 |
|
Development
Philosophy
|
 |
|
"Gross
National Happiness"
|
 |
 |
His Majesty King Jigme Singye
Wangchuck
National Assembly
Three
factors have exerted great influence on the course of Bhutan's development. The
first being continuous culture. As Bhutan was never conquered or colonized,
the country developed a culture relatively free from outside influence,
the institution of monarchy, and a deep sense of nationhood. |
|
The
second factor is the environment, which is protected by mountains, often-difficult
terrain.
Thirdly,
Mahayana Buddhism has given the country a view of the world on which the
present king, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck and his late father Jigme
Dorji Wangchuck based their policies of developing Bhutan's potential
in every field.
This
continuing development of Bhutan has bee crystallized in a philosophy crafted
by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, known as "Gross National
Happiness" (GNH) in the late 1980s.The concept of GNH defines Bhutan's
development objective as improvement in the happiness and satisfaction
of the people rather than growth of Gross National Product (GNP). GNH has
been the overarching development philosophy of Bhutan as the concept has
guided the country's development policies and program. GNH suggests that
happiness is the ultimate objective of development. It recognizes that
there area many dimensions to development other than those associated with
Gross National Product (GNP), and that development needs to be understood
as a process that seeks to maximize happiness rather purely economic growth.
The
country believes that for a holistic development of the individual and
society, it is essential that development achieve a sustainable balance
between the economic, social, emotional, spiritual and cultural needs of
the people. This has lead to the declared continuous process towards achieving
a balance between the material and the intangible needs of the individuals
or society. The concept reminds the country that the means must always
be considered in terms of the end and, therefore, therefore, every step
in material development and change must be measured and evaluated to ensure
that it will lead to happiness, not just more development.
Having
accepted that the maximization of Gross National Happiness (GHP) is a philosophy
and objective of the country's development, it was felt necessary to more
clearly identify the main areas, and create the conditions to enable the
people to attain greater happiness. Recognizing that a wide range of factors
contribute to human well-being and happiness and that it may not be possible
to exhaustively define or list everything for the purpose of it's development
planning. Bhutan has identified four major areas as the main pillars of
Gross National Happiness. These are economic growth and development, preservation
and promotion of cultural heritage, preservation and sustainable use of
the environment, and good governance.
Guided
by the ideas of Gross National Happiness (GNH), Bhutan has been making
steady progress in every sector toward the goal of modernization. Hydroelectric
power, economically the most significant sector for Bhutan's goal of self-sustaining
development, has grown impressively. The education, social services and
health sectors have made great strides forward and continue to be the most
important social components of the country's development program. The government's
fiscal situation has been improving steadily. Progress has been made in
the development of human resources and the legal infrastructure. Full executive
responsibility for the running the government has been vested upon the
Council of Ministers, elected by the National Assembly.
|
