People's Daily: The transformation of poverty alleviation and development is imperative

    The “triple overlap” of regional, comprehensive and complex characteristics has added considerable difficulty to China's current stage of poverty reduction work

Establishing files and cards for poverty alleviation targets, sending work teams to villages to provide assistance, and providing targeted assistance with one policy per household…… Right now, precision poverty alleviation is in full swing in impoverished villages, and the transformation of poverty alleviation and development is timely.

⟦NL> Looking back at history, from the reform of the rural production and operation system in the early days of reform and opening up, when township and village enterprises flourished, to the “wild goose formation” echelon development of manufacturing after the mid-1980s, and then to the in-depth implementation of the strategy of coordinating urban and rural regional development since the new century, sustained rapid economic growth has always been an important driving force for China's large-scale poverty reduction. What is particularly noteworthy is that starting in 1986, the government led the implementation of organized, planned and large-scale poverty alleviation and development, and China achieved poverty reduction results that can be called a global model.

For a long time, China's poverty alleviation and development took project-based poverty alleviation as the main form and project implementation as an important carrier. These practices contributed greatly to China's poverty reduction achievements, but they also exposed some problems, most prominently that insufficient precision led to low poverty reduction efficiency. Although it was consistently emphasized that efforts should reach villages and households, because the targets of poverty alleviation work were handled too broadly, many poverty alleviation measures were like flood irrigation, and quite a lot of funds were used on projects not very directly related to the production and life of poor people, so poverty reduction efficiency was discounted considerably.

Poverty in China at the current stage involves the “triple overlap” of regional, comprehensive and complex characteristics. Problems are prominent in contiguous destitute areas, the poor population is relatively scattered, the causes of poverty are complex, the phenomenon of returning to poverty occurs frequently, and poverty reduction is quite difficult. As China's economic development enters a new normal, GDP growth slows, and the upgrading of the industrial structure places higher demands on the labor force, poverty reduction work in the new period faces many challenges. In 2020 China is to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and it is urgent to fill the “short plank” of poor areas and poor people as soon as possible. Poverty alleviation and development has reached the point where transformation is unavoidable, and reform and innovation are urgently needed.

How to transform? The direction is already clear, and that is precision poverty alleviation. First, it is necessary to clarify who the poverty alleviation targets are, what conditions for development they have, and what development needs they have. At present, the whole country is comprehensively carrying out the precise identification of poor households and poor villages and the establishment of files and cards. This work concerns fairness and justice, and concerns whether the foundation of precision poverty alleviation is solid. The author found during interviews that in the identification of poor households in some poor villages, procedures were not strictly followed and public participation was not high, and some poor farming households that “should be helped but were not” may “settle accounts afterward.” The identification of poverty alleviation targets urgently needs to be done in a more detailed and solid way that can withstand scrutiny.

After poverty alleviation targets are precisely identified, the next step is to deeply analyze the causes of poverty, earnestly implement responsible persons for assistance, formulate assistance plans village by village and household by household, and concentrate forces on support. This process concerns the effectiveness of poverty reduction. How to establish a long-term mechanism and how to enhance the self-development capacity of poverty alleviation targets requires all localities to adapt measures to local conditions and actively explore.

For precision poverty alleviation to achieve good results, ultimately it depends on seeking truth and being pragmatic and vigorously implementing measures. How to implement? Precise management is key. Poverty alleviation funds and projects must all be managed and used well, and every single yuan must be used for genuine poverty alleviation, “driving the nail accurately”; if poor people do not stably escape poverty, assistance work cannot be let go, “driving the nail firmly”; all poverty alleviation work in poor counties should be quantitatively assessed, with rewards for the excellent and penalties for the poor, truly giving play to the role of the “baton” and ensuring that all poverty alleviation policies are put into effect.

At present, precision poverty alleviation is being fully advanced, and new problems and new challenges are constantly emerging. Poverty alleviation and development has a long and arduous road ahead. Only by advancing with the times and transforming and upgrading can poverty reduction continuously reach new levels.