Why retaining young people at the grassroots level is so important
A grassroots civil servant's own account: once you enter the grassroots level it is hard to get out; some colleagues are preparing again for the national civil service exam. A young civil servant who had just taken up a grassroots post not long before, due to heavy tasks, low pay and slow promotion, could see no "future" and was eager to "escape", while people around him who were trying every possible way to "escape" were everywhere.
From the civil service exam fever of recent years, to grassroots civil servants doing everything possible to "escape" the grassroots level; from society's harsh criticism of the civil service as a profession, to grassroots civil servants posting their incomes and crying "hardship, poverty and exhaustion" - the contrast is striking. What is it that makes young people who only entered the civil service after "passing five gates and defeating six generals" so eager to "escape" the grassroots level? In my view, the current situation in China's grassroots areas, especially rural grassroots areas, where development lags behind, contradictions are prominent and work is difficult, is the objective reason; and the extension of the drawbacks of the political ecosystem within the system to the grassroots level is one of the main reasons.
At present, the reality of unbalanced development in China still exists, especially in rural grassroots areas, where development still lags considerably behind, and there is bound to be a certain contradiction between the grassroots people's demands for material and cultural interests and this lagging development; it can be said that the interest demands of the grassroots people are the main social demands in China today. Only when the grassroots level is stable can society be harmonious; only when the grassroots level is peaceful and prosperous can the country enjoy long-term stability and security. Major grassroots stability-maintenance incidents such as the "Guizhou Weng'an incident" and the "Yunnan Puning land requisition conflict incident" have left us not merely with warnings; how to accelerate the comprehensive economic and social development of the grassroots level so as to effectively solve the prominent problems existing there is already a major and arduous historical task. Grassroots economic and social development lags behind, conditions are poor, difficulties are many, work is hard and pay and benefits are poor, so it is only human nature that young people are eager to leave the grassroots level. Grassroots work is the key and difficult point in society's comprehensive development; grassroots work needs to attract outstanding young talent, and retaining young people bears on the comprehensive and sustainable development of the grassroots level - this really is important.
Having squeezed through the door with great difficulty, yet unable to find a future "way out" - this is a real problem troubling grassroots civil servants. It is an indisputable fact that promotion for grassroots civil servants is very difficult and career bottlenecks are obvious. At present, the personnel system still has certain shortcomings: the power to "select and appoint people" is concentrated in the hands of the main leaders - "to rise, you have to be capable, and someone has to say you are capable, and the person who says you are capable also has to be capable"; and one's "starting point" is also crucial to a civil servant's promotion - a "low starting point" makes it impossible to achieve much; at the same time, promotion is inseparable from successful networking. Grassroots civil servants lose the advantages of "favorable timing, geographical and social conditions" right from the start on the road to promotion; the drawbacks of the current political ecosystem within the system are one of the main reasons why young people are eager to "escape" the grassroots level.
We should further deepen institutional reform, optimize the allocation of resources, effectively advance the comprehensive economic and social development of the grassroots level, effectively implement the Party's mass line, work hard through vigorous sustainable development to solve the problems existing at the grassroots level, improve the working environment there, establish a standardized performance system, raise the wage levels and welfare incomes of grassroots civil servants, and relieve their worries in daily life; further innovate and standardize the personnel system so that it is open and transparent, fairer and more reasonable, tilt "selecting and appointing people" more toward the grassroots level, encourage young people to make a difference there, and make grassroots experience an essential path to promotion. In this way, the role of young people's enthusiasm and creativity at the grassroots level will be self-evident.
The grassroots level is the cornerstone of the whole of society, and grassroots work is very important to the growth of a new generation of young cadres. Grassroots civil servants, especially young ones, should abandon negative thinking, should not "wait, rely and demand", should not be eager to "escape", but should rise to difficulties, work steadily and diligently, achieve something at the grassroots level, and not waste their youthful years.