Senior Tax officer Luvsandagva Batbaatar is the head of the tax department at the Governor’s Office in Khanbogd soum, South Gobi aimag. He did his schooling at the 'Zokhiomj' college and graduated in 2008 majoring in foreign trade and taxation economics. He is a native of Khanbogd, and after graduation he returned to his hometown to work here and also to start a new family of his own. He is a civil servant, head of a family of three, living with his wife and son. Batbaatar himself comes from a large family of six.
His life and career, interestingly enough, are closely linked with Oyu Tolgoi. The area he spent years growing up, grazing animals, and also where his family used to spend the winter and the fall were all close to the mine site, within a radius of 5-10 kilometres. Herder families, who lived in such 'impacted' areas were moved and resettled as provided for in an agreement signed with the Khanbogd local authorities. Oyu Tolgoi even built new animal fences and dug new wells for resettled herder families, and L.Batbaatar’s family was no exception. The agreement also had a provision according to which Oyu Tolgoi would provide scholarships to up to two children from the 'impacted' herder families, and L.Batbaatar was entitled to this scholarship under which Oyu Tolgoi supported his four-year tuition fee and transportation costs between Ulaanbaatar and Khanbogd.
L.Batbaatar’s younger brother lives with his mother tending animals. They have some 800 goats and camels, and their number is slowly but steadily growing. “Progress is not far off in Khanbogd which gives us young people confidence in our future. I must say I am happy to be living and working in my hometown” said Batbaatar smiling.
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