In order to implement the demands of the "Notice of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee on Resolving the Striking Problem of Formalism to Reduce the Burden on Grassroots ", Zhejiang has recently issued the "Several Opinions on Rectifying the Striking Problem of Formalism and Reducing the Burden on Grassroots " (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions"). This is to motivate the majority of cadres to act in the spirit of the “maximum one visit service procedure” reform, and to strengthen the pragmatic style of solving problems and serving the grassroots, so as to keep promoting the province's "three-fold service" activities to achieve more significant results.
The "Opinions" are divided into five parts with a total of 20 measures: greatly simplifying document briefings, reducing various meetings, regulating and supervising various activities of assessment and competition, strengthening management over the responsibilities of the towns, townships (sub-districts), and villages (communities), institutional nameplates, regulations posted on the wall, and the government application APPs (public accounts), and supervising strictly to ensure effectiveness.
The "Opinions" stipulates that without the approval of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, provincial-level institutions and organizations may not issue documents and letters to the lower-level party committees, governments or non-members. In implementing the documents of higher authorities, it is generally no longer necessary to formulate implementation opinions and detailed rules at various levels. To promote the "short and new" style of writing, the number of words in the policy documents of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government is generally controlled within 5,000 words.
The "Opinions" demands that the General Office of the Provincial Party Committee and the General Office of the Provincial Government conduct an overall study of the annual key tasks of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government at the beginning of each year to determine the important provincial conferences to be held throughout the year. Wednesday is set as No Meeting Day for the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government (except for the plenary meetings). In principle, the upper level meeting only opens to the next level. The unit directly under the provincial administration should not hold more than one provincial conference each year that is to be attended by the main leaders of the county (city, district) counterparts.
The "Opinions" requires that the tables and forms in all kinds of assessment and competitions be cancelled unless otherwise stipulated by the Central Government, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government. The assessment should not include items such as leaders’ instructions, issuing meeting documents, setting up leading organizations, increasing number of staff members, institutional nameplates, installing government affairs APP, and following WeChat public accounts, etc. Telephone interviews, online voting, and satisfaction assessment results may not be used as indispensable assessment indicators. Strictly control and carefully use the "One-vote veto" and letter of responsibility should be used rarely under strict control. In daily work, the grassroots should not be required to use QQ, WeChat, and other special APPs to sign for attendance or register.
The "Opinions" requires that the access system for the village (community) work be strictly implemented, and the duties of the county or township governments and their functional departments and sub-district offices shall not be passed on to the villages (communities). In principle, the units directly under the provincial administration only retain one WeChat public account for work purpose, and must not force the grassroots to follow or send relevant information or materials.
The "Opinions" demands to have assessment on the striking problem of formalism at all levels and the work to effectively reduce the burden on grassroots, and to incorporate this into the important content of inspections.
The "Opinions" stresses that all local governments and departments should thoroughly implement the important guiding spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s instructions on pragmatic work style, and carry out resolute struggles against formalism and bureaucracy. In order to meet the requirements of the "grassroots burden reduction year", we must see to it that the documents issued to the county or its affiliated units, and meetings held be reduced by 30% to 50%. Through two or three years of efforts, it is expected to fundamentally change the striking problem of formalism and promote the decisions of the Central Government and Provincial Party Committee to great results.
