Unit 3 Chapter 1

Unit Three Chapter 1

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

Introduction

 Gross national Happiness is a philosophy that embraces every aspect of development policies in Bhutan. It is based on the idea that for people to be happy and for a nation to attain development in its true sense there should be a balance between spiritual and material development.

The concept of Gross National Happiness was floated in the late 1960s by the third king believing that that the ultimate fruit of economic development should be to make all the Bhutanese- happy and prosperous.

This idea was again expressed by him in 1971 in his address during the admission of Bhutan to the UNO.

The vision of making all the Bhutanese happy was further articulated and elaborated by the fourth king, hence than the philosophy of GNH echoed in many of his speeches

Gross national happiness as a Goal of Development in Bhutan

The concept of Gross National Happiness as a development philosophy in Bhutan can be understood form the extract taken form the keynote speech delivered by Lyonpo Jigme Y. Thinley at the UNDP Regional Millennium Meeting for Asia and the Pacific in Seoul from October 30 to November 1, 1998.

Read Text book for the extract and read it in detail

Four Pillars of GNH

i)                    Sustainable and Equitable Economic Development

ü    Sustainable means everlasting.

ü    Equitable means accessible to all the citizens.

ü    The benefits of any economic development should be accessible to all the citizens to improve the wellbeing of the Bhutanese.

ü    Especially the basic facilities like education, health and agriculture.

ü    These three sectors can enhance the quality of life of the people.

ü    Therefore, our government gave importance to these three sectors.

ü    For example, in 2004, health coverage was above 90%.

ü    The life expectancy had gone up to 60 years. 

ü    The school enrollment increased.

ü    Free education and free health for everybody.

ii)                  Conservation of Environment

ü    The conservation of environment could prevent natural disasters.

ü    Its conservation is a source of tourist attraction and thus, revenue earner.

ü    Conservation would ensure the continued flow of rivers and thus, development of hydro-power.

ü    The NEC refuses the project and ensures that there is no large environment damage.

ü    NEC awards the clean Dzongkhag to encourage conservation of environment.

iii)                Preservation and promotion of Culture

ü    Our culture is the greatest strength of our country.

ü    It is our unique identity.

ü    Our country, a small in size and population.  So it is important to be different from others.

ü    Therefore, it is necessary to preserve and promote our culture.

ü    For example, promotion of language, art, architecture, sports, textile, etc.

ü    Also other examples are renovation of dzongs, temples and monasteries, etc.

iv)                Good Governance

ü    Without good governance, other three pillars would become useless.

ü    For good governance, the government has introduced decentralization, transparency and accountability, enhanced foreign relation, drafting of Constitution and the devolution of power of the King in June 1998 as an apparatus to strengthen this pillar.