PM’s first annual report at the parliament

Thimphu, June 27, 2009: The third parliament session began in capital Friday where King Jigme Khesar was present followed by report presentation by Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley,  the first annual report on the state of the nation since the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa government came into power.

In his report, PM Thinley projected that the country, running on the road of Gross National Happiness (GNH), will achieve economy growth of eight percent in the 2008-2009 fiscal year. In contrast, as per the promoters, GNH favors economic development over economic growth.

According to the report, the government has instructed the local authorities to look into gravening situation of water supply shortage, employed 22 specialists from Myanmar and employed 18 retired doctors to improve national health services besides providing training about hundred nursing assistants in various hospitals. The government has also launched an accelerated training program which is expected to produce about 1,400 nurses by 2013 against the projected requirement of 1,534.

The PM said government plas to increase the adult literacy rate to 70 percent by the end of the current plan.

A year in the government, DPT said it constructed around 290 km of farm roads and power tiller tracks. He also said government plans to phase out the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to promote Bhutan as a purely organic brand. (Download full report here.)