To fully implement the rural revitalization strategy, it is crucial for grass-roots party organizations to play the role of fighting fortresses.
Reporter Banyuetan conducted investigations in Guizhou, Henan, Heilongjiang and other provinces and found that some village collective economic organizations were listed on the list of dishonest persons subject to enforcement due to the issue of debts, which affected the stability of grass-roots party organizations. The capable people who showed their fists and feet in the village were also discouraged by the debts of the village.
National Model Workers Become "Old Lai"
No travel or vacation; when taking transportation, you must not choose planes, trains, and ships with second-class cabins... The payment obligations determined by the effective legal documents are fulfilled within the period, and high consumption is restricted.
In 2007, Daba Village began to plant the golden thorn pear industry, which became the primary industry to promote Daba Village's "prosperity".
Liu Xingfa has become a typical figure for leading the development of Daba Village, and won the honors of "Provincial Excellent Party Organization Secretary for Poverty Alleviation" and "National Model Worker" in Guizhou.
Liu Xingfa introduced that in 2016, with the support and help of the local government, a winery was built in the village to process and produce products such as golden thorn pear wine. In the following three years, a debt of more than 50 million yuan was formed.
Later, some debts were offset through various methods. At present, there are still more than 30 million yuan of debts that cannot be repaid, and most of them are owed to farmers.
"As the legal representative of the cooperative, I often have to face different creditors to collect debts." Liu Xingfa said that in recent years, due to the Chen debt issue, he has been involved in lawsuits, and the cohesion of the village party organization team has been affected to a certain extent. The development of the village is also faltering.
The survey found that it is not uncommon for leading geese in rural areas to be "untrustworthy" at the grassroots level, and there are also many cases in Henan, Heilongjiang and other places.
A cadre from a township in Heilongjiang Province told Banyuetan reporters that many village cadres in the township became dishonest persons to be executed due to the issue of village debts.
54-year-old Li Shiqi (pseudonym) was originally the party branch secretary and village director of a village in the township.
In the 1990s, Li Shiqi set up a factory in the village.
When he took office in 2011, the village was already in debt of several million yuan.
Under his leadership, some debts have been repaid in recent years.
In 2020, the village originally wanted to use the more than 2 million yuan in compensation from the land acquisition of the Beijing-Fuyuan Highway (Beijing-Fuyuan, Heilongjiang) to develop a village-level enterprise. Li Shiqi, who is a legal representative, has also become a dishonest executor, and the business of his factory has also been affected. Li Shiqi has no choice but to resign in November 2021.
A 65-year-old old party member in the village told Banyuetan reporter that Li Shiqi was elected as secretary of the village party branch by high votes many times.
Why does the village collective owe more and more?
The survey found that one of the important reasons why the problem of debts in the village collective economic organization caused the relevant legal representatives to lose their trust was that many village cadres were forced to perform command tasks.
Grass-roots cadres reported that sometimes the higher-ups assigned tasks, and they didn't talk about whether to give money or not, or whether there was money in the village, but they just pressured the grass-roots cadres to complete the tasks, and there was no room for negotiation.
Looking back on the large-scale acquisition of golden thorn pears through loans and borrowings, Liu Xingfa said that the superior leaders kept them "withstanding the pressure" back then, which to a large extent led to the high debt of Daba Village.
In addition, some road construction, greening, environmental protection and other projects sinking into the village, due to insufficient budget or insufficient allocation, the debts of the village continue to increase.
"Some projects only deal with the road surface, regardless of the road foundation and road shoulder; some projects are only concerned with the later construction, regardless of the preliminary design; some 'build first and then supplement' projects even become 'drawing cakes to satisfy hunger' in the stage of fund allocation." A grassroots cadre said.
"In 2019, our village implemented some rocky desertification comprehensive control projects arranged by the local government, including artificial grass planting, artificial afforestation and other projects, but after the project was completed, the funds were not realized." Liu Xingfa said that since 2014, the large Ba Village has implemented a series of industrial and engineering projects. Up to now, more than 7 million yuan of project funds have not been paid.
During the interview, Banyuetan reporter found that the village cadres' weak legal awareness and weak awareness of risks are also one of the reasons why the village owes more and more debts.
Some grassroots cadres said that many village cadres subconsciously believed that they were only doing things for government departments or collectives, and they regarded the debts arising from promoting the development of the village collective, especially the industrial development, as a problem jointly borne by the higher-level departments or the village collective, and should be It was resolved with the help of the superior department or the collective, without a deep awareness of the legal responsibilities that a legal representative should bear.
How to break the predicament?
Chen Ying's problem has tied the hands and feet of the "leading geese", and some capable people dare not take office as cadres of the two village committees even if they have the will.
The grassroots cadres and experts interviewed believe that relevant departments should further strengthen the top-level design, and take the problem of village-level debt as a key issue in rural revitalization to solve the problem.
Strengthen support around each link of the industrial chain.
Some experts believe that government departments should start from the perspective of collective economic development and strengthen support for existing assets and industries in the village according to the actual situation in the village.
Only when the collective economy develops well and is profitable can the village gradually get rid of the debt predicament.
Further strengthen the sense of responsibility of grass-roots cadres.
Mao Jinhuang, executive director of Lanzhou University's Rural Revitalization Strategy Research Institute, said that commercial credit problems among the members of the two village committees are also a normal phenomenon under the market economy, and should be viewed with the rule of law.
At present, there are more and more village-level industries. Village cadres should strengthen the study of laws and other related knowledge, and need to have the necessary risk awareness and risk control capabilities.
Increase financial security.
Liu Gang, an associate researcher at the Henan Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the operating funds of village-level organizations and the basic remuneration of cadres in the two village committees should be included in the budget. Appropriation shall not be delayed or misappropriated.
At the same time, the disbursement standards for rural engineering project funds should be adjusted in a timely manner to ensure that project funds can be fully and timely in place.
When applying for a project in the village, or when a higher-level government department arranges a project for the village, it should be evaluated in advance according to the economic situation of the village.
Half Moon Talk to the Reporter
Source: "Ban Yue Tan" Issue 10, 2022