Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative believes that continued dependence on external development partners undermines the spirit of self reliance. It is paradoxical to advocate self reliance to communities while one remains dependent on others.
Therefore, the LMS Board and SJI have decided to take articulation of self-reliance to the next level of implementation and that is Bhutanese people owning, supporting, and governing SJI. Why should Bhutanese support SJI?
Bhutanese should support SJI because:
(i) it endeavours to showcase GNH (Bhutan’s development philosophy)-in-action with the long-term plan to go beyond Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag,
(ii) hence, it has to be sustained to succeed,
(iii) it lends greater meaning to democracy through citizens taking charge for their own well being and self help is core to self reliance –why should others support us when we are not ready to support ourselves?
(iv) expected contribution from each prospective SJI member is very small (Nu.100 per member) and affordable and
(v) SJI will remain small and temporary, which can also serve as an institutional model to others.
We request you to help us mobilize more members from within your organization and your circle of influence. Membership fee, which is a minimum of Nu.100/- may be directly deposited on a monthly basis directly from the bank on authorization from the concerned individual member. Some members also offer lump sum amount. SJI has bank accounts in both BOBL (200185095) and BNBL (5100043705001). All contribution to Lhomon Society, SJI’s parent organization, is tax deductable. Therefore, SJI shall issue tax exempt letter to all the members prior to the annual filing of tax.
Please, contact Yeshey Tenzin (17509066, yeshey@sji.bt) or Karma Choki (17983530, karmac@sji.bt) for any further communication.