Aid measures lift nearly 500,000 out of poverty

From 2016 to the end of last year, 478,000 people in the Tibet autonomous region saw great improvements in their living standards, according to the regional poverty relief and development office.

Tibet, in the southwest of the country, has long been regarded as a major battlefield in the central government's fight to eradicate poverty nationwide by 2020, and this year has been key to winning that battle.

The regional poverty alleviation and development office said authorities have made poverty relief a priority, and, with central government support, a range of measures have proved successful.

By the end of last year, residents of 55 counties and districts across the region saw their standard of living rise as the regional poverty incidence rate fell to 6 percent from 25.32 percent in 2016.

The central government has described the region's poverty relief efforts as "performing well".

At the beginning of 2016, the number of people officially designated as living in poverty was 590,000.

That year, 147,000 people saw their lives improve as the regional poverty incidence rate fell by 17.19 percent.

The following year, 150,000 people were lifted out of poverty, with the incidence rate falling by 12.4 percent.

Last year, 181,000 people were removed from the list of poverty-stricken residents as the incidence rate fell to 6 percent.

New aid measures included encouraging poverty-stricken villagers to find jobs in a range of sectors, relocating impoverished residents from harsh environments to better areas, subsidizing college and university students from poor families, and providing subsidies to residents involved in environmental and wildlife protection.

Last year, Dushi Tashi, a village in Chushul county, was ranked as a national-level environmental and cultural village, and poverty alleviation efforts were introduced to help the residents.

Losang Nyandrak said the aid provided by the government was a major factor in him playing a leading role in raising living standards in the village.

Originally from Bude, another village in the county, Losang Nyandrak and his family were relocated to Dushi Tashi in 2016 and given a new house as part of the poverty alleviation relocation project.

The superior infrastructure in the village quickly led Losang Nyandrak to realize that the new location offered business opportunities.

The local government helped him and another villager obtain official permission to establish a tree-planting cooperative. In the past three years, the cooperative has grown to the point where it employs more than 100 residents, who plant and cultivate trees and grasses, alongside several other projects.

"Before my family was relocated, my wife was sick, our house was old, and we found it difficult to find money to support our child at college," Losang Nyandrak said.

The 48-year-old's annual family income rose to more than 400,000 yuan in 2017, before falling back to 200,000 yuan last year. Before being relocated, the family earned less than 30,000 yuan a year.

His family also benefits from other aid policies. Working as forest and grassland patrollers, Losang Nyandrak and his wife receive 3,500 yuan ($500) each from the government every year, and in 2016, authorities gave his eldest child an education subsidy of 6,000 yuan.

"I am happy that so many villagers can work in the cooperative. Each staff member is paid between 130 yuan and 180 yuan a day," he said.

(China Daily Global 08/06/2019 page5)