CHINESE TRANSPORT WORKERS OVERFULFILL 1966 PLAN
In one area at least, China's economic plan for 1966 was overfulfilled. According to a January 6 Hsinhua dispatch from Peking, "in response to the great call of Chairman Mao and the Communist Party's Central Committee for grasping the revolution and stimulating production, the transport workers overfulfilled the 1966 state plan for freight transportation."
Apparently the success was due to extraordinary efforts in the latter part of the year, the Red Guard movement making the decisive difference.
"From August 18, 1966, when Chairman Mao first received Red Guards up to the end of the year," reports Hsinhua, "the railway system carried a total of more than 50 million Red Guards and other revolutionary students and teachers, eleven million of whom came to see their beloved and respected leader.
"Peking' s bus and trolley bus system, reinforced by 6,000 drivers, conductors ‘and mechanics and 1,500 buses from 14 provinces and municipalities, has handled some 450 million passengers....
"The task of transporting the Red Guards came first. Nearly: two thirds of the railway department's passenger cars were given over to them. At least 60 trains a day . came through Peking railway station alone. Thirty-six ships have been carrying revolu— tionary students and teachers up and down the coast and the Yangtze River. 1,000 special buses have been bringing young revolutionary fighters to the three former revolutionary centres of -Yenan, Shaoshan and the Chingkang Mountains.”
To further facilitate the spontaneous upsurge of the Red Guard movement, Mao had the schools in their age bracket shut down. And besides seeing to it that the tens of millions of Red’ Guards traveled at government expense, Mao assured them three free meals
a day. With this help from the-regime, all records appear to have been broken by the ». transport workers as they went way over the plan that had. been projected. for. 1966.
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