Ministry of Agriculture Reports on the 2013 Inspection of Farmers' Burdens

According to the arrangements of the State Council joint conference on reducing farmers' burdens, in October-November 2013, 6 departments of the joint conference formed 3 inspection teams to inspect the situation of farmers' burdens in 3 provinces: Heilongjiang, Anhui and Shandong. The inspection teams adopted methods such as overt inspection and covert visits, entering villages and households, and examining account books, and randomly spot-checked 30 townships and 77 villages in 12 counties (cities, districts). On the whole, party committees and governments at all levels in the 3 provinces attached importance to the burden-reduction work, and relevant departments actively carried out burden-reduction work. Problems such as arbitrary charges related to agriculture and apportionment of funds were markedly reduced, and farmer satisfaction was relatively high. However, the inspection found that the problem of inadequate implementation of burden-reduction and benefit-to-farmers policies still existed in some places, and the burden on village-level organizations showed an increasing trend. The relevant situation is hereby reported as follows.

I. Main Work and Results

The party committees and governments of Heilongjiang and the other 2 provinces attached importance to the work of reducing farmers' burdens, adopted effective measures, improved relevant systems, and strengthened supervision and inspection, and the burden-reduction work achieved certain results.

(1) Strengthened organizational leadership for burden-reduction work and improved and perfected the burden-reduction working mechanism. The spirit of the document Guo Ban Fa [2012] No. 22 was earnestly implemented, work guidance was strengthened, regulatory thinking was innovated, regulatory measures were improved, and the implementation of burden-reduction and benefit-to-farmers policies was actively promoted. Anhui Province established an assessment system for the work of reducing farmers' burdens and implemented supervision and evaluation of the work of reducing farmers' burdens in prefecture-level cities. The provincial party secretary made important instructions on burden-reduction work 4 times within 1 year, raising the degree of attention that party committees and governments at all levels paid to burden-reduction work. Party committees and governments at all levels in Shandong Province earnestly implemented the burden-reduction work system and the "one-vote veto" system for farmers' burdens, and cities, counties and townships signed burden-reduction target responsibility statements level by level, making them an important basis for annual assessment and the appointment of cadres. Heilongjiang Province persisted in combining symptom treatment with root-cause treatment. Since 2010, the whole province reviewed and cancelled 37 documents and items concerning charges related to agriculture, reduced charges levied on village-level organizations and farmers by 270 million yuan, and strove to reduce farmers' burdens from the source.

(2) Implemented key governance of farmers' burdens and resolved prominent problems reflected by farmers. In light of local realities, targeted key governance of farmers' burdens was organized and carried out, focusing on resolving regional and sectoral farmers' burden problems. Anhui Province implemented key monitoring of counties and cities with more problems, explicitly stipulating that principal responsible persons could not be promoted or transferred during the monitoring period, and cancelling their qualifications for excellence evaluation and advanced selection. Shandong Province implemented comprehensive governance of counties and cities with more farmers' burden problems, established more than 40 farmers' burden supervision systems, and reduced farmers' burdens by nearly 10 million yuan. Heilongjiang Province concentrated on carrying out special governance of arbitrary charges and piggyback charges imposed on farmers, village-level organizations, farmers' cooperatives and others, and returned 3.575 million yuan in illegal charges related to agriculture.

(3) Strengthened standardized management of one-matter-one-discussion and promoted the development of village-level public welfare undertakings. Policy measures were improved, guidance and supervision were strengthened, and the institutionalized and standardized construction of fund-raising and labor-raising through one-matter-one-discussion was strengthened. Shandong Province increased supervision, strictly reviewed procedures, cancelled a number of fund-raising and labor-raising projects with non-standard discussion procedures and beyond standard or scope, and reduced farmers' burdens by more than 100 million yuan. The Anhui Provincial Agricultural Commission and the Department of Finance cooperated closely and jointly carried out special inspections of one-matter-one-discussion, and improved control measures for labor-raising and substituting funds for labor in one-matter-one-discussion. Heilongjiang Province strictly supervised the scope of discussion, quota standards and substituting funds for labor, preventing any increase in farmers' burdens.

(4) Carried out supervision and inspection of farmers' burdens and promoted the implementation of burden-reduction and benefit-to-farmers policies. Inspections of the implementation of burden-reduction and benefit-to-farmers policies were persistently carried out, violations of rules and discipline were investigated and handled, and a high-pressure posture for burden-reduction work was maintained. Relying on the farmers' burden inspection office, Heilongjiang Province formed a capable and efficient special law-enforcement inspection team and carried out overt inspections and covert visits throughout the province year-round. Shandong Province inspected and assessed the burden-reduction work of 34 counties (cities, districts) in 17 cities and promptly supervised and rectified problems found in 9 aspects. In 2012, at all levels in Anhui Province, a total of 335 regular and irregular farmers' burden inspections were organized, and 465 problems involving farmers' burdens were found.

(5) Innovated the methods of supervising farmers' burdens and broadened the channels for farmers to reflect their demands. Anhui Province took the investigation and handling of petition cases concerning farmers' burdens as a supervisory priority, formulated measures for investigating and handling petition cases, established a farmers' burden monitoring and early-warning system, and moved the monitoring threshold forward.

Heilongjiang Province established a farmers' burden supervision network and gave play to its supervisory functions in publicizing policies, guiding work, exchanging experience and reporting problems. Shandong Province kept farmers' complaint channels open, set up the 12316 farmers' burden reporting telephone line, and used the "Sunshine Government Affairs Hotline" and "Qilu People's Voice" to investigate and handle more than 500 cases of various types concerning burden reduction.

II. Main Problems Found in the Inspection

The inspection found that in some places the problems of arbitrary charges and apportionment imposed on farmers and village-level organizations still existed to varying degrees, and the burden on village-level organizations showed an increasing trend.

(1) The problem of arbitrary charges related to agriculture still existed. Arbitrary charges, arbitrary fines and various fund-raising and apportionment directed at farmers in various places were markedly reduced, but the problem of arbitrary charges related to agriculture in some fields still existed.

First, arbitrary charges in rural compulsory education. Policy stipulates that for schools at the rural compulsory education stage, apart from collecting workbook fees, boarding student accommodation fees and meal fees from students who voluntarily eat at school as stipulated, they may not charge students for the unified purchase of teaching auxiliary materials, school uniforms, learning tools and the like, nor may they collect any other service fees or agency fees. The inspection found that some rural primary and secondary schools in Shandong Province still collected teaching auxiliary material fees, school uniform fees and the like from students, reaching several hundred yuan per student, and did not issue any receipts.

Second, arbitrary charges for farmers' electricity use. Policy stipulates that urban and rural electricity use shall implement the same network and same price, that no unit or individual is permitted to add other fees to electricity charges, and that power supply enterprises are prohibited from collecting other fees on behalf of others when collecting electricity charges. The inspection found that in some places in Heilongjiang Province, besides paying 0.51 yuan per kilowatt-hour for household electricity, farming households also had to pay for 1 extra kilowatt-hour of electricity each month for the "Two Lights Project."

Third, arbitrary charges in rural health. Policy stipulates that for farmers who give birth to children in violation of relevant legal provisions, apart from lawfully levying social maintenance fees, it is strictly prohibited to collect other fees. The inspection found that some places in Shandong Province collected a 500 yuan deposit for birth control IUD insertion from women of childbearing age; and that in some county-level health supervision departments in Heilongjiang Province, fines ranging from 500 to 1000 yuan were collected from village clinics.

Fourth, arbitrary charges for farmers' house construction. Policy stipulates that when farmers use collective land to newly build or rebuild self-use housing, apart from the land and resources department being allowed to collect the cost of the land certificate and the construction department being allowed to collect the cost of the house ownership registration certificate, it is strictly prohibited to collect other fees. Village-level organizations may not arbitrarily establish items to charge farmers, and it is strictly prohibited to use deposits, penalty fees, fines and other unlawful means to restrain farmers or manage village affairs. The inspection found that some villages in Shandong Province collected a 5,000 yuan house construction deposit from farming households that built houses.