Female Party Secretary Becomes Sales Manager, Leading Villagers to Prosper by Raising Chickens
Pu Shuxian (center) inspecting the breeding situation of impoverished households
"I am so grateful to Secretary Pu. She brought us chicks, distributed feed, taught us how to raise the chickens well and grow them big, and helped us sell them at a good price." Lai Qijun, an impoverished household in Xingfu Village, Guhe Town, Changning County, Yibin, gets very animated when talking about "First Secretary" Pu Shuxian.
Work Method: Know the Affairs of a Hundred Families, Handle the Matters of a Hundred Families
It is understood that in June 2015, Pu Shuxian was assigned by the organization from the Changning County Administration for Industry and Commerce to serve as First Secretary of the Party branch in Xingfu Village, Guhe Town. Moving from a government office to the village, Pu Shuxian quickly shifted her identity and got into her role. Using the work method of "entering a hundred doorsteps, eating a hundred meals, knowing the affairs of a hundred families, and handling the matters of a hundred families," she engaged in heart-to-heart talks with members of the village "two committees" to understand the village situation and build harmonious relations; on the other hand, she insisted on working full-time in the village, visiting household after household, talking with the masses, holding discussions with veteran Party members, familiarizing herself with the village situation, understanding public opinion, analyzing the reasons constraining development, and clarifying her work approach.
"As First Secretary, the first priority is to strengthen the building of the village-level leadership team, so that power is used for the people, emotions are tied to the people, and benefits are sought for the people." Pu Shuxian said that a precise and accurate poverty-alleviation implementation plan must be drawn up, achieving an organic combination of three aspects: targeted poverty alleviation and whole-village advancement, consolidating foundations and enhancing capabilities, and government leadership and social mobilization, so as to promote Xingfu Village's early escape from poverty and march toward moderate prosperity.
Visits and Surveys: Villagers Shook Their Heads at Raising Chickens and Ducks
As the saying goes, once the approach is clear, it is easier to get started. Pu Shuxian and the Xingfu Village Party branch and village committee went deep into the homes of impoverished households together, distributed household survey forms, accurately understood the development aspirations of impoverished households, conducted a comprehensive assessment of the problems urgently needing resolution, and kept records, tailoring industrial development plans to local conditions and categorizing them by type.
"When I first arrived in Xingfu Village and raised the matter of raising chickens and ducks with the masses, they always shook their heads." Through investigation and visits, Pu Shuxian learned that what the masses feared was that the chickens and ducks could not be raised successfully, that the survival rate would not be high, and that the losses would be great when the time came. In order to fully grasp the basic situation of impoverished households, Pu Shuxian and the village Party branch and village committee distributed 59 household survey forms, accurately understood the willingness of impoverished households to raise chickens and ducks, learned about the problems that had existed in raising chickens and ducks before, and conducted a comprehensive assessment of the problems urgently needing resolution. Based on the survey of basic information of impoverished households, plans for chicken and duck raising development and technical guidance programs were customized household by household.
Xingfu Village impoverished households Lai Qijun and Lai Hualu both fell into poverty because they themselves had to take medicine year-round for chronic illness and their families lacked surplus labor. Based on her analysis, Pu Shuxian determined that Lai Qijun's home was near a bamboo grove and suitable for raising chickens, while Lai Hualu's home had rice paddies right at the doorstep and was more suitable for raising ducks. She then raised funds through departmental coordination and various other means, and delivered free chicks and ducklings to the two families respectively, to help them escape poverty in the short term. Now the lives of both have improved markedly.
"Now I just want to continue expanding the scale and do an even better job in both livestock breeding and crop cultivation." Lai Qijun said while feeding the chickens, "Since we developed the breeding business, our family's income has been decent."
After Lai Hualu's family made money raising ducks, they improved their living conditions, paved the floor at home, and renovated the stove and so on. "Next year I will raise even more ducks; making money is fast."
Solving Sales Channels: The Female Secretary Becomes Sales Manager
The two families of Lai Qijun and Lai Hualu are just a microcosm of impoverished households in Xingfu Village raising chickens and ducks. In 2015, among the impoverished households in Xingfu Village, 15 raised ducks and 29 raised chickens, and they were expected to achieve a total income of 231,000 yuan. To address the worries of the impoverished masses, Pu Shuxian organized training sessions for the masses 4 times. To solve the sales channels for chickens and ducks, she personally served as sales manager, organizing Xingfu Village's free-range chickens and partridge ducks to participate in exhibition and sales activities at various levels, and helping farmers connect the chickens and ducks they raised to sales channels such as restaurants in Yibin.
In addition, Pu Shuxian also led the village Party branch and village committee in implementing industrial development, dilapidated housing renovation, infrastructure construction, rural power grid upgrading, information network coverage, educational development, village sanitation improvement, and the human drinking water and natural gas project, among others. Relying on the Qidonggou AAAA scenic area and Hele's "Huaman Shuixiang" (Flower-Flooded Water Village), they vigorously developed rural tourism in Xingfu Village, carried out dilapidated housing renovation for 18 impoverished households, and continuously strengthened and improved village-level infrastructure construction projects. At the same time, the village held a "Cleanest Household" evaluation every quarter, and so far 10 households have maintained the title for four consecutive quarters and each received a reward of 200 yuan per household.
At present, the mud-gravel road from Feiquan Temple to Niuzhuanguai in Xingfu Village has been completed, and the hardened road is under construction, achieving the goal of every village group having road access and hardened cement roads at every doorstep. The village appearance of Xingfu Village has also improved markedly.
As for future development, Pu Shuxian also has her own plans: "In the next step, our Xingfu Village will rely on the Qidonggou AAAA-level scenic area and the Huaman Shuixiang tourist attraction to drive the entire village's villagers to earn a living from tourism, so that they can walk the road to happiness as soon as possible."