agree- Certificate for economic activi- However, in order to facilitate ment. SaZhi Page 4 Significance of promoting the National Language –Dzongkha

Mr. Tashi Tshewang, Chief of guage and culture, etiquette as Language Development Division the symbol of national identity under Dzongkha Development and sovereignty. Subsequently, Commission (DDC), presented in 1986, the present Dzongkha on the “Significance of promot- Development Commission was ing National Language- established as Dzongkha Devel- Dzongkha” during the 65th Fri- opment Authority. As per the day Forum on 10th March, 2017. Royal Edict issued by His Majes- He was invited by the Secretari- ty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo in at as a part of the Dzongkha De- 1993, the medium of discussion Mr. Tashi Tshewang, DDC velopment Program. of the parliament session of Bhu- tan, the Cabinet meetings, and He highlighted the importance of With the effect of globalization, discussions of Dzongkha promoting our National Lan- he shared concerns of dying lan- Tshogu, Thromde Tshogde, Ge- guage. His presentation was guages in most of the countries. wog Tshogde and all other meet- divided into the following sec- The languages are defined as ings, public speeches, presenta- tions: per their usage. Endangered tions and reports should be car- language is at a risk of falling • The fundamental principles of ried out in Dzongkha. Even if National Language. out of use because its speaker there are foreigners present at • National policy and strategy of either die out or shift to using such meetings they should be Dzongkha development and another language. Moribund is a promotion. informed through translation. In language only spoken by a few • Core Theoretical Linguistics 2007, His Majesty the King is- older people and unknown to • Language and GNH sued an specific Royal Edict to children. Language becomes • Language Death the DDC Secretary to make death when older speakers die • Effects of Language Death Dzongkha easy, interesting to and children speak another lan- • Language and Buddha Dharma learn and user friendly. • Some Unique Features of guage. On the other hand a lan- Dzongkha Language Most importantly, as per the guage is considered safe if Dzongkha younger generations will proba- In order to become a member is our national language and the bly be speaking in 100 years of the United Nations in 1970, state shall preserve and promote from now. Dzongkha was endorsed as our Bhutanese language and litera- He also illustrated with exam- national language as the symbol tures. Every Bhutanese should ples of the effects of language of sovereign country. Our hered- be able to speak, read and write death. An entire way of thinking itary monarchs have consistently Dzongkha. placed importance to Dzongkha. is lost each time a language be- His Majesty the Third King is- Mr. Tashi Tshewang stated that comes extinct. Cultural traditions sued a Royal decree to schools in general, language as means which are tied to dying lan- to impart learning and teaching of communication contribute to guage , such as songs, myths of Dzongkha and religious texts. Gross National Happiness stories, and poetry will be lost In 1983, His Majesty the Fourth (GNH) through all pillars and forever. There will be no sense King issued a decree on im- particularly language as part and of identity. When language portance of preservation and parcel of culture contributes im- change or dies it weakens social promotion of our religion, lan- mensely to preservation and pro- cohesion as their values and motion of our culture. traditions are replaced with new Volume IV Issue I Page 5 languages which is easy to ones. It also results in losing In the last five hundred years’ peri- od, learn. ethnicity statuses as ethnicity is I will appear in the form of letters often defined in terms of lan- (language). It was also pointed out that it is guage. Consider them as identical to me, the duty of every Bhutanese citi- And treat them with due respect zen to promote our national lan- From the Buddhist point of view, guage. However, most of the it is believed that Buddha will Of many unique features of urban dwellers tend to think that appear in the form of letters in Dzongkha language the distinc- English is more important than future. So it is important to up- tion between honorific and non Dzongkha for their children’s hold and value our scriptures honorific is considered rare in education. He finally concluded and respect every letter of other languages. Dzonkgha has that both Dzonkgha and English Dznogkha. Following is the ex- words to be used to show re- language should be considered tract from Avatamsaka Sutra spect and consideration for el- as the two wings of a bird in where it contents Buddha’s ders and superiors. Moreover, modern world. prophecy; Dzonkgha is one of the simple

Bhutan Land Dashboard

The National Land Commission Secretariat has a huge reposito- ry of land information both the spatial and attribute databases related to registered land, ca- dastral and topographical. Cur- rently, various data sets are mostly hosted not in one domain but with respective Division who require information for daily ser- vices. Different Divisions have to generate report relevant to their Division only and thus aris- es issues of report consolida- tion. As a result, reports gener- Brain storming exercise for land dash board development ated become not so reliable and lacks real time information. Survey Engineers and Planners  Generate land statistical out- In order to resolve the issue of held a brain storming exercise put for development of land dash report consolidations, develop-  Serve as a one stop infor- board. ment of a Bhutan Land Dash- mation platform board is initiated. It would pro- Bhutan Land Dashboard would vide a dynamic platform for gen-  Facilitate the standardiza- fulfill the following objectives: eration of reliable information by tion, streamlining and archiv- integrating all the existing infor-  Obtain reliable, ready and ing of the required data mation and databases. On 24th real time data February, 2017 a team compris-  Secure right business intelli- ing IT officers, Land Registrars, gent (BI) package Sazhi Page 6 Flash back of 2016

His Majesty granted audience to NLCS staff who attended annual workshop at Royal Institute of Governance & Strategic Studies (RIGSS).

His Majesty visited Dawathang village, in Langchenphu gewog, where people are settled through National Rehabilitation programme.

His Majesty granted rural land kidu in Thimphu Dzongkhag

• Land Issue Committee instituted Milestone 1 to resolve land related issues.

• Last 5 Dzonkghags received util- Enhancing ity vehicle. service • 4 Dzongkhags received addition- delivery al survey equipment.

• Annual Land Commission workshop held. Milestone 2 • Established a new laboratory for Re- mote Sensing and Photogrammetry.

• Consecrated office shrine room Institutional (Choshum). development

• Use Right Task Force instituted

• National Cadastral Resurvey of Phuntsholing Thromde Core area com- Milestone 3 pleted.

• Land Lease Rates revision proposed

Enhancing • Strategy for Use Right System imple- Land mentation formulated. Governance • NCRP II of Trongsa Dzongkhag com- pleted. Volume IV Issue I Page 7

• His Majesty launched the first At- Milestone 4 las of Bhutan which is the historic event .

National • NLCS staff attended training on “ Spatial data GIS for land & resource Manage- infrastructure ment”. development • Regional User Conference on GIS convened.

• Zhemgang town - 53 thrams

• Tingtibi Town- 57 thrams

• Core Thimthrom— 820 lagthams • Doksum Throm- 102 thrams Milestone 5

• Phuntsholing core town- 196 thrams and 58 of Amochu LAP.

• Gelephu Throme LAP III & IV- 369 Issuance of thrams New Lagthrams

• TrashiyantseThromde- 402 thrams

• Rural Thimphu- 4042 thrams

• XIII batch of NLCS staff completed Integrated Training Programme from Milestone 6 Tashigatshel. • Surveyors from various Dzongkhag trained in RTK machine. Special Capacity & • NLCS staff attended a training on art Skill of communication and presentation skills conducted by Institute of Man- development agement Studies. SaZhi Page 8 Importance of Preserving Our Culture. The National Land Commission spearheads land administration and management in the coun- try. However, one should not hypothesize that this esteem office is confined only to survey- ing and land administration ser- vices. The office also provides platforms for multi-dimensional activities and programs such as active participation in forum, workshop, seminar, conference, trainings where officials get op- Mrs. Ngawang Choden presenting her paper on culture at the seminar portunities for enhancement of career. down through generations to The promotion and preservation another and to this day, the cul- of our culture is a collective re- Besides land management and ture is unique and untainted sponsibility and not only the du- administration, recently, Ms. that made our country gained ty of those people working un- Ngawang Choden, Assistant popularity across the globe. der the Ministry of Home & Cul- Land Registrar presented an tural Affairs. There is also an article on the theme, “Tangible In the age of globalization, giv- adage which says, ὲ་སྲིད་ལམ་ and Intangible Culture of ing up one’s rich culture and ས쭼ལ་གནས་པ荲་譲ང་། །䝺་སྲིད་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་རང་དབང་ Bhutan.” The event was orga- embracing the modern culture which means as long as nized by the National Museum could distort the harmony and བ讟ན།། of Bhutan from 1st to 3rd Febru- cohesion of a society. If we ig- culture is sustained, then a ary, 2017 at Paro primarily to nore the values of one’s culture country’s independence is se- commemorate the birth year of and tradition now, after few cured. So, let us not compro- Guru Rinpoche, 400 year of years from now, the cultural di- mise our culture under the influ- Zhabdrung’s arrival in Bhutan, versity and regional identity of ence of modernization. the birth anniversary of Gyalsey the country may diminish. Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck By: Ngawang Choden, ALR and to strengthen the preserva- Snapshot tion and promotion of our rich cultural diversity for posterity.

Preservation and promotion of culture is one of the four pillars of Gross National Happiness (GNH) because hitherto, Bhu- tan has and will remain inde- pendent owing to its unique cul- tural diversity; both tangible and intangible culture which is con- sidered as treasure trove of Bhutan. The cultural practices of Bhutan have been passed th NLCS volunteers during cleaning program at Tango Monastery on 26 March, 2017 Volume IV Issue I Page 9 Empowering NLCS female employees Coinciding with the Internation- al Women’s Day and to com- memorate women’s right the women of NLCS formed Wom- en’s Association of NLC on 8th March 2017. It was mainly the idea of Secretary and his con- cerns for the welfare of the fe- male staffs of National Land Commission Secretariat to form such an association.

The main aim of the Associa- tion is to cater to the welfare and improve the lives of female staff of the National Land Com- Members of Women Association of NLCS mission Secretariat. It is a so- for open discussions on matters Convention on Elimination of all cial welfare association which relating to interests and con- forms of Discrimination Against may organize social events for cerns of the female staff. The Women (CEDAW). raising fund for the Association. members will work collectively The association would strength- toward elimination of all forms This year’s theme for Interna- en interactions and develop of discrimination against wom- tional Women's Day 2017 is relationships among female en and empowering women in "Women in the Changing World staff. It will also provide a forum consonance with articles of of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030". Gelephu LAP V ready for implementation plot sizes are prepared to facili- tate constructing buildings and other developmental activities. The plan includes provisions for efficient street/road network; primary, secondary and tertiary to enhance accessibility, con- nectivity and permeability. How- ever, the existing permanent structures are retained.

Gelephu LAP V was endorsed by Thromde Tshogde on 23rd March 2017. Gelephu Thromde Surveyor presenting Local Area Plan (LAP)-V

th On 30 March, 2017, a team Gelephu Structure Plan 2014. The LAP V covers an area of from Land Sector of Gelephu Land pooling methodology is 222.2 acres located in Trashil- Thromde lead by Dasho adopted as the main tool for ing Demkhong and has 322 Thrompon presented the LAP V planning purposes. Even State Thramholders. to the NLCS for validation. The land was also treated as one of LAP was prepared based on the land holdings. Appropriate SaZhi Page 10 Personal Reflection Celebrate Small Wins to Achieve Big Goals

goals- his perspective was fo- what we don’t have. There- cused on achieving rather fore, Appreciation is one key than failing. Rather than giving to achieving big goals. Lack of up and feeling negative about appreciation and gratefulness his failures, he celebrated can lead us down the slippery every mistake as small wins slope. Acknowledging and ap- Tendrel Zangmo, Asst. Land Registrar which made him possible to preciating small steps can Accomplishing goals is chal- reach his goals. take us far way to achieve- lenging. Every one of us wants ment. to achieve goals and be suc- Secondly, celebrating every cessful in life because these Small Wins gives us hope to Do you appreciate your exist- goals put meaning to our lives. keep continuing in life. It’s our ence? Or do we really feel our We get better by embracing duty to realize that our big existence in everyday life? We accomplishments. But it is not goals aren’t going to happen do it so seldom that most of so easy to achieve as we overnight. It is important to the time we remain lost. With plan goals. Goals are rooted focus on the small and signifi- the importance of our exist- with challenges that we tend to cant steps that we take to ence, it’s important to give up half way as it becomes achieve the goals rather than acknowledge the importance too high a mountain to climb. giving more focus to the end of the Present Moment. We However, many successful goals which undermines our tend to take the present mo- people had made landmark little efforts. Therefore, it is ment for granted, counting it achievements in the past. They important to acknowledge and insignificant. To be reminded, have their own secrets to suc- celebrate small wins. Howev- every present moment is cess which keeps them moving er, if we forget to do so, we changing us, good or bad, it ahead in life. end up diminishing motivation depends. Success is achieved which keeps us on the right by investing in small things Firstly, our success depends path and keep moving ahead over a long period of time and on our own Perspective and behind the challenges. As a it is the combination of mo- Mindset. It is all about how we result, we can perform better ments over time that let us look at our goals as a whole. and keep track of our success achieve the big things. Being For an instance, take Thomas if we celebrate small wins conscious of the present mo- Edison, the American Busi- along the way. Indeed, it will ment puts meaning into life. nessman who invented the give us the sense of nearing

light bulb. Before really making the success. Lastly, adapting a successful the landmark, he struggled habit can take us to achieve a 10,000 attempts to create a If we don’t appreciate our- big goal. Learning to appreci- light bulb. It is a huge amount selves, who do you think will? ate, acknowledge and cele- of failures that he faced. But, One should appreciate one- brate the small wins can be surprisingly to his repeated self to keep motivating oneself the most worthy habit in order failures he said, “I have not through day to day lives. In life to reach the success. All in failed. I’ve found 10,000 ways we forget to appreciate one’s all, one needs a right attitude that won’t work.” Here he por- efforts, we forget to appreciate to pursue anything in life. trays a positive perspective what we have done and what

and a mindset towards his we have but keep looking for (Inspired by an article from Lifehack.com) Volume IV Issue I Page 11 Kuri –Gongri HP Topography survey By Dorji Pelzang, Sr. Survey Engineer The Royal Government of Bhu- tan has outsourced the prepara- tion of the Detail Project Report (DPR) of the Kuri-Gongri Hydro- power Project to Water and Power Consultancy Services Limited (WAPCOS), India. The Kuri-gongri HEP will be the big- gest HEP with capacity of 2640 MW in the country.

Subsequently, WAPCOS has Photo 1 Photo 2 requested the National Land Photo 1: Control point; photo 2:Surveyors climbing up the cliff to survey Commission (NLC) to carry out the survey and mapping compo- 27th December 2016 and NLCS in the project site. nents of the DPR. A few rounds to undertake survey works. of technical discussions were This project is taken up by held between the two parties for As of March, 2017, the survey Topographical Survey Division cost estimation. The estimation team completed providing con- involving a Survey Specialist, 6 included special hardware/ trol points for entire project area Survey Engineers, 12 Surveyors software and satellite imageries and the report has been submit- and 6 Survey Field Assistants. required and the hazards and ted to the intender. About 70 difficulties involved while execut- percent of the base mapping The ideal site for establishment ing task. has been completed. Currently, of hydropower projects are in- surveyors for demarcation of the deed very challenging sites for An agreement was drawn be- submergence limit are deployed survey works. tween NLCS and WAPCOS on Land Inspector for each Dzongkhag

croachments and any activities against provisions of the Land Act 2007.

And 51 Land Record Assistants were also recruited to strength- en the Land Sectors at the Local Government Level.

The Section 12 of the Land Act 2007 states “The Commission Secretariat shall, in collaboration with the Local Authority, establish Land Inspectors of 20 Dzonkghags with the Director or upgrade cadaster and land regis- With the implementation of Or- recruited, each for every Dzong- tration offices at Gewog, Dzong- khag and Thromde.” ganizational Development Exer- khag. They will be responsible cise, 20 Land Inspectors were for monitoring state land en- KNOW YOUR LAND ACT

The Land Act of Bhutan 2007

Registration of Land in Chhazhag Sathram Land of individual person Section 72: The land owned by an individual person shall be registered in the Thram in his name.

Land of family Section 73: The land of a family shall be registered in the Thram in the name of the head of the fami- ly.

Land under joint ownership Section 74: The land under joint ownership shall be registered in the Thram in the names of all its co- owners.

Land of Corporations Section 75: The land of a corporation shall be registered, in the name of a corporation registered un- der the prevailing Company’s Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan, or in the name of the body corporate established under the relevant law.

Land of religious institutions Section 76: The land of religious institutions shall be registered in the name of the traditional lineage or reincarnate and not in the name of an individual person.

Know the definition

1. Individual land means land registered in the name of an individual person. 2. Industrial land means registered land for construction of industrial establishments, industrial areas, export processing and other concentrated production areas, and the land where mineral exploration, exploitation and processing are located. These activities are subject to any law governing industries and mining. 3. Institutional land means the registered land for office complexes, research stations, academic, medical, and religious establishments.

National Land Commission Kawangjangsa, Thimphu PO Box No. 142 PABX +975-02-321217/328181

Hotline: 152 Or

visit our website: www.nlcs.gov.bt