Grassroots governance is complicated, but compliance with laws and regulations is also a bottom-line requirement.
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Written by Beijing News commentator Ma Xiaolong Editor He Rui Proofreader Wang Xin.
Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province reported that "the community requires people to return to their hometowns for the New Year to report". Screenshot of "Yangxian County Release".
As the Spring Festival approaches, there is more news related to going home for the New Year.
According to the Beijing News, on January 9, a notice issued by Gongjiachao Community, Zhifang Street, Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province, that "people returning to their hometowns for the New Year should report" attracted attention. According to the "Notice", according to the notice of the county party committee and the county, from January 8 to February 20, 2024, all returnees (registered population in the community) will be screened and summarized daily, and registered and reported to the community every day.
In the early hours of January 10, the local government issued a notice apologizing and saying that the community had been ordered to withdraw the notice. Previously, the staff of the Yangxian Zhifang Sub-district Office said that during the Chinese New Year, there were many returning migrant workers, and for the sake of safety, the community was required to do a good job in social security and stability, "and the ways and means of each community are different."
It's 2024, and there are still communities that require returnees to report? As soon as the news came out, it aroused widespread criticism at the scene: what is the basis for the community involved to make this request? Many argue that the demands of the communities involved are not legitimate and untenable.
After all, since the implementation of the "Category B and B Management" policy on the new crown epidemic in early 2023, the restrictive measures on population movement in various places have been gradually broken and a consensus has been formed. It should also be the basic principle of grassroots management that communities and other grassroots organizations should not put forward restrictive requirements for returnees, and should not contradict the current national policies.
What's more, on traditional holidays such as the Spring Festival, migrant workers who have worked hard for a year have a higher willingness to return to their hometowns, and high-frequency population movement can also play a considerable positive role in promoting holiday consumption. At any level, there should no longer be such an unreasonable demand as "returning to the hometown to report for the record".
As a matter of fact, the requirement of "returning to the hometown to report" is still in essence a kind of power-dominated inertial thinking, and it is also an outward manifestation of the abuse of "micro-power" in the hands of individual grass-roots units.
In reality, the introduction of a similar "one-size-fits-all" decision is likely to be a decision made by "patting the head", which not only lacks legal support, but also ignores the privacy rights of residents in the jurisdiction. And the "micro-power arrogance" that is full of it should not be underestimated.
After this matter aroused the highest concern, the local government immediately ordered the relevant parties to revoke the notice, which is very timely and necessary. But even so, the relevant parties involved should reflect on this and take warning.
The local government said in a statement that such an incident occurred because "the community staff understood the misunderstanding, the working method was simple, and the community leader was not strict in checking, and issued an inappropriate notice in the work group." From this point of view, it is obvious that the relevant staff of the community involved should also strengthen the cultivation of legal literacy.
This also shows that the abuse of power by individual grassroots organizations is actually reflected in these small daily affairs and policy measures, which needs to be vigilant. At the same time, this also reminds many places that the Spring Festival holiday is coming, and migrant workers are eager to return to their hometowns, so don't set these impersonal rules and regulations for them.
Grassroots governance is complicated, but compliance with laws and regulations is also a bottom-line requirement, and before introducing relevant policies and measures, it may be advisable to seriously demonstrate their legitimacy and rationality. Community autonomy should also listen to the voices of the people, and should not just rely on "patting their heads", let alone abuse the power in their hands with certain habitual thinking.
All in all, it's 2024, and the community will stop laughing and generous "local policies" such as "returning to your hometown for the New Year".