The Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs (

Dzongkha Dzongkha (; ) is a Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman language that is the official and national language of Bhutan. It is written using the Tibetan script. The word means "the language of the fortress", from ' "fortress" and ' "language ...

: ནང་སྲིད་ལྷན་ཁག་; Wylie: ''nang-srid lhan-khag''; "Nangsi Lhenkhag") renamed as Ministry of Home Affairs is the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

ministry within the

Lhengye Zhungtshog Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

(Council of Ministers) which oversees

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

; the civil administration;

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

services; the issuance of citizenship documents, and other related documents; the delivery of services by local governments; and the preservation, promotion, development, and protection of the culture and heritage of Bhutan. It is headed by the Home Minister (''Nangsi Lyonpo''), who sits on the Lhengye Zhungtshog and is led by the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The Ministry currently operates from Tashichho Dzong.

Background

On May 20, 1968, the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, in its 28th session, formed a council of Ministers because of the increasing number of development activities in Bhutan. Accordingly, it resolved to appoint Lyonpo Tamji Jagar as the first Home Minister. Until 1999, this post was one among a council of Ministers appointed by the King (

Druk Gyalpo The King of Bhutan, officially the Druk Gyalpo (; ), is the constitutional monarch and head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as ''Drukyul'' which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Drago ...

). In 1999, as a major step toward democratization, King

Jigme Singye Wangchuck Jigme Singye Wangchuck (, ; born 11 November 1955) is the fourth Druk Gyalpo ( Dragon King) of Bhutan, reigning from 1972 to 2006. He is the father of the present King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck. He is the only son of five ch ...

dissolved the existing cabinet and withdrew from his role in the decision-making in the cabinet. Six new ministers, including a Home Minister, were nominated, placed before the

, and voted in as new ministers. On July 26, 1999, the National Assembly enacted the Lhengye Zhungtsho Act on advice of the King. Under this Act, candidates for the post of Home Minister were nominated by the King and elected indirectly through the National Assembly. Under the first incarnation of the Lhengye Zhungtshog, as under the "CCM," Ministers continued to enjoy five-year terms while the Chair rotated among them on a yearly basis. In 2008, the status of the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs was reshaped under Article 17 and Article 20 of the

Constitution of Bhutan The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་གི་རྩ་ཁྲིམས་ཆེན་མོ་; Wylie transliteration, Wylie:'' 'Druk-gi tsa-thrims-chen-mo'') was enacted 18 July 2008 by the Politics of Bhutan, R ...

. Executive power is wholly vested in the

, consisting of the Ministers headed by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The number of Ministers is determined by the number of Ministries required to provide efficient and good governance; currently the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs is one of ten ministries. The Home Minister, like all Ministers, is appointed from among National Assembly members by the King on advice of the Prime Minister, and must be a natural-born citizen of Bhutan. The Home Minister carries out part of the Lhengye Zhungtshog's Constitutionally mandated duty to aid, advise, and inform the King about the affairs of the State. While the Ministry of Cultural and Home Affairs, like other Ministries, may formulate and implement policy, these regulations are subordinate to laws of Bhutan.

List of Home Ministers

Secretariat Divisions

The Bureau of Law and Order provides legal advice and guidance; facilitates prosecution; conducts research; reviews security clearance cases and verifies adverse records; and regulates explosives. It also coordinates visits by international human rights and humanitarian agencies; coordinates with the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

on matters relating to transnational crimes; coordinates government level Bhutan-India meetings on border management and security; coordinates Border District meetings with Indian states of Assam and West Bengal; and liaises and coordinates on national security issues with the

Royal Bhutan Police The Royal Bhutan Police (; ) is the national police force of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It is responsible for maintaining law and order and prevention of crime in Bhutan. It was formed on 1 September 1965 with 555 personnel reassigned from the Ro ...

and

Dzongkhag The Kingdom of Bhutan is divided into 20 districts (Dzongkha: ). Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia. are the primary subdivisions of Bhutan. They pos ...

Administrations. The Administrative and Finance Division implements the policy of the government to have a small, efficient and compact civil staff. This division is responsible for strengthening the administrative units of all the

s (districts) and

Dungkhag A dungkhag (་ ''drungkhak'') is a sub-district of a dzongkhag (district) of Bhutan. The head of a dungkhag is a ''Dungpa''. As of 2007, nine of the twenty dzongkhags had from one to three dungkhags, with sixteen dungkhags in total. History Und ...

s (sub-districts) by posting, promoting, training and transferring the administrative personnel. This division also coordinates with other government agencies to deploy other categories of personnel to the

s. The Policy and Planning Division works with the Planning Commission, an independent agency, to coordinate development projects within the Dzongkhags. Its Information and Communication Technology Unit (ICT Unit) maintains government websites, publications, and other online resources.

Departments

The Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development has eight divisions: the Division for Cultural Properties; the Division for Conservation of Architectural Heritage Sites; the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

; the

Textile Museum A textile museum is a museum with exhibits relating to the history and art of textiles, including: * Textile industries and manufacturing, often located in former factories or buildings involved in the design and production of yarn, cloth, and cl ...

; the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

; the Folk Heritage Museum; the Royal Academy of Performing Arts; and the Driglam Sections. The Department of Culture was previously known as the Special Commission for Cultural Affairs (SCCA), the Commission was established through a Royal Decree on July 31, 1985, with the mandate to preserve and promote Bhutan's cultural and traditional heritage. The Commission was reconstituted in 1995 as the ''Solzin Lhentshog'' with fifteen members. Following the devolution of the executive authority to the elected

in June 1998, the body was reconstituted for the third time in September 1998 with 15 members for three-year terms with Lyonpo Thinley Gyamtsho as its chairman. With the third restructuring exercise of the Government Organizations, the Commission was again renamed as the National Commission for Cultural Affairs (NCCA), which later became a Department of Culture under the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs in on June 19, 2003. The Department of Immigration polices illegal immigration and provides immigration services for legal residents, including naturalization and visa services. Bhutanese passports, however, are the purview of the

. The department has three divisions: the Immigration Service Division (managing Regional Immigration Offices and

Paro Airport Paro International Airport () is the sole international airport of the four airports in Bhutan. It is from Paro in a deep valley on the bank of the river Paro Chhu. With surrounding peaks as high as , it is considered one of the world's m ...

); the Inspection Division; and the Naturalization and Resident Permit Division. The Department of Civil Registration and Census is composed of three divisions: the Civil Registration and Citizenship Services Division; the Demography and Information Division; and the Population Census Division. The Department of Local Governance oversees and implements Bhutan's program of decentralization. The Department of Disaster Management oversees and directs local and national governments in preparation and prevention for disasters.

References

External links

Ministry of Home Affairs (Bhutan)

National Portal of Bhutan
{{authority control Home and Cultural Affairs

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...