BHUTAN TODAY The New Perspective

The 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has sparked renewed interest in the state of media freedom in Bhutan. While the country’s ranking plummeted to 152nd, the reasoning offered in the report- particularly its assertion that 80 percent of private newspapers’ advertising revenue comes from government agencies and is allocated based on proximity to power- was …

…𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑫𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈 By Sonam Choden Infrastructure development plays a critical and multifaceted role in enhancing regional connectivity, fostering socio-economic growth, and improving access to essential public services, particularly in rural and underserved communities where isolation has historically limited development …

…𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑮𝒐𝒎𝒕𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 By Kinzang Lhamo The official handover of three water borewells under the Small Development Project (SDP) was held on May 5, 2025, marking a crucial step in addressing persistent water shortages in Gomtu and Pagli. With two borewells in Gomtu and one in Pagli, the …

…𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 By Tashi Tshewang Bhutan’s year-on-year inflation rate rose to 3.52% in March 2025, driven largely by a steep increase in food prices, according to the National Statistics Bureau’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) bulletin. Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices surged by …

In a country that has long prided itself on decentralization and citizen-centric governance, it is deeply troubling that numerous gewogs across the country are functioning without the very personnel who make local governance possible. While national leaders continue to advocate for greater autonomy and service delivery at the grassroots, their words ring hollow when basic administrative roles such as Gewog …