VILLAGES AND TOWNS: Livable Communities for Our Well Being
Economic growth is always accompanied by greater social and physical mobility, as people pursue better opportunities. Our strategy of broad based economic growth, and the associated agenda sketched out in this Manifesto, have described how we want to strike a good balance in well being between our villages and towns, as people shift their location of work and place of residence.
That balance does not come about naturally as economy grows. Nearly all industrialised countries have seen a period of excessive rural-urban migration, making ghost villages on the one hand and polluted and congested towns on the other, both unfit for human habitation. Such trends have turned urban infrastructure inadequate while wasting rural ones. More importantly, both village and town folks in such countries lost a critical ingredient for their well being – a sense of belonging to a community.
People in many of these countries are now making a U-turn. After generations of urban living, urban dwellers especially young families are going back to rural living. Many leave high profile careers or good-paying jobs behind, and many also choose to engage in farming. And, they do so because the rise in their well being more than compensates for any loss in income, with more time for family, less stress-related illnesses, a strong sense of belonging to a vibrant and caring community, and the sense of security that comes with it.
As Bhutan has always done, we need to learn from such experiences. These rural-urban-rural shifts have occurred over a century and often more. Unknown magnitudes of resources have been wasted along the way, not to speak of inadequate well being of the people concerned. We have the advantage of a latecomer to skip such wasteful trends of centuries, by anticipating the future and acting now.
To do so calls for concerted efforts of national and local governments, and strong collaboration between these governments, private sector and the civil society. It will not be an easy task. But, there will otherwise be an excessive rural-urban migration, putting undue stress on people’s well being, natural environment, and on urban infrastructure.
As our agenda have already described, agriculture needs to thrive as dynamic private business, just as businesses do in urban centres. New business and employment opportunities need to go where the people are today, not the other way around. Financial, ICT and other business services need to be proactive, leading new growth centres with foresight, instead of following somebody else’s lead with a lag. And, public investments in infrastructure must take on a fresh perspective of transforming our villages and towns into “liveable” communities for well being of their residents.
Villages – Vibrant and Caring Communities
We will improve the quality of rural life and ensure that every farmer has the means to enjoy a secure life. To do this, we will:
Balanced development
- Locate all new public institutions taking into account their ability and need to serve as regional growth inducers
Access
- Improve road access so that no communities live more than half a day’s walk from the nearest road-head, within 10 years
- Expand, improve and where necessary subsidize passenger transport services in rural areas
- Provide telephone and internet access to every gewog
- Entertain and assess economic feasibility of community-driven proposals, if based on residents’ strong consensus, for shifting village locations closer to road-head
Basic Services
- Achieve universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation for all households within 5 years
- Provide electricity to all households as soon as practicable
- Support construction of homes for the poor through subsidised construction materials
Economic activities
- Improve agriculture and livestock productivity
- Support the One Village One Product movement to create income generating opportunities
- Work together with civil society organizations to support cooperatives, especially among women, to promote vibrant communities (be they micro-credit schemes, and in the production, transportation and marketing of local produce, etc.)
Local governance
- Support decentralisation and strengthen local governments
- Establish Integrated Gewog Centres as one-stop destination for farmers in every gewog
- In collaboration with leading regional non-government organizations, provide leadership training at international best practice to rural and urban community leaders, with particular focus on nurturing women and young leaders
Integrated Gewog Centres
“Yoed ba chin tsong sa med. May ba chin nyo sa med” moans Tshering Wangdi, a farmer in Gakiling. He complains that he has nowhere to sell his agricultural produce. And that he regularly walks for days to purchase basic provisions for his family.
Tshering Wangdi is not alone. Farmers throughout Bhutan spend far too much time and money travelling long distances to reach markets and services. No wonder one in every five Bhutanese is mired in poverty.
What our farmers need is a one-stop destination that caters to all their diverse needs – not in distant towns, but in their own gewogs. This simple ideal is the basis of the Integrated Gewog Centre.
The typical Integrated Gewog Centre will have a range of facilities in addition to local government and extension services. At the Centre, for instance, farmers could sell their produce to cooperatives and traders at market prices. They could then deposit their earnings in the Farmer’s Bank. Or use it to buy essential commodities – from soap and cooking oil to cloth and electrical bulbs – at a fair price shop.
If the farmer owns a tractor, she could repair or fuel it at the workshop. Otherwise she could rent one from there. She could also use the agro-processing machines such as oil expellers, and rice and flour mills to produce and sell high quality goods to the One Village One Product cooperative.
At the Centre’s community hall, farmers would attend zomdus, leadership training or skills development programmes. While waiting for their parents, children could visit the library. Or they could go to the post office to telephone friends, surf the internet or use e-Zhabtog to check their exam results.
Integrated Gewog Centres will become natural growth centres for agriculture, rural enterprise and development. They will balance rural-urban development and reduce large scale migration to towns. And, most importantly, they will reduce poverty. Put simply, Integrated Gewog Centres will enable farmers to be part of prosperous GNH communities.
To be sure, the government, with the Ministry of Agriculture as coordinator, has already started piloting such centres in a few gewogs. It is now time to spread the concept throughout the country, to every geog, as soon as possible. Our farmers deserve nothing less.
When Gakiling gets an Integrated Gewog Centre, Tshering Wangdi will no longer journey several days to sell his produce or buy basic necessities – he would do so in his own gewog.
Towns – vibrant communities, quality life
We will build secure towns that are clean, green and safe for people to work, play, live and grow. To do this, we will:
Urban Planning
- Prepare integrated master plans for urban centres based on a projected population scenario over the next 50 years, to raise preparedness for stable policy and orderly infrastructure development (water supply and sanitation, housing, waste management, environment protection, commercial zoning, road network, footpath, drainage, etc.)
Major Cities
- As provided for in our constitution, grant full autonomy to Thimphu and Phuentsholing Thromdes and strengthen their capacities to provide prompt and efficient services to a growing urban population
- Plan and develop major urban centres in Eastern and Central Bhutan
- In partnership with private sector devise innovative means to make possible affordable home ownership and support low cost housing
- Introduce efficient, affordable, non-polluting mass transport
- Initiate privatization of selected municipal services for efficient service delivery
- Establish integrated one-stop service centres to provide all public services in one location
- Work together with civil society organizations to promote recreational and sports facilities
- Expedite ongoing local area plans in Thimphu and ensure future plans cause minimal disruption and inconvenience to private property owners
- Provide corporate incentives to Municipal Corporation employees to boost morale and improve service delivery
Dzongkhag Thromdes
- Strengthen the institutional capacities of all Dzongkhag Thromdes to cater to the increasing needs of their residents
- Work in partnership with private sector to promote home ownership and support low cost housing
- Plan and build adequate water supply, sewerage, and solid waste disposal systems
- Provide basic sports and recreational facilities
- Establish integrated one-stop service centres to provide all public services in one location
Leave a Comment