YUNNAN, China, May 20 (INP): “To help the needy by whatever means is a great accomplishment,” said Talha Elahi, a Pakistani student who spent his 2019 winter holiday to observe China's poverty alleviation campaign in a small village named Sabazi in Yunnan Province, China. According to a report published by China Economic Net (CEN),  a few months ago Talha was an average Pakistani student studying in Sichuan Normal University. He attends classes, plays basketball, friends others, travels around, with not much difference from his schoolmates. But earlier this year when he returned to school from Sabazi Village, he came to understand things about China’s poverty alleviation - a must-win battle for the Chinese government - as quoted by him, “two months that I'll never forget”. Talha has been in China for further study since 2016. Living in Chengdu, one of the most important financial, commercial, cultural and transportation centers of western China, he is quite familiar with urban life, so he made a decision to experience rural life in China’s developing Yunnan Province, and more importantly, to see how the Chinese government help its people who yearns for a better life. Sabazi Village, with a population of 1,171, is located in Songping Town, Yongsheng County of Yunnan Province. By the end of 2019, residents here have got access to water, electricity, roads and street lights.

The village is an impoverished one in dire need of being lifted out of poverty; its economy, in common with other villages nearby, is dominated by crop and plant cultivation, with purchasers mainly from Yongsheng County.

The village is quite distant from Chengdu that it took Talha four and a half hours to get there. Led by the poverty alleviation group, he got chances to see how they find out information and facts about the deserving people and come up with a list of definite targets to hit for. Stepping into a 89-year-old granny’s house, they were shocked by her living conditions. It is unbearable to stay in her woolen house with chilly winter coming, and what is worse, the roof would leak when it rained. To Talha’s surprise, the old lady offered to cook her only hen for him out of kindness. “I did cry, ” Talha told CEN, “they are so needy but still, they are nice. I was deeply moved by her goodwill.” Touched by the granny’s move, he gave her all his money in the pocket. People might be poor for different reasons, but one’s kindness will never lie, and that is the reason why we are ready to help them, Talha added.

 According to CEN, 2020 is set to be the year China eradicates poverty in the country and becomes a "moderately prosperous society in all respects." En route to delivering the target of eradicating poverty in rural areas and eliminating regional poverty, China still has 52 counties, 2,707 villages and 5.51 million people who need to be lifted out of poverty. To ensure a smooth implementation of poverty alleviation, China has taken several measures. According to China’s State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, the government had built schools, houses, hospitals in poverty-stricken areas; on top of that, people now have access to education, training programme and job opportunities.

INP/JAVED