Today, the Joint Sitting of the Parliament continued the deliberation on the Performance Audit Reports on Farm Road. The PAC Chair reported that the Committee had reviewed the two new recommendations given by the House yesterday and accepted the inclusion of the budget for bridge construction while planning for the farm road construction. The Committee went by the Guidelines of Farm Road Development and Management Revision 2019 and could not accept the proposal for land substitution during the construction of the farm road. 

The House endorsed all four recommendations through a majority show of hands. The recommendations are:

1. As per the Road Act of Bhutan 2013, DoR as a national authority needs to review strategic master plan, institutional arrangement, road classification system including GC, Chiwog and farm road development, inventory management, maintenance and oversight role in ensuring quality management system of the farm roads in the country;
2. The condition of most of the GC roads has deteriorated across the country. The LG has not been able to maintain it due to lack of required technical competence and resources. Therefore, PAC recommends that the construction and maintenance of GC roads be taken over by DoR as in the past;
3. DoR being the National authority for all roads in the country, to review the Guidelines for Farm Road Development Revision 2019 and rationalize the length of the chiwog and farm roads to be maintained by Local Government and RUGs accordingly; and
4. The Government to consider prioritizing the construction of bridges for the existing farm roads that have not been connected at the moment. For the construction of any new farm road in future, as recommended by the RAA, the Local Government must carry out pre-feasibility study including drawing and realistic budgeting for approval by the relevant agency.

The House further deliberated on the Performance Audit Report on Safe and Sustainable Road Transport System along with the two recommendations of the Committee. The PAC Chair submitted that the Committee had come up with the two recommendations after a comprehensive consultation with the relevant stakeholders, in-depth reviews of the 13 recommendations provided by the Royal Audit Authority, and the issues observed on ground as well as through series of consultation.  After long deliberation the House did not support the committee’s recommendation on relocating the bus terminal at Lungtenzampa to a new location. The House included a new recommendation and endorsed both the recommendations as:

1. To improve the efficiency and reliable urban public transport system, the Government should implement Bus Rapid Transit System, improve bus and taxi stops infrastructure and information boards to be made available for travelers at the bus terminals/stops; and
2. The Government to come up with policy and measures for a safe and quality public transport system.

In total, the House had set 10 recommendations - 4 from the Implementation Status of the past resolutions, 4 from the Review Report of Performance Audit Report on Farm Road Development and Management in Bhutan and 2 from the Review Report of Performance Audit Report on Safe and Sustainable Road. The 4 recommendations on the Implementation Status of the past resolutions are:

1. The Geologic conditions of the Right Bank Dam area are seen as force majeure condition of Nature, so irregularities pertaining to Dam Site development may be considered for dropping if the Barrage option gets through. (The option on decision of Dam/barrage will be reported to Parliament during 2023 Summer Session).
2. RAA to review and decide on the pending irregularities from 2010-15 with the concerned agencies and submit a status report to PAC by end of September 2022. (PAC will report about the status during 2023 Summer Session)
3. Review Timber Extraction and Distribution Modality (TEDM), 2017 to enable NRDCL as a sole distributor of timber (log form) in the country. (PAC will report during the 2023 Summer Session)
4. The NRDCL should operationalize its Corporate Strategic Plan (CSP) through annual plans and enhance robust control measures and formalize the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to optimize cost efficiency and productivity. (PAC will report during the 2023 Summer Session).

The Joint Sitting of the Parliament adopted all the 10 recommendations with 66 Yes, 1 No and 2 Abstains out of 69 Members present and voting.

Hon’ble Speaker also declared the tabling of the Annual Audit Report 2021-22 and Performance Audit Report on Irrigation Systems and referred the reports to the Public Accounts Committee for review and to prepare for the 2023 Summer Session.