Thimphu: People entering and leaving Bhutan can now look forward to faster services at border checkpoints with the launch of a new immigration information and monitoring system.

The new computerised system launched on Monday will ease congestion at border checkpoints and provide faster service to those entering or leaving Bhutan, according to immigration officials. T

he system will monitor all entry and exit points, keep record of all foreign workers in the country and will be readily available to relevant departments and agencies.

Earlier all recordings were done manually where data had to be punched and then recorded in registers. "The problem with the manual recording was that registers were either lost or misplaced after a month or a year when they had to be referred to.

But now it won t happen," said immigration director Thinley Wangchuk. "With this system in place, a person just has to show the code and the computer will read the whole information," Wangchuk said.

The system also maintains information about Bhutanese nationals, where and how frequently they are travelling, and the purpose of their travel.

Information on the total number of foreign workers in the country and their work permit validity will also be maintained. Officials said this system is user-friendly and less time consuming.

 "As soon as the card issued by the immigration office is produced at the checkpoints, a person can move out immediately within a short time period," said an official.

Source : PTI