A letter- my career in civil service  

Thursday, 10 January 2019

The Honourable Chairperson

Anti-Corruption Commission

Kawajangsa

Thimphu

Subject: Resignation

   (through Director, Department of Investigation)

Dasho,

It has been a great privilege to be part of this esteemed Institution. My everyday assignment(s) gave me much needed exposure to laws, policies and programmes put in place at different tiers of governance. In so doing, I gained some acquaintance with the state machinery and its dynamics – the bureaucracy, the economy and the society. Equally revealing, if not more, joining the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) gave me the cause to strengthen the values I have always admired and subscribed to and instilled in me a newer dimension of thinking and perspective. I owe a debt of gratitude!

Of late, better or worse, I have come to realize that I will have to seek my career, if any, elsewhere. Ever since I realized that I have a responsibility to shoulder as a member of a community and a citizen of the country, I made an effort to avail myself (if I can be of some value) for the cause – which at times appears as a utopian thinking; a concrete and actionable concept some other time. In my hitherto process of interaction- with people, power and politics, however sketchy it might have been, I felt compelling need to be part of that community: which is complex yet dynamic; subtle yet comprehensible; territorial yet communal and desirous yet spiritual.

In that pursuit, joining the ACC and my experience for last four years has been remarkable–a path least taken, an opportunity to experience intricate everyday work accessible only to the privileged few (ordinary/commoners point of view, at least) and the mission so profound like that of a journey to the tall and the sacred Mount Meru.

Admittedly, I found life in civil service not so accommodative–some explicit, few indicative and rest self-imposed. True to the context as I understood, Jean Jacque Rousseau posited, ‘Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.’ May be my expectations were unreasonably high? That having said, I do acknowledge that laws–acts, rules and regulations, orders, and code of conduct have noble intentions–ensure safety, security, equity and growth. After all, why chart the uncharted territory(ies) whose boundary(ies) is(are) undefined, destination(s) unknown and objective(s) unclear?

At times, in the growing metropolis of one’s mind, one become excited to explore the unknown–some of whose excitement are short-lived; others worth enduring. In the mix of it, I am convinced that I need to make a call–to bring my career in the civil service in general and the ACC in particular to an end, however premature and hastened it appears to be.

My decision at this juncture is primarily to do with my life’s goal in distant future. As the Human Resource Committee (HRC) is aware of my aspiration to pursue Masters, the course I so intend to study is more aligned with my life beyond the ACC than as an investigator today. The result for the scholarship I have applied is scheduled to be declared sometime in April 2019. Having already made up my mind of life beyond the ACC, to continue my work at the ACC until such time results are declared and make decisions thereafter would be equivalent to using the ACC as a fall back which I suppose would go against the spirit of recently issued Executive Order as well as my principle to not to use agencies/institutions as stepping stones for my career growth. Notwithstanding the preceding assertion, the fact that I have worked at the ACC would definitely enhance my credibility in the spheres of integrity and professionalism–the privilege one would automatically derive.

Irrelevant as it appears, I would like to set the record straight that I am deeply touched and heartened by the concerns expressed by supervisors and colleagues on my decision to navigate through the uncharted territories–no concrete plan for immediate future. Their advice, indeed are reflection of how difficult it is to earn a living–a reasonable job. At this point in time, I chose principle over necessity, reason over passion and conviction over exigency! If human world can be considered as a laboratory, I find it quite tempting to experiment; what comes out of that very experiment remains to be seen and validated. As I move forward, I will embrace their views on my decision as an advice from an elder and concerns of a friend.

Considering the foregoing circumstances, I would be grateful if the HRC could approve my resignation with effect from Friday, 1 March 2019.

I wish the Anti-Corruption Commission, Bhutan the best in its everyday endeavour!

Thanking you.

Yours sincerely,

(Dechen Rabgyal)

         AIPO

EID No. 20150104993

Dechen Rabgyal

I am from Drepung, Mongar, Bhutan.

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