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English Newsletter Volume IV Issue I “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 Bhutan 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 Druk Gyalpo 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 Thromdes 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, Thimphu Thromde’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 Constitution of Bhutan 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.
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