Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley and National Institute of Information & Technology (NIIT) chair¬man, Rajendra S Pawar, met for the second time in five days to thrash out the conceptual framework of the Nu 2.05 billion Total Solutions Project.
Meeting at hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai yesterday evening, the two discussed how to prepare Bhutan for a knowledge-based economy and society by building IT capacity and infrastructure that are not only of high quality but sustainable.
The prime minister said that NIIT, which has won the contract to execute the project, must meet all the processes that are being put in place, spell the purposes and objectives and ensure that the government has the ownership.
He also said that the activities to be pursued under the project should be seen in the light of whether they are GNH positive, GNH negative or GNH neutral, in keeping with Bhutan’s GNH aspira¬tions.
It was agreed that the project must not lose sight of Bhutan’s plans to develop a green and sustainable economy, bolster tourism, culture industry and private sector, and build world-class service hubs through investments in the areas of education, health and finance. It must benefit all other sec¬tors similarly.
A competent IT resource pool created by the project must also attract and be accessible to foreign investors.
It was agreed that each strategy deployed by the project must link to Bhutan’s basic goals, while also ensuring that Bhutan acquires the capability to sustain the programme.
“All these basic goals must be benefited, strengthened and supported by the IT sector,” the prime minister said, adding that sustainability is a key in GNH.
Rajendra Pawar said the NIIT will engage the local people as much as possible. There will be seriousness, flexibility as required and the activities will be aligned to meet the larger objectives of the nation.
The NIIT, he said, will field its best people in Bhutan – under his personal supervision and guidance – who will work, as far as possible with local counterparts to build capacity. His team will even be briefed on GNH and other policies and aspirations of the government.
“The project is exciting with huge potentials but there are also lots of complexities,” he said.
A series of meetings and consultations will take place in Bhutan to further fine-tune the project.

Staff Reporter