Chapter 566

Fourth point is the key content Lu Fan reported, he said with a stern expression: "The strongest support for work lies at the grassroots, and the most prominent contradictions and problems are also at the grassroots. Faced with 'thousands of lines from above,' this 'nail' at the grassroots can no longer bear the burden! Therefore, to promote improvement and efficiency in grassroots work, we must put effort into reducing burdens on the grassroots, and from the height of political awareness, recognize and resolve formalism and bureaucratism, greatly streamline documents and meetings, coordinate and standardize grassroots inspections and checks, and put effort into solving problems such as excessive evaluations and excessive trace, so that grassroots comrades can have more time and energy to get things done and work freely. This not only meets the grassroots' expectations and calls, but also demonstrates our determination and action in resolutely struggling against formalism and bureaucratism!"

To solve the problems of redundant staff and incompetent incumbents, I formally propose to the Provincial Party Committee to smash the 'iron rice bowl', genuinely implement large-scale streamlining of institutions and staffing across the province, improve service quality and efficiency, and thoroughly resolve issues such as weakened institutional functions, deviation from public welfare attributes, functional overlap, and resource waste!

Upon hearing this, the three leaders' expressions were all shocked!

Tang Bing, the Secretary, said: "Lu Fan, I asked you to reduce burdens and enhance capabilities at the grassroots, but I didn't expect you to stir up such a big commotion! This isn't something you just recently came up with, is it?"

Liu Linghao laughed and said: "This is definitely his long-held idea; the county-level TV station in Nanyuan has been completely withdrawn, and some units have also 'disappeared', such as the Science and Technology Association, etc. He has already begun implementing streamlining of institutions in Nanyuan!"

Tang Bing said: "Lu Fan, although the slogan of streamlining institutions has been shouted for a while, everyone basically keeps things as they are; is it necessary for Huayuan to stick its neck out like this?"

Lu Fan earnestly replied: "Secretary, last year Huayuan Province's general public budget revenue was 451.5 billion yuan, but general public budget expenditure reached as high as 1,106.5 billion yuan, with the annual fiscal self-sufficiency rate only about 40%, resulting in a negative net contribution to national finances!"

Therefore, in recent years, Huayuan has consistently ranked second nationwide in receiving central transfer payments. In 2024, Huayuan will again receive 534 billion yuan of transfer payments, continuing to rank second nationwide.

Superiors have repeatedly stressed the need to "live frugally," but we keep turning to them for help, which is certainly unacceptable. In fact, tight local finances are largely due to a sluggish property market, which reduces government fund income—i. e., land sale revenue. Last year, Huayuan's government fund income was 194 billion yuan, down 12% year-on-year.

Why is the property market sluggish? Besides lack of confidence, another reason is population decline. Huayuan is a populous province and also a major birth province. Yet even this province that loves to give birth is unwilling to do so: the number of births was still 1.2 million in 2019, but dropped to 695,000 last year, almost a cliff‑like decline. The resident population has also been declining year after year, decreasing by 570,000 last year.

Faced with multiple pressures from internal and external economic environments, Huayuan urgently needs to take the lead in launching reforms of public institutions; under the reality of 'living frugally,' deepening institutional reform and practicing thrift have become an inevitable choice!

Deputy Secretary Li Mingyang said: "Large-scale streamlining is fraught with difficulties; it will inevitably involve the interests of a large portion of people, it's tough!"

Lu Fan replied: "Secretary Mingyang, streamlining staffing will inevitably lead to personnel and post adjustments, touching vested interests, and reform faces strong resistance, but only in this way can we eradicate problems and push the province's public institutions toward a transformation into high-quality, efficient entities."

Moreover, under the trend of digital transformation, civil servants and public institutions need to master rich digital skills to cope with changes in the work environment; this will further drive staffing management toward talent diversification and professionalization to meet the demands of various posts.

To pave the way for slimming down the staffing of civil servants and public institutions, although the reform path is arduous and long, under the leadership of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government's determination and the joint efforts of the vast body of public employees, we will surely overcome difficulties and achieve significant results.

Looking to the future, all people in the province expect to build an efficient, high-quality, and fair cadre of public employees that will strongly drive Huayuan's prosperity and development. Reform is not merely a reduction in staffing scale; it is a deep reshaping of the overall structure and functions of public institutions, aiming to make them better suited to the changes of the times and societal needs.

If reform inevitably offends people, I am willing to step forward as the 'vanguard' and endure everyone's 'spitting criticism'! I believe that as long as we place the people's interests above all, we need not fear offending those who only care about their own petty gains and harm the people's interests! As long as there is conviction in the heart, strength will be underfoot!

Tang Bing asked: "Lu Fan, if Huayuan implements institutional reform, what is your specific conception?"

Lu Fan had already prepared his notes and immediately replied: "Secretary, my idea is to first use the provincial-level departments as the pilot, excluding schools and hospitals, streamline public institutions by 60%, abolish public institutions at the section level and with staffing of 16 or fewer, as well as 138 'empty-shell' units, reduce public institution staffing by 45%, cut department-level leadership positions by 10%, and cut division-level leadership positions by 25%."

At the municipal and county levels, the public institutions included in the reform scope will be streamlined by 45%, public institution staffing by 25%, of which fully funded public institution staffing will be cut by 15%.

Upon hearing this, the three leaders involuntarily exclaimed in astonishment!

Li Mingyang said: "The intensity is so great it can be said to be unprecedented; if truly implemented, many people would likely lose sleep!"

Secretary Tang Bing asked: "What do you plan to do after streamlining staffing? You can't just 'throw it away'! Huayuan cannot withstand such a huge toss!"

Lu Fan explained: "Large-scale streamlining of institutions and staffing will not broadly threaten cadres' job stability; in fact, it is streamlining staffing rather than personnel. The streamlined staffing does not disappear but is transferred—for example, the staffing reclaimed from provincial-level reform can be partially allocated to counties and districts. However, the total staffing must be reduced, and cadres who fail assessments should be dismissed, including those who have long been drawing salaries without work. After institutional and staffing streamlining, many units will become overstaffed, thus they can only 'exit but not enter'—they cannot participate in civil servant and public institution recruitment; only after the overstaffing phenomenon naturally dissipates can recruitment resume."

Lu Fan's idea is too 'shocking to the world'; such an earth-shattering matter cannot be decided in a few words. Secretary Tang Bing said: "This is of great importance; you first draft a preliminary plan for me to consider further, and if necessary, we can bring it to the Standing Committee for discussion, allowing comrades to voice their opinions."

Linghao, Mingyang, you go ahead and get busy; I will have a private conversation with Lu Fan.

After the two left, Tang Bing asked: "Why make such a big move? Pull one hair and move the whole body; if any mishap occurs, you are very likely to suffer a political setback!"

Lu Fan replied with a firm gaze: "Secretary, this idea of mine has indeed been long-standing. The bloated institutions and crowded personnel in the public sector entail huge labor costs, and the number of people living off the fiscal budget that the public supports is truly too great!"

For example, Ganshui County, where I worked, has a population of less than 100,000, yet over 6,000 people live off the fiscal budget; if we don't reduce staff, the burden on the ordinary people cannot be thoroughly resolved!

The more underdeveloped the economy of Huayuan Province is, the more we must confront the real burden on the people caused by bloated institutions and excess staffing!

For many years, government institutional reform has been unable to escape the vicious cycle of 'bloat—streamline—rebloat—restreamline'; the fundamental cause lies in the failure to effectively transform departmental functions.

For example, a provincial-level department actually has one head and twenty deputies; the excess deputy positions have become a path that devours the fruits of institutional reform, cruelly confirming the public's concerns.

Moreover, among those twenty deputies, many have very narrow portfolios, especially the six deputy inspectors, whose duties are solely to assist a deputy director in managing a division. This means that, besides a division head and its supervising deputy director, a division also has a deputy inspector dedicated to assisting management.

Furthermore, take our Nanyuan City's Culture and Tourism Bureau: it has fifteen leaders, nine of whom are deputy bureau chiefs; the Market Supervision Administration has eleven deputy bureau chiefs and four deputy inspectors, with a total of fifteen leading cadres, and the deputy inspectors' work mainly consists of assisting the deputy bureau chiefs in charge of specific tasks to carry out their work.

Such situations are commonplace, Secretary. Do these departments really need so many leaders? Breaking the 'cadre tenure for life' system and letting the capable rise while the incompetent fall is an important principle for selecting and using leading cadres!

Secretary, some things must be done by someone, even if it ends in a bloody head! After Huayuan fires the first shot of institutional reform, more provinces will surely follow! As long as the country and the people need it, I am willing to be the one at the forefront! Even if my career ends in ruin, I harbor no regrets!

Tang Bing sighed and said, "You're still too young; you should proceed steadily and there's no need to take such a big risk! This is a major matter, I suggest you discuss this idea with Li Lao and the Governor of Mingzhou, or you could also report it to Secretary Wang."

Lu Fan nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern, Secretary; I will report to them as soon as possible."

After Lu Fan left, Tang Bing sat in her office, lost in thought, speaking her mind: she did not want to undertake such a big move, for the outcome is uncertain!

Half an hour later, she called Wang Hongtao; after the call connected, she said, "Lu Fan is about to make another big move!"

Wang Hongtao laughed and said, "Tell me, what does he intend to do?"

Streamline the institutions!

You call it a "big move"; the commotion shouldn't be small, right?

Yes, streamline by sixty percent, drastically cutting the number of leadership positions…

After hearing Tang Bing's words, Wang Hongtao said with interest, "This kid is full of ambition! I'm actually very interested—let him go ahead, and I want to see what he can achieve!"