Chapter 431: Not Giving Any Face

Lu Kai was obviously somewhat nervous; he first glanced at Cui Mingjiu, and after Cui Mingjiu gave a slight nod, he said, 'Our Xiushui Xiang has ten natural villages, all below the poverty line; so far, the per capita annual income does not exceed 500 yuan.'

We once wholeheartedly wanted to develop the economy, but we lacked resources and conditions, and with a weak foundation, this formed a vicious cycle.

Furthermore, in recent years the city and county have given no financial support or project assistance to our Xiushui Xiang, so our basic situation is that we are living on relief grain, having almost exhausted the special funds for relief grain that we could receive within these two years.

Of course, Director Su's visit this time is an honor for our Xiushui Xiang, and we hope Director Su will consider our suffering common people and apply for more funds and projects for our Xiushui Xiang.

As much as possible, we would like the county's existing projects and policies to be tilted a bit in our favor.

After he finished speaking, his gaze turned again to Cui Mingjiu, and Cui Mingjiu gave a slight nod to indicate that was correct.

Su Yang saw that Lu Kai was merely a figurehead; his presence or absence made little difference.

Originally, he wanted to realize some of his ideas through the Township Party Committee Secretary, to change the work style in the township, and then handle project matters.

Of course, before that he also needed to visit each natural village to see what resources each village had; it seemed that Lu Kai was completely a freebie. This made him feel that the difficulty of his work had increased.

Others also looked at Su Yang with an almost hopeful gaze, but Su Yang knew that what these people had in mind was not necessarily development, but purely the little benefits that the Poverty Alleviation Office could give them.

He directly said, 'I have just spoken with Cui Township Chief and Lu Secretary, and I feel that our Xiushui Xiang is still extremely eager to shake off poverty, which I can also see.'

'According to your opinions, wanting some policy support and tilt is completely fine. But before that, I want to ask everyone: how many low-income households does our Xiushui Xiang have? How many poor households have lost labor capacity?'

'How many widowed, orphaned, and disabled people have no income at all?'

After he asked this series of questions, everyone looked at each other, completely unaware of the numbers.

Su Yang then asked, 'Poverty alleviation must be targeted; we need to know who needs government relief and assistance, what their inherent conditions are, and besides providing them with the most direct food, money, and clothing, we must also consider how to lift them out of poverty.'

'As the saying goes, giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him to fish; we completely do not know these people's situations, so how can we do poverty alleviation?'

'What I want to say here is that poverty alleviation is not a blanket project, and it is not just about giving living supplies to those in need.'

'Of course, I think what we at the grassroots level mostly do is just dump these things onto the villages below; as for how the villages handle them, we basically don't know, we don't look, we don't manage, we don't ask.'

'Today I want to propose a concept in front of everyone: targeted poverty alleviation, establishing files and cards for every household, and we need to visit each one to find out their specific situations.'

'We should use concrete actions to solve their existing difficulties, rather than undertaking blanket projects.'

'First, we start by solving personal difficulties, letting them have food to eat, clothes to wear, and be able to solve basic living problems. Then we will proceed, based on the basic situation of our Xiushui Xiang, to either attract investment and promote related economic development.'

'Having said all this, in practice it is simply to first solve personal difficulties, get to know the details of these so-called difficult households, then I will formulate relevant policies and plans, and put everything into practice.'

'If everyone is not yet familiar with the township's poor households and the basic situation of each village in the township, you might spend a week visiting them.'

'At the same time, I want to see what situations the current poor households have; according to the County Government's relevant requirements, various places should establish files and keep records.'

'Of course, I'm not in a hurry to look at this right now; after all, we've just arrived, and everyone hasn't gotten familiar with each other's faces, so looking at these tomorrow is not too late.'

His remarks were all work-related, but to Cui Mingjiu's ears, they sounded like provocation and fault-finding.

This made him very uncomfortable; regarding the poverty alleviation work for the township's poor households, he knew the situation inside out.

Because these things have never been as precise as Su Yang said, reaching the truly poor households, or delivering supplies to their hands. Basically, just pushing them to the villages and calling it a day; to this day, he doesn't even know how many are truly poor households, or what each family's situation is.

'Of course, he still knows some data, such as how much poverty-relief clothing, grain, and money have been allocated over the years.'

However, something even more uncomfortable is yet to come.

Su Yang then said, 'These tasks are mentally taxing, and we also need to be stationed here long-term, so I would like to ask all cadres and grassroots staff to hold a meeting together.'

'I happen to want to convey the spirit of this poverty alleviation effort to everyone; if Township Secretary Lu and Township Chief Cui have no objections, how about we hold a meeting in half an hour?'

Su Yang was determined to embarrass these two, because when he just walked around the Township Government, he saw hardly anyone, and only one person was actually at their work post.

This is also him expressing a fact to Lu Kai and Cui Mingjiu: he is not here to pass the time, but to do solid work.

These words made Lu Kai's face extremely embarrassed; he could neither agree nor deny. More accurately, he lacked the qualification to agree, because in the township it's not up to him to decide, but he also dared not deny.

Everyone knows that side of Su Yang, so he had no choice but to turn his gaze to the sleeping wine.

Cui Mingjiu's face was uncertain; he had thought his reputation was widespread, and that anyone who came would have to show him three parts of respect, and moreover, officialdom has its own procedures, with everything being slowly planned and gradually pushed forward.

'Some things have been shouted about for three months, and after implementation they take at least a year or two; moreover, the sweet benefits in poverty alleviation work are something everyone knows, everyone turns a blind eye, sees through but says nothing, unlike Su Yang who is so straightforward.'

This leaves no room at all.

Moreover, Su Yang is simply not giving them any face; as soon as he arrives, he wants to see all the staff, and they themselves know very well what situation they are in.

'According to protocol, Su Yang shouldn't have this authority, but within the system there are its own unwritten rules, because those sent down from the county as cadres, although said to be stationed in Xiushui Xiang, are actually considered county leaders, and subordinate departments must unconditionally cooperate.'

'But if we really let everyone hold a meeting now, can these people make it in time? Moreover, just now he clearly had the restaurant staff hold the food and drinks to welcome Su Yang for a meal, so this is not even giving them face?'

'He couldn't offend Su Yang, nor could he hurt his own face; with a quick thought in his mind, he passed the buck to Lu Kai.'

'Lu Secretary, Director Su means to gather everyone for a meeting now; what is your opinion?'