Civil servants want more salary, chimis want their travel and daily allowances increased and contractors and public officials want to cheat the government where possible. But at this very second, some people somewhere in the land of the Gross National Happiness are worrying about how to buy the next bag of rice or how to pay this month's rent. Elsewhere, some jobless youths, disillusioned with the indifference of our society to their needs, are beginning to walk the wrong paths.
We Bhutanese, wanted and we still want to do things differently. Don't we live in the land of gross national happiness? The priorities that we have set are different too compared to another country's. And I dreamt and still do dream of a Bhutan of peace, equality and justice where every individual will have an opportunity to realize his/her full potential and live a respectable life.
Bhutan's agricultural society did not have much social disparities. Wealth was more or less equally distributed. And access to food, shelter and clothing was not a problem.
Today, shelter is a big problem for many an urban poor. For example, in Phuentsholing, many Bhutanese people live across the border in India as they cannot afford the high rents within the Bhutan border. Or did you give a thought to how much the squatters of Thimphu would have suffered when their homes were demolished last time? BBS also recently reported the plight of about 125 families squatting on govt. and private lands in Samdrup Jongkhar. As the Govt. will be demolishing their huts soon, some of them are thinking of living across the border in India too.
The hardships faced by the rural poor are even greater than that of the urban poor. Some of them cannot even send their children to school. These are people left behind by modern development in Bhutan and there are many of them. According to Kuenselonline's article "Trade-off crucial to reduce poverty?" of June 16, 2006, a recent poverty report revealed that 31.7 percent of the Bhutanese population lived below the national poverty line of Nu. 740.36 a month. Of that, 38.3 percent were in the rural areas and 4.2 percent in the urban areas. And according to Agriculture Marketing and Enterprise Promotional Programme (AMEPP) about 48 percent of the people in eastern Bhutan live in poverty.
We were once proud to say that Bhutan is a country with not-much social disparities. But we cannot say that anymore. Looking at the way things are going, I see only one direction in which we are headed. We may end up to be just another third world country like our neighbours Nepal or India, with big difference between the rich and poor, high crime rates and unemployment, squalid suburbs and endless corruption. I am no doomsayer, but that is what we are headed for unless we change the course from now on.
Our country relies heavily on foreign aid and revenues from hydroelectricity. Both these sources do not benefit the poor directly. For instance, civil servants may benefit by way of increased salaries when Tala brings in more revenue. And private sector may benefit too by getting contracts in the development works. However, our farmers, who form the majority of Bhutanese, will benefit very little from it.
We must explore alternative sources of income. Taking advantage of the cheap electricity, manufacturing industries maybe further encouraged. Farm based businesses and products should be promoted to benefit the farmers. Nurturing the development of IT professionals and export of IT products and services could also be one of the industries to develop for a landlocked country. Tourism should be further promoted and tailored to benefit the rural communities more directly. For instance, rules may be made so that certain percentage of the tourist dollar goes directly to the community that the tourist visits.
Today, we are facing two of the biggest problems of our society: the growing gap between the few rich and the many poor, and the rising unemployment of our youth. According to Kuensel, "It is expected that by the end of the 10th Five Year Plan in 2012, more than 63,000 youths will enter the labour market. The unemployment rate has increased from 1.4 percent in 1998 to 3.1 percent in 2005." These two problems will have the potential to cause social unrests and instability. It is the business of every Bhutanese to think about these problems and suggest solutions before it is too late.
Like a diamond among the rocks, let Bhutan shine from the vast Himalayas.
We Bhutanese, wanted and we still want to do things differently. Don't we live in the land of gross national happiness? The priorities that we have set are different too compared to another country's. And I dreamt and still do dream of a Bhutan of peace, equality and justice where every individual will have an opportunity to realize his/her full potential and live a respectable life.
Bhutan's agricultural society did not have much social disparities. Wealth was more or less equally distributed. And access to food, shelter and clothing was not a problem.
Today, shelter is a big problem for many an urban poor. For example, in Phuentsholing, many Bhutanese people live across the border in India as they cannot afford the high rents within the Bhutan border. Or did you give a thought to how much the squatters of Thimphu would have suffered when their homes were demolished last time? BBS also recently reported the plight of about 125 families squatting on govt. and private lands in Samdrup Jongkhar. As the Govt. will be demolishing their huts soon, some of them are thinking of living across the border in India too.
The hardships faced by the rural poor are even greater than that of the urban poor. Some of them cannot even send their children to school. These are people left behind by modern development in Bhutan and there are many of them. According to Kuenselonline's article "Trade-off crucial to reduce poverty?" of June 16, 2006, a recent poverty report revealed that 31.7 percent of the Bhutanese population lived below the national poverty line of Nu. 740.36 a month. Of that, 38.3 percent were in the rural areas and 4.2 percent in the urban areas. And according to Agriculture Marketing and Enterprise Promotional Programme (AMEPP) about 48 percent of the people in eastern Bhutan live in poverty.
We were once proud to say that Bhutan is a country with not-much social disparities. But we cannot say that anymore. Looking at the way things are going, I see only one direction in which we are headed. We may end up to be just another third world country like our neighbours Nepal or India, with big difference between the rich and poor, high crime rates and unemployment, squalid suburbs and endless corruption. I am no doomsayer, but that is what we are headed for unless we change the course from now on.
Our country relies heavily on foreign aid and revenues from hydroelectricity. Both these sources do not benefit the poor directly. For instance, civil servants may benefit by way of increased salaries when Tala brings in more revenue. And private sector may benefit too by getting contracts in the development works. However, our farmers, who form the majority of Bhutanese, will benefit very little from it.
We must explore alternative sources of income. Taking advantage of the cheap electricity, manufacturing industries maybe further encouraged. Farm based businesses and products should be promoted to benefit the farmers. Nurturing the development of IT professionals and export of IT products and services could also be one of the industries to develop for a landlocked country. Tourism should be further promoted and tailored to benefit the rural communities more directly. For instance, rules may be made so that certain percentage of the tourist dollar goes directly to the community that the tourist visits.
Today, we are facing two of the biggest problems of our society: the growing gap between the few rich and the many poor, and the rising unemployment of our youth. According to Kuensel, "It is expected that by the end of the 10th Five Year Plan in 2012, more than 63,000 youths will enter the labour market. The unemployment rate has increased from 1.4 percent in 1998 to 3.1 percent in 2005." These two problems will have the potential to cause social unrests and instability. It is the business of every Bhutanese to think about these problems and suggest solutions before it is too late.
Like a diamond among the rocks, let Bhutan shine from the vast Himalayas.
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