Tibet: Remarkable Achievements

　　Dr.John Cherian（India）

　　American historians have been fond of saying that it was the coming of the railways that opened the hinterland of the United States for development. The herculean efforts of the Chinese railway engineers to connect the Tibet Autonomous Region, “the roof of the world”, to the rest of China has similarly given a fillip to the local economy and the wider region. The Qinghai-Tibet railway, one of the greatest engineering feats of this century, has contributed significantly the rapid growth of Tibetan economy in recent years. Tibet was the only autonomous region in the Peoples Republic that was not linked by rail. The railway, completed in 2005, built at a cost of $4 billion, reaching an altitude of over 5,000 meters, is the highest railway in the world. 550 km of the railway was built on permafrost.

　　Now the railway is being extended from Lhasa to Shigatse, near the border with Nepal. The line is being further extended to Nyingtri near the border with India. The railway will be connected to the inland port of Yadong situated 300 km from Thimphu and 600 km from Dhaka. This will further expand trade between Tibet and South Asian countries. With the Indian Railways also having ambitious plans for extending their network to the northeast, the time may soon come when people and goods from India can reach Tibet by train. The short term goal is to connect the whole of Tibet to the major cities of China by the year 2020. Among the tracks planned is one to the Nepalese and Indian borders from Shigatse. The Shigatse line will be operational from September, this year. 

　　Tibet anyway has been witnessing dramatic changes since the early nineties when the Communist Party leadership in Lhasa started seriously implementing the sort of economic reforms that were already put into action in the rest of China since 1978. The central government in Beijing had set an ambitious goal for the development of Tibet, which till then was among the least developed regions in China. At the same time, the Communist Party leadership was mindful of the local conditions prevalent in Tibet. Great care has been taken to ensure that the ambitious infra-structural projects like the railway does not cause any environmental problems or radically upset the traditional Tibetan way of life. The Chinese Constitution and the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy guarantees the rights of Tibetans to use and develop their own language. The central government has promulgated tough laws aimed to protect the religious relics and monuments that dot the Tibetan Plateau. The magnificent Potala Palace has been restored to its old glory with help from the central government in the form of cash, gold and technical expertise. 

　　The Chinese Communist Party had acknowledged the fact that the Tibetan economy despite the earlier economic reforms introduced in the late seventies was relatively backward in comparison to the developed regions in the south and the east of the country. In July 1992, Tibet introduced a set of policies and regulations intended to “deepen reforms and increase the degree of openness” while encouraging investment in Tibet, not only from other parts of China but also from outside. Border trading posts, including those along the border with India and Nepal, where barter trade had historically existed, were reopened.

　　The Chinese Communist Party has been formulating special measures for Tibet since its peaceful liberation. These measures included heavy subsidies for the Tibetan economy. Large funds were allocated from the central budget to speedily revitalize the Tibetan economy. In the nineties more than a billion Yuan were spent on a comprehensive agricultural project in Tibet. The untapped agricultural, water, mineral and other resources were successfully harnessed for developmental purposes. Tibet, like the rest of China has also been witnessing impressive economic growth since the early nineties. In Tibet, urban and rural growth has complemented each other. Most of the population in Tibet is confined to rural areas. It should not be forgotten that when the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, the region was among the poorest in the world. It had virtually no industries to boast of at the time.

　　The region is well endowed in mineral resources. Its mineral reserves are estimated to be worth more than $96 billion. The Tibetan Plateau has enormous reserves of copper, gold and silver. The many salt lakes in Tibet have an abundance of rare minerals like lithium, boron and cesium. According to Chinese authorities, meticulous planning is done before mining operations are commenced so that the minimum damage is done to the fragile environment.

　　Agricultural and industrial output has been recording an upward growth every year. In the 11th five year plan, the state increased its spending on agriculture substantially.  In the 12th Five year Plan, Tibet has continued to focus on agricultural scientific research for the production of high yield crops, livestock breeding and food processing. Agricultural income, because of increased output and better transportation, has registered a double digit increase in the last decade. In recent years, the Central government and the Tibetan local government have implemented preferential policies for crop cultivation along with subsidies for livestock breeding and forestry. The farmers are urged to plant crops according to the needs of the market.  Last year, Tibet’s GDP grew by 13 per cent. Statistics have shown that the average income in the poorest rural areas have risen substantially. Better roads and railways have made consumer goods available to all Tibetans 

　　Education and the propagation of Tibetan culture were also given their due importance. The literacy rate, along with the school attendance has risen dramatically, despite the fact that many Tibetans still follow a nomadic and pastoral life style. The “three guarantees” of free food, accommodation and tuition offered by the central government is an attractive incentive for the youth. Hundreds of new Tibetan middle schools have been set up since the 1980’s. By 2020, Tibet is expected to be close to the national average in terms of educational development.

　　Medical services and hospitals are now within easy reach in the large but sparsely populated Tibetan plateau. The immunization rate for children is almost 100 per cent and the average life span has now exceeded 65. Tibetans having a job and those living in urban areas all have medical insurance. They have to contribute a small percentage from their salary to avail of this benefit. In farming and pastoral areas, the people are entitled to free medical care. By the end of the last decade, the number of hospital beds increased to 8,338. In 1959, when the Dalai Lama left Tibet, the number of hospital beds available were as few as 480.

　　The Tibetan population, which before liberation was experiencing negative growth, has now been registering steady growth. In the sixth national census conducted in 2010, the region had a population of over 3 million, more than double than the population in 1951. Better health facilities and improved standards of living have obviously contributed to the growth. Tibetans engaged in pastoral activities livestock breeding and agriculture is exempted from the strict family planning norms most Chinese nationals are subjected to. The Tibetan population growth rate is the higher than the national average in the People Republic. 

　　A mass housing program completed this year has provided comfortable and permanent shelter in the form of modern Tibetan style houses to more than 2.3 million Tibetans, many of them living in semi-nomadic conditions.  Chinese authorities argue that these are moves that will help the average Tibetan to transit from traditional agricultural practices and animal husbandry towards a modern market economy.

　　Today, according to all available indicators, the developmental gap between Tibet and the rest of China has considerably narrowed. The Chinese Communist Party has always maintained that the development of Tibet is crucial to the overall development and progress of China.　 

　　（Dr.John Cherian，Chief of Bureau, Frontline Magazine, India）