Alcoholism is a growing problem among Bhutanese Public Servants a new report shows.
The report uses figures released by the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) which shows that 113 Public Servants have accessed its support desk since it was established in 2015; of these cases, 50 were related to alcoholism.
“Of the alcoholism cases, 19 Civil Servants have fully recovered after the introduction of rehabilitation programs that include sending then to rehab centres and detox services,” the report said.
“These Civil Servants are also back at work. Four Civil Servants relapsed and are back in rehab for the second time,” it said.
Chief Human Resource Officer at the RCSC, Sherab Zangpo said the number of Public Servants seeking help was gradually increasing.
“Only three people sought help in 2015, but 21 Civil Servants are being monitored as of now,” Mr Zangpo said.
“Three Civil Servants are currently undergoing rehabilitation,” he said.
“Two have voluntarily resigned from the service when they could not recover and refused to undergo rehabilitation with the fear of social stigma.”
An RCSC official said that apart from alcoholism, four of the total cases were related to drugs and about 10 related to mental health issues resulting from stress or family concerns.
‘There were cases where officers ran away from the rehab and we had to search for them and take them back,” the official said.
“Many others fear seeking help because they are scared they might lose their job,” they said.
In other areas, the report said there had been two verbal complaints about sexual harassment, but none had been put in writing, and other complaints were mostly about over-work.
Thimphu, 31 August 2021
