Chinese officials have announced a number of welfare measures for monks in Tibet's monasteries, including pensions, living allowances and access to public services, in an effort to boost stability and “national unity” in the region.
The measures come weeks after a series of self-immolations by Tibetan monks and nuns, with at least 11 people setting themselves on fire to protest religious policies.
Communist Party of China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Secretary Chen Quanguo announced the measures following a meeting of the regional party congress over the weekend.
He said the government “will take great pains” to ensure that public services such as electricity, water, telecommunications, radio and television stations would be provided to local monasteries and their “living difficulties” would be addressed, the state-run Global Times newspaper quoted him as saying.
The report said officials planned to cover pension, medical insurance and minimum living allowances at every Tibetan temple before the end of next year.
Following riots in Lhasa in March 2008, which left at least 18 people dead, the government introduced a similar set of measures “to improve the management of Tibetan temples” including starting legal education for monks, said the Global Times report.
The report said a “managing committee” would be set up in monasteries to “better regulate Buddhist activities, property, and the management of their cultural relics”, though it did not say who would serve on the committee. Mr. Chen said “patriotic law-abiding monks will be praised”.
The measures were announced in the wake of a number of self-immolations by Tibetan monks and nuns in Sichuan province, neighbouring TAR. They had said they were protesting religious policies, including restrictions on praying to the Dalai Lama, the exiled religious leader.
The immolations came after long-running tensions between monks and authorities in Aba, following which security restrictions were placed on local monasteries.
