TIL BDR GHALLEY | Thimphu
Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay has called on local government leaders to encourage families to consider having a third child, saying Bhutan’s declining population has become a pressing national concern that requires immediate action.
Addressing a monthly meeting with local leaders, the Prime Minister said the effects of depopulation are more visible in villages than in urban centres, where many Bhutanese have relocated.
He said people living in Thimphu may not fully understand the extent of the demographic challenge because residents from across the country continue to move to the capital.
However, at the dzongkhag and gewog levels, local governments are witnessing villages and households becoming increasingly empty.
According to the Prime Minister, local leaders have a clear understanding of how many households still have children and how many no longer do, making them among those most concerned about the country’s demographic trend.
He said the current situation presents a critical opportunity to encourage larger families before demographic decline becomes more difficult to reverse.
To address the issue, the government has introduced a Third Child Promotion Programme (TCPP), under which families will receive Nu. 10,000 per month for three years for every eligible third or higher-order child.
The Prime Minister said delaying such measures could make them less effective in the future, even if the government were to offer substantially larger financial incentives.
“This is the high time to encourage people to have a third child,” he said, adding that when the country becomes more developed in the future, even incentives of Nu. 25,000 per month may not persuade people to have more children.
He said the announcement of the third-child incentive has already generated excitement among some members of the public.
The Prime Minister also addressed concerns over the financial implications of the programme, saying discussions had taken place within the government regarding the cost of implementation.
He said some departments had estimated that the programme could require as much as Nu. 500 million annually, while the Ministry of Finance had expressed concerns even over investments of around Nu. 500 million each year.
However, he said expenditure should be viewed as an investment in Bhutan’s long-term future rather than as a financial burden.
“If there is a positive return from this incentive, not only Nu. 500 million, we will spend Nu. 10 billion,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the country already spends between Nu. 500 million to Nu. 600 million to construct roads and schools each year, but such infrastructure alone would not be sufficient if Bhutan’s population continues to decline.
“We spend huge amounts, but what if we don’t have the population?” he said, adding that protecting the country’s population has become a national priority.
He urged gups to take an active role in explaining the programme to communities and encouraging eligible families to understand its broader purpose.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that while some people may view the monthly payment as a meaningful financial incentive, others may not consider Nu. 10,000 significant.
He said the programme should not be viewed only in terms of the monetary benefit but also in terms of safeguarding the country’s future.
He also clarified that although the current programme focuses on third and higher-order children, the government recognises the importance of first and second children as well.
He said first and second children are essential because they replace the parent generation, and if the government’s financial capacity improves in the future, support for them could also be considered.
The Prime Minister urged local leaders to help communities understand that the programme is intended to address a national demographic challenge rather than simply provide financial assistance.
The Third Child Promotion Programme became effective on 4 June 2026.
In terms of implementation, the Government has reported steady progress in rolling out the programme. Based on the list of eligible applicants provided by the Office of the Cabinet Affairs and Strategic Coordination (OCASC) through the Department of Census and Civil Registration (DCRC) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Health has identified 5,458 eligible applicants for the initial phase.
To ensure accuracy and transparency in the use of public resources, the Ministry of Health, through the Department of Public Health, is working closely with OCASC to verify and validate each applicant before releasing payments. Officials are contacting applicants individually to confirm key details, including Citizenship Identity Card (CID) numbers, bank account information, current addresses, birth order of the child, and consent to participate in the programme.
The verification exercise has required additional time and attention, particularly because some applicants’ contact information needed updating or completion. This process also coincided with the financial year-end closing in June, which affected the payment processing timeline.
As a result, the cash incentives will now be disbursed from the start of the new financial year in July 2026. To ensure beneficiaries are not disadvantaged by the delay and to mark the official launch of the programme, all eligible families will receive payments for both June and July together in the first disbursement.
Based on preliminary estimates, the Government expects to disburse more than Nu. 54 million in this initial payment cycle, with final beneficiary numbers to be confirmed upon completion of the verification process.
Under the programme, every eligible third or higher-order child will receive Nu. 10,000 per month from the month of birth until reaching three years of age, amounting to a maximum benefit of Nu. 360,000 per child over 36 monthly payments. No retrospective payments will be made for periods before the programme’s effective date.
Children born on or after 4 June 2026 as the third or higher-order child are eligible. Children born before that date who had not yet reached three years of age as of 4 June 2026 are also eligible, with payments beginning from the programme’s commencement date.
Eligibility is determined based on the mother’s registered birth order in the Civil Registration and Census System.
Remarriage, separation, divorce or adoption does not reset a child’s birth order, and each eligible child is enrolled independently. A mother may receive benefits simultaneously for more than one eligible child.
The programme also covers multiple births, with each child assigned a birth order consecutively from the mother’s existing living biological children. Any child assigned a birth order of three or above will qualify independently for the benefit.
Payments are conditional upon the child’s welfare. Benefits may be suspended where credible concerns of neglect, abuse or serious risks to the child’s well-being are reported.
If a child dies before reaching the age of three, payments will stop from the following month, and parents or guardians are required to report the death within five days.
Any benefits wrongly received after a child’s death are recoverable, while deliberate concealment may be treated as misappropriation of public funds under applicable laws.
The programme is part of the government’s response to Bhutan’s declining fertility rate and changing demographic profile.
According to the National Health Survey 2023, Bhutan’s total fertility rate has declined from 5.6 in 1994 to 2.0, falling below the replacement level of 2.1.
Government data also indicate that 62,271 women aged between 25 and 45 have two or more children, representing a shrinking demographic group that could influence future population growth.
Third-child births remain concentrated in a few dzongkhags, with Tashigang recording the highest number at 603, followed by Mongar with 541, Samdrup Jongkhar with 411, Samtse with 410, and Sarpang with 350.
At the lower end of the scale, Haa recorded 66 third-child births, while Gasa recorded the lowest at 20.
The government has also noted that the proportion of people aged 65 and above is projected to increase from 5.9 percent in 2017 to 13.4 percent by 2047, while an estimated 71,327 Bhutanese were living overseas as of May 2026, with 55 percent residing in Australia, many of them in prime working and reproductive age groups.
These demographic trends form the basis for the introduction of the voluntary, targeted and time-bound Third Child Promotion Programme.
