Making Home Abroad

BSA basically is meant to enhance the interaction of Bhutanese students abroad.  Acting like ambassador of Bhutan, it also carries out the functions like HM’s birthday and National day celebration. The association has helped and done well enough in promoting the unity and Bhutanese spirit abroad. On another hand the students abroad has been facing several orientation difficulties with the claiming of funds, process and utility of funds.  Registering to BSA has been one difficulty for individuals who are mostly in far away colleges from the main BSA. BSA executives submit the proposal for the fund for forthcoming events and the claiming of funds has been always exhaustive procedure.  Even if the funds being released, there is still the question of how funds are being used.  Some members of the bigger BSA’s like Kolkata BSA and Bangalore BSA, says there should be member who also duly check the utility of funds by executives because treasurer has been simply an incorporated bone in the muscle of the body. Bigger BSA owing to its more number of members receives proportionately more budget than other smaller BSA’s. BSAs with low number of members have been how ever quite easy in running well due to the close regulation of budget owing to its small size. Unlike smaller BSA, bigger BSA lacks the accessibility of each member to how the funds are being utilized. Members say that they are uninformed about how the funds are being used and transparency is being subdued.  Are executives trusted by Adult and Higher Education Department who monitors the BSA? Members, they say they rarely gets call from the Department for the inquiry of how BSA being run or budget being used. Does the department strictly comply with BSA guidelines? In some BSA, the same executives run BSA for several years which defy the BSA guideline.  If the proposal of fund is made online-that would be a moon in the night. It would save the exhaustive procedure of posting a proposal, submitting a receipt etc.  Some colleges have no BSA which can’t make it to number ten members although few of them exist as Bhutanese student abroad. Many students are unregistered as BSA members due to

1) Less than ten members. 2)  Far away from the main BSA. 3) Forming new BSA is hectic process.

Executives of the BSA say that, since the claimed budget is according to estimated cost, sometimes it happens that budget shortfalls for the listed menu for the celebration and they have to expend it from their own pocket.  The reimbursement how ever is the process longer than litigating a case in court, they say. Students who are popular enough only reap the association benefits, some says. For some students, they say without BSA might serve a greater unity. BSA as an official association draws attention to sensitivity of budget being used.  For some, BSA has not done anything remarkable.  How the department monitoring BSA around the world, has proven effectively well in rendering service is vague seeing many unregistered students and even members of BSA not yielding benefits from it. The claim of funds should be easy and accessible. There is a need of one member to check the utility of the fund obeying the guideline. BSA is after all to make Bhutan in a foreign land for the Bhutanese students.