Finally Dismantled After Nearly Half A Century!

As I had said in few of my earlier posts on this blog, achieving greatness does not have to be always about accomplishing great things - it is also about having the courage to dismantle great evil - such as the shameful state-sponsored corruption called Vehicle Quota Entitlement that has enticed a great number of public employees to tread on the path of immorality and depravity.

The first time I brought up the subject of the evil on this blog that was the vehicle quota system, was on June 16, 2011. I have been ranting ceaselessly ever since. Finally it looks like the DNT government is burying it. I offer them my CONGRATULATIONS. Unfortunately I cannot say that it is a gutsy thing that they have done - that would not be true. Doing the right thing is not gutsy or courageous - it is a duty, a responsibility that comes with the job. But the DNT government has the distinction of being the only government that has acted, as a responsible government should. Not a single government before them had the moral probity to do what was expected of them.

It beats all logic that this immoral thing has gone on for close to half a century - it surely is telling on the morality and uprightness of the so called “unique” Bhutanese people. I absolutely refuse to buy the claim that there were smart and upright citizens in positions of power and authority in the past, or that they are still around, to run and direct the course of the country on the right path. If there were, we would not have inherited a million problems that our King is now fighting a lone battle to sort out.

But now that it is done and dusted with, I do not want to speak about it any more.

When speaking on the Pay Structure Reform Bill on the floor of the National Assembly, Finance Minister Namgay Tshering was on record saying: “there is no clear set objectives on why the vehicle quota system was initiated.”

His Excellency Namgay Tshering was not even born when the vehicle quota system came into being. By contrast, I became entitled to it, the year he was born. Thus, it is understandable that he would not have a context on the matter. Perhaps, one day, I could offer him a rationalization on why I believe vehicle quota system was necessitated, that its introduction DID serve an objective. I believe that it was never about a reward to some select group of people, as perceived.

I believe that it was dictated to circumvent certain situational compulsions that prevailed during the era when the quota system had to be conjured up.