"The key to judging whether a place is well-off or not lies in its residents.” In Gansu province, one of the main battle fields of poverty alleviation in China, the cost of poverty reduction for the remaining residents below the poverty line is getting higher and poverty relieving work is getting more difficult.

Development with the goal of poverty alleviation has entered a difficult and crucial period. Since August 2017, according to the Opinions on the Adjustment to Overcome Difficulties and Strengthen Support and Assistance for Poverty Alleviation Work in the Province issued by Gansu provincial government, the target of poverty alleviation for Gansu Radio and Television University (Gansu RTVU) was readjusted from Jingming village in Jingchuan county to Shanmen town in Qingshui County. In order to effectively implement the decision-making and work of the provincial Party committee and the government, and achieve poverty alleviation, Gansu RTVU has recently created a new, comprehensive plan to deploy poverty alleviation work.

By visiting village groups and farmers to find out the truth, poverty alleviation assistance and support work is in full swing in Shanmen town, a new target for poverty alleviation.

After the adjustment, Gansu RTVU has contacted and helped the three villages of Baiyangshu, Shigou, and Guanyin, of whose 282 households, 132 are targeted poverty alleviation households. The three villages are located adjacent to a dark and humid forest zone in a high, cold place. They are surrounded by tall mountains and deep valleys, where the infrastructure is lacking and economic development is slow. The rural residents face many difficulties since they have few ways to make a living.

From 4-6th September, secretary of the party committee of Gansu RTVU Zhu Weiguo and Vice President Wei Binhai led a 13-person group to Shanmen town in Qingshui county to provide assistance to the poverty alleviation work. The working group was divided into three teams, who visited the three villages, Baiyangshu, Shigou, and Guanyin. They thoroughly researched the family conditions and causes of poverty among the 132 poor households, and discussed the assistance work with the cadres and farmers.

On 6th September, a discussion was held between the Gansu RTVU representatives and the members of the local Village Party Branch Committee and Villagers’ Committee (Two Committees in short) at Guanyin village, who gave a detailed introduction of the basic situation, village infrastructure construction, and industry development in the villages, with the hope that Gansu RTVU would extend aid and support to the planting and breeding industry, the improvement of the village appearance, the construction of village garbage collection centres, the development of ecological farmhouses and increasing farmers' income.

Zhu Weiguo briefed the participants on Gansu RTVU’s new assistance and support mechanism. He pointed out that, firstly, to adapt to the new situation and tasks, the assistance work mechanism has been improved, with leaders at the university level taking care of village level affairs and cadres at division levels responsible for household work. Secondly, in accordance with the requirements of the provincial party committee, three young cadres were sent to take the roles of first Secretary and team leader. Thirdly, Gansu RTVU would put into play its role in using education to serve society, rural areas and the grassroots, stress the driving power of assistance, and do a good job of aiding poverty alleviation work at different stages across the three villages.

In terms of assistance and support work in the second half of the year, Zhu Weiguo said that Gansu RTVU will build on the experience of its previous assistance and support work, arrange relevant personnel in the three targeted villages to take part in trainings organised for leaders and cadres helping villagers get rich in Lanzhou, to enhance their abilities, construct centralised garbage collection centres in the villages, hold activities to select “Model Filial Children” and “Harmonious Families”, carry out activities for the twinning and co-construction of party branches, continue to implement the program of Dream Pursuer Scholarship, take actions towards supporting left-behind children, actively seek out more projects, help the villagers move their homes to other places in targeted villages and the construction of a village-level comprehensive service centre, take great efforts to improve the infrastructure in the three villages, enhance the appearance of the villages, enrich the cultural life of the villagers, and increase villagers' income.

At Jingming town, they looked at the changes, talked about old stories, and said their goodbyes. The three targeted villages have stepped out of poverty.

On 6th September, after visiting Qingshui village, the group of four people led by Zhu Weiguo visited Lianjiaping, Zhuangtou, and Haojia, the three villages targeted by Gansu RTVU. They look at the changes that had taken place, talked with the village cadres and farmers, and said goodbye to each other.

At a meeting to summarise the development work held in Jingming town, the party branch secretaries or chiefs of Lianjiaping, Zhuangtou and Haojia villages gave speeches in which they talked about the changes and benefits people had seen since the assistance and support work was carried out in the villages. For more than five years, under the support of Gansu RTVU, a project fund of 10 million yuan was put in place for the three villages. With the help of the fund, a village level comprehensive service centre was completed, water and electricity was brought to each of the villages, and roads were constructed. The livelihood of the villagers has been greatly improved.

In his speech, Zhu Weiguo pointed out that, in the past five years, the three villages have been fundamentally transformed and that the level of production and quality of life of the residents has significantly improved. Through the assistance and support work, Gansu RTVU has improved its understanding of rural areas and brought itself closer to rural areas. The assistance work has provided a good opportunity for the leaders and teachers of Gansu RTVU to understand rural and grassroots areas. The cadres, in particular young cadres born in the 1980s, that extended their assistance and support have enriched their experience and improved their abilities. They have taken urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy missions at the forefront of poverty alleviation. The villages have seen their quality of life improve, increased their income, and gained confidence. Through the implementation of the poverty alleviation program, the local authorities have cultivated their own industries, improved software and hardware construction, and accumulated management experience.

By Gansu RTVU