Chapter 587

By June, Huayuan had completed the first round of institutional reform for public institutions, basically achieving the provincial committee's set goals, and within a reasonable and sustainable scope, truly cut what should be cut.

Next, we will conduct a 'review' of the problems existing in the reform, summarize experiences and practices, analyze and judge various problems, solidly rectify problems, and write the second half of the public institution reform article.

On June 5, the reform leadership team dispatched 16 inspection teams to conduct a 'review' of all provincial units involved in the reform, refining the 'Nine Indicators': leadership staffing allocation, personnel transfer, institutional plaque display, official seal carving, file handover, duty performance, etc. Targeting existing problems, further optimize institutional staffing resource allocation, and do a 'refined and solid' job of public institution reform.

Lu Fan personally led the team to Chao Ge City for research, accompanied by Municipal Party Secretary Li Yi, Mayor Zhong Yanan, Executive Vice Mayor Huang Wenbin, and Organization Department Head Li Chaoyang.

During the research, Lu Fan randomly selected Shantang Town.

Entering the Convenience Service Center, Lu Fan inquired in detail about personnel transfer, duties and responsibilities, and related matters.

Municipal Party Secretary Li Yi reported: 'Minister, in the past, township public institutions were known as the "Seven Stations and Eight Offices"! For example, agricultural technology stations, agricultural machinery stations, animal husbandry and veterinary stations, family planning service stations, culture and broadcasting stations, seed stations, food stations, as well as police stations, land management stations, judicial offices, postal and telecommunications stations, substations, local tax stations, national tax stations, and industry and commerce offices, etc.'

Among them, some stations and offices have overlapping functions, leading to functional vacuums. For example, some work, none of the stations and offices want to do because there is 'no profit to be made'. Therefore, integrating grassroots public institutions is not only a need for streamlining the military and simplifying administration, but also a need to optimize functions.

In our city, during the process of integrating township functions, we merged the 'Seven Stations and Eight Offices' into five centers, namely: Agricultural Service Center, Financial and Economic Service Center, Convenience Service Center, Comprehensive Governance Service Center, and Public Utilities Service Center.

Functional integration obsession, institutions have grown larger, strength has increased, resources have multiplied, projects have become more substantive, work efficiency has improved, and the masses are more satisfied.

During the report, Lu Fan unintentionally saw a《Grassroots Burden Reduction List》placed on an office desk, picked it up casually to have a look, and curiously asked: 'Is this a form to be reported to superiors?'

The official was a bit nervous and replied: 'Yes, we must submit it to the county burden reduction office before 6 p. m. every day, and also report the weekly and monthly burden reduction summaries.'

Lu Fan then asked: 'Then does the county burden reduction office report to the municipal burden reduction office? I recall the province never required reporting this form. Comrade Li Yi, is this《Grassroots Burden Reduction List》your original creation?'

Li Yi was somewhat at a loss, looking toward the Organization Department Head Li Chaoyang beside him.

Li Chaoyang immediately replied: 'Minister, this form is to better grasp the grassroots burden reduction work…'

Lu Fan interrupted: 'So you just added a burden reduction office? The grassroots now have an extra "grassroots burden reduction" task? Isn't that a joke? You implement work like this? It's simply playing a mismatched tune!'

Lu Fan said to that official: 'Regarding burden reduction work, what formalism still exists? Speak boldly, no one will dare to settle scores with you later!'

Perhaps truly disgusted by the 'burden reduction' work, or perhaps bolstered by the support of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department Head, Zhou Xiang replied: 'Township and county levels often hold grassroots burden reduction meetings; I need to prepare speech materials for leaders. Additionally, there are inspections of grassroots burden reduction work, requiring preparation of inspection materials, organizing burden reduction ledgers, perfecting materials, needing both paper and electronic versions, including videos, photos, texts, and related materials……'

The more Lu Fan listened, the angrier he became, speaking solemnly: 'Seeing a spot and knowing the whole leopard, this is Chao Ge City's burden reduction work! Burden reduction hasn't sunk in; it has turned into a burden for the grassroots, showing the bitterness and helplessness of grassroots comrades! Comrade Li Yi, formalism and bureaucratism must not be allowed; unchanged concepts just go in circles, 'double reduction' remains forever empty talk!'

Lu Fan flicked his sleeves and left, hastily ending the research, leaving the leaders of Chao Ge City looking at each other in dismay.

They were delighted and carefully prepared, taking this research as an opportunity to showcase work, never expecting the final result to let the Minister leave disappointed—this is the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department Head! Leaving such a serious bad impression, saying the future is worrisome is no exaggeration.

Returning to the department, Deputy Minister Gao Shuo came in to report work, mainly about problems discovered recently in the 'review'.

Lu Fan instructed that a comprehensive inspection and evaluation should be conducted on the follow-up work of the reform of public institutions at the provincial, municipal, and county levels, and that the 'review' should be included in the annual target responsibility assessment.

After finishing work, Gao Shuo lowered his voice and said: 'Minister, these days comrades have been discussing that Tang Bing Secretary might be leaving?'

Lu Fan asked doubtfully: 'What rumors are there?'

Some say he's going to the central ministries and commissions, some say to Jiangning Province, some say to the United Front Work Department, and there are rumors he's becoming a Vice President.

Lu Fan smiled and said: 'That's all kinds of speculation, with rich imagination. If Tang Bing Secretary were to leave, it would only be in those directions. Anyway, I haven't received solid news yet, so let's just focus on work. There's one matter you should pay attention to: have each inspection team pay attention to grassroots burden reduction work. Tang Bing Secretary specifically instructed that the department needs to issue a measure, and I will discuss this at the next Standing Committee meeting—you keep an eye on it.'

'Okay, Minister, I'll implement it right away.'

As the afternoon was about to end, Lu Fan received a phone call from Governor Liu Linghao, inviting him for a few drinks in the evening.

Lu Fan naturally agreed readily and went happily.

Upon arriving at the private room, Liu Linghao was already there, and there was no one else.

After three rounds of drinks, the Governor began to pour out his feelings, sighing: 'Lu Fan, Tang Bing Secretary is likely to leave; I was born in 1963, and if I miss this 'last bus', I will stop here for the rest of my life.'

Lu Fan raised his glass and said: 'Governor, I toast you with a cup! When there is an opportunity, one must naturally strive with all effort and give one's all, so as to leave no regrets.'

Hearing this, Liu Linghao laughed: 'If I could team up with you, that would be even better; I will surely support your work without reservation, you charge forward at the front, and I will handle logistical support.'

'I very much look forward to carrying out work under your direct leadership, pulling together with one heart, overcoming difficulties together, forging ahead diligently, reaching perfection, and getting Huayuan's affairs done!' These are pleasantries Lu Fan would naturally say, but this time he does not intend to speak up for Liu Linghao's sake.

On June 15, the Provincial Party Committee convened a Standing Committee meeting to study work on safe production, new industrialization, 'anti-pornography and anti-illegal publications', key project construction, institutional reform, and grassroots burden reduction, with Tang Bing Secretary presiding over the meeting and delivering a speech.

Organization Department Head Lu Fan reported on the progress of the reform of public institutions across the province and submitted the《Huayuan Grassroots Burden Reduction Eight-Point Measures》.

When talking about grassroots burden reduction, Lu Fan said: 'Ice three feet thick does not freeze in a day. There are mechanisms, as well as customs and human factors, among others, intertwined; to change, effort must be made from multiple aspects.'

First, personnel allocation is mismatched between upper and lower levels. The higher the level, the more specialized and refined the institutional setup, with more departments; often, the division of labor is clearer and responsibilities more explicit at the upper level than at the lower level, and the boundaries of departments with overlapping functions need to be clarified.

At the grassroots township and street level, there are few staff but many tasks; one office corresponds to multiple departments above, receiving tasks issued by numerous 'superiors'. Some 'superiors' keep adding layers, year after year—this is the old habit of those in power: look upward, press downward!

Second, 'pretend to repair the plank road while secretly crossing through Chen Cang': work is not implemented according to central and provincial policies, but according to leaders' decisions. In their view, giving grassroots burden reduction is merely one task for the grassroots. Staying up late and working overtime to write burden reduction materials, organizing burden reduction ledgers—this is easily understood. Burden reduction is a gesture, not a result.

Third, inspections and assessments from above are excessive and rampant, breeding formalism and increasing the burden on the grassroots. Everything should be in moderation; having multiple departments 'each go their own way' and repeating inspections is unnecessary. At the grassroots, whenever there is an inspection, they must earnestly prepare in advance, consuming large amounts of manpower, material resources, and energy, clearing routes, guarding intersections, organizing ledgers, perfecting materials, and some even engage in 'closed-door development'; such inspections easily breed formalism.

Fourth, 'Shared+' is nominal but not real. The departments above each sing their own tune, each blow their own horn, accustomed to relying on the grassroots; different departments reach out to the grassroots for the same data and materials, or a single department at different times asks the grassroots for the same data. Sometimes, when the above demands timely reporting, a slight delay leads the 'superiors' to blame the 'subordinates' for not pulling their weight, resulting in deductions at year-end evaluation.

Fifth, the grassroots' 'safety net' has become a 'trash bin'. Departments above that cannot or will not do something, under the guise of 'local management', toss it to the grassroots. Grassroots responsibility and authority are mismatched, lacking enforcement and compulsory power; they only have the role of 'toiling like an ox and horse' to shoulder tasks, and even gritting their teeth, they must accomplish the task by any means necessary.

When I went down for research, many grassroots comrades said: 'Doing the work itself is fine, but without understanding and support from superiors, if done poorly they still get blamed; the public harbors resentment, pressure comes from above and pushes from below, they survive in the cracks, and working at the grassroots makes them feel less and less happiness and dignity.'

Six, long commuting time and being controlled by phones. The widespread use of modern networks and smartphones has already broken the boundary between on-duty and off-duty; grassroots personnel must constantly check their phones, receive information from multiple WeChat work groups, and carry out work. Even while on the way or at home, as soon as there is a work arrangement, they immediately reply 'received'; if the delay is long, neither replying nor not replying is right, and some grassroots units require keeping phones accessible 24 hours a day.

Crossing time and space makes round-the-clock office work possible; overtime beyond eight hours plus commuting time means grassroots personnel's actual working hours have unlimited extension. Grassroots personnel also have families, elderly parents, children, and personal lives; young people in love need to date boyfriends or girlfriends; they aspire to spend holidays undisturbed by phones, possessing personal time and space.