Chen Changhua never stops running around for the people's escape from poverty
The "many-sided" Chen Changhua: Running nonstop for the people's escape from poverty
Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Guozhou
In Shuanghe Village, Jiulongshan Town, Kaizhou District, Chongqing, Chen Changhua, the leader of the poverty alleviation work team, is regarded by local villagers as a truly "most beautiful grassroots cadre." His beauty lies in his "many sides": he is a "doer" who bravely shoulders heavy burdens in poverty alleviation work, a "man of principle" who handles matters in accordance with the law, and also a "cold-hearted man" who is wholly devoted to the public good.
Shuanghe Village is a key poverty-alleviation village in Kaizhou District. Because it is located in a remote area with harsh natural conditions, the people here live in difficulty, and there are many people who have fallen into poverty due to illness or returned to poverty because of education costs. In order to complete on schedule the plan set out by Chongqing for comprehensive poverty alleviation during the 13th Five-Year Plan, in 2015 Chen Changhua, who originally served as deputy mayor of Jiulongshan Town, took the initiative to go down to the village, serving as leader of the Shuanghe Village poverty alleviation work team and concurrently as the village Party branch's "first secretary."
Chen Changhua said that from that day on, he resolved to be a "doer" who bravely shoulders heavy burdens. In just over a year, Chen Changhua led the poverty alleviation work team members through the homes of all the poor people in the village, talked heart-to-heart with every person in difficulty, addressed different difficulties in targeted ways, and sought long-term plans for shaking off poverty and becoming prosperous. After fully understanding Shuanghe Village's situation, Chen Changhua found that the climate here was suitable for growing figs, and that the villagers also had experience in this kind of cultivation and the desire to develop specialty agriculture. So Chen Changhua and the team members contacted experts and agricultural enterprises everywhere. In just one year, the village established a cooperative, and every household became a shareholder; besides drawing wages, they could also receive dividends at the end of the year.
"There are no unsolvable problems, only people who refuse to act!" Chen Changhua said. It was precisely by firming up this belief that he and the work team members successively established and improved five major ledgers, including the village's "Survey and Verification Table of Poor Households," "Precise Poverty Alleviation Table for Households Returning to Poverty," and "Detailed Table of Household Income," as well as 11 basic information files on poor households, laying the foundation for shaking off poverty and becoming prosperous. At the same time, they also formulated a targeted poverty alleviation plan, drafting 10 project plans in areas such as infrastructure improvement, industrial development, and household-level support, vigorously developing poverty alleviation industries and increasing infrastructure construction. By the end of 2015, 241 poor people from 70 households in Shuanghe Village had successfully escaped poverty.
In order to achieve poverty alleviation, Chen Changhua had to play the role of a "man of principle." He said that the Party and the state's poverty alleviation policies are good, and large amounts of funds and projects have been invested in grassroots rural areas. If village cadres do not guard the gates well and do not uphold principles, it will not only harm the people's interests but also damage the Party's image.
In 2015, before Kaizhou District allocated land voucher payments to Shuanghe Village villagers, quite a few people came to Chen Changhua hoping for special consideration, seeking to change "one household with multiple residences" into "one household with one residence" in order to raise compensation standards. Chen Changhua then placed two policy documents on his desk, the "Kaizhou District Land Reclamation 'One Household with Multiple Residences' Category Handling Opinions" and the "Jiulongshan Town Land Reclamation 'One Household with Multiple Residences' Category Implementation Plan." Whenever anyone came to seek connections, he would hand them over for the person to study carefully. Seeing that he "would not take in oil or salt," the visitors had no choice but to handle matters according to the rules.
Chen Changhua's refusal to show favoritism drew sneers from some people: "Just a tiny deputy mayor and he thinks he's something, he doesn't even have any human touch!" But Chen Changhua said: "I will never trade principles for 'human favors,' especially in handling work such as 'illegal construction' and 'land reclamation compensation.' No one's personal connections will work!" Because of this stubborn temper, someone gave Chen Changhua the nickname "Chen Principle," and Chen Changhua liked this nickname enormously.
Running around for poverty alleviation and being "ruthless" for public affairs. "He is a 'cold-hearted man.' All his thoughts and energy are devoted to work, and there is no way for him to take care of the family. His daughter is already so grown up, but the time he has spent playing with her can be counted on one's fingers. Even when I was sick and hospitalized, he did not stay with me for even 3 days..." His wife Zhou Suqiong, ticking off all kinds of "coldness" from her husband Chen Changhua, had tears welling up in her eyes.
During 5 years working in Jiulongshan Town, Chen Changhua never once took annual leave. In his mind there was almost no concept of annual leave, and he threw himself wholeheartedly into work. Even after getting married, having a family, and having a wife, he still put work first and treated his work unit as "home." All the housework fell on his wife and parents, and his family members complained countless times that he "only cares about the public and not the private," which also often made Chen Changhua feel guilty toward his family.
In November 2016, after Shuanghe Village's poverty alleviation task was fully completed, Chen Changhua was transferred away from Shuanghe Village. He said that poverty alleviation has a heavy burden and a long road ahead, and that no matter what post he holds, he will do his utmost to fulfill his responsibility for poverty alleviation.