Duty Free Quota is also HISTORY!

On November 16, 2022 I was elated to have been able to write about the relegation of the state-sponsored corruption called the Car Quota Entitlement to the morgue - after close to half a century of misuse and abuse. But I was a tad disappointed that the Duty Free Quota did not go the same way. No doubt the Duty Free Quota is an evil at a much, much lesser degree - but nonetheless an evil that should have no place is a society that prides itself at being an epitome of Drungnam and Drungdoen. The existence of such a system of preferential treatment among equals is not a sign of a progressive society.

Going, going, GONE!

Happily, the Honorable Prime Minister has now announced in yesterday’s (09.12.2022) Kuensel that the Duty Free Quota would be buried as well - w.e.f. January, 2023. I cannot understand - unless it is designed to suppress and subjugate the poor and the incapacitated - that such a system can find acceptance in a society that aspires to be among the very best in the world. I accept that we can be - but the paper tigers will have to start to emerge out of the closets and do their share - instead of being the habitual piggyback riders.

Announcement of the burial of Duty Free Quota w.e.f. January 2023

No government in the past has had it as tough as the DNT. The COVID-19 pandemic has well and truly stolen their thunder. It is immaterial whether anyone accepts it or not - what is undeniable is that the DNT government simply did not get the opportunity to prove themselves, despite the chance that was offered them. Whether they would have performed under ideal conditions will have to remain mute for now - no one may claim the powers of a soothsayer to tell for sure. 

Look at their record - no other government in the past has dared implement the policies the DNT did - I believe that none in the future are likely to dare, not at this level. Towards the delicate period of the end of their tenure the policies they put into place, the groundbreaking changes they introduced – what can be said of them? Trailblazing! Selfless and courageous! No politics!

It has to be seen if the Bhutanese people are educated enough, and has the wisdom to be grateful for what the DNT did during such a painful period in our history. Regardless, one thing is for sure - from where I stand, at the end of their political term, the Members of the DNT can walk away with their heads held high, and with a sense of absolute satisfaction in the knowledge that whatever little opportunity they had in which to do, they took it to do good for the country and the people of Bhutan.

Ofcourse they are not without failures - one most telling is their failure in the transformation of the tourism sector. The best they could do was to transform the TCB into a department with a multi-colored name that is glaringly un-Bhutanese. Putting them under a Ministry was a good move - but not redefining and streamlining their roles and functions will continue to perpetuate the rot in the industry. To be fair, it is not the people at the TCB - but the confused mandate that they have been straddled with.