Isn't the community and the neighborhood committee the same thing? Why can only Chinese communities do a good job in epidemic prevention and control? The water pipe in the old community is broken, who should I call if there is no property? Does community worker encounter the ceiling of "promotion and salary increase"? ...Ding Yuanzhu, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National School of Administration), and Wang Ruiduan, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Shenyang Community, Yongqing Street, Jiang'an District, Wuhan, had a conversation about this.
Why can only Chinese communities do a good job in epidemic prevention and control?
The past year has been significant for community workers. No one thought that the community committees should have such a strong sense of presence and be so close to everyone's life. In street mining, almost everyone can quickly and accurately say the name of their community.
Ding Yuanzhu: It's true. From the perspective of residents, I used to live in the community, and sometimes I felt that I didn't have so close contact with the community. In the face of an infectious disease that has not been seen in a century, social isolation is the most basic method, which requires grassroots social organizations to manage, guide, and serve. It is at this time that our community has indeed played an unprecedented role.
In contrast, communities in the United States rely entirely on autonomy, and their degree of autonomy is very high. Sometimes I also communicate with friends in the United States through WeChat, and I ask him if he is vaccinated? He said he didn't know where to fight. Did I say that the community did not notify? He said that our community does not care about these things. Especially in the face of such a major epidemic, the problems of communities like the United States have emerged. In the process of fighting the epidemic, our community management system is a very effective way to deal with the epidemic.
Wang Ruiduan: Last year, when the community was fully enclosed and controlled, there were a lot of material requirements at that time, and the work of protecting people's livelihood during that period was particularly important. In particular, the difficulty of queuing to buy medicine and vegetables will increase. Because we are an old community, and there are even villages in the city, the village has more entrances, so it will be more difficult to seal the community at that time. After the refined management, the physical distance between everyone is widened, but the distance between the hearts is closer, and it is more like a group.
Why do the elderly dare to tell community workers their bank cards and passwords?
During the epidemic last year, for some elderly people who only had a passbook, no smart phone, and did not know how to make mobile payments, "withdrawing money" became an increasingly urgent need. The task of helping everyone withdraw money falls on the shoulders of community workers.
Wang Ruiduan: This is an issue involving personal privacy. When we did it, we relied on the law and trust as the foundation. At that time, we wrote a power of attorney and told them that this power of attorney was first to protect them and secondly to protect us. Basically, the residents are very relieved to hand in their passbooks or bank cards to us, even the passwords and ID cards are all handed over to us. We are more precise in our work on empty nesters and elderly people living alone. They especially trust the community.
Why is the community committee always overwhelmed?
Wang Ruiduan: It should be said that I have done a little bit more. Because in the eyes of the residents, our community neighborhood committees are equivalent to the grassroots government. When residents come to handle affairs, they first think that I have difficulties and come to the community as soon as possible. The residents told us, are you civil servants? (Actually not.) Many problems should be the responsibility of functional departments, and we cannot solve them.
Ding Yuanzhu: How to mobilize residents and various social organizations to participate in normal epidemic prevention and control is the core issue of community construction. Since the community is regarded as an autonomous organization in law, we must play its role. If you do not give full play to the role of residents' autonomy, the burden on the neighborhood committee will become heavier over time. The more you undertake, the residents think you should solve the problems that they should solve by themselves. If you can't solve them, they will find you. This makes you passive and hard.
Ding Yuanzhu: In addition, it is necessary to clarify what should be done by the community and what should not be done by the community. In the past two years, Beijing and Shanghai have promoted the grassroots governance of mega-cities and sorted out the list of powers and responsibilities of neighborhoods and neighborhood committees. Which powers and responsibilities should be delegated to the community, and which should not be delegated to the community, make a positive checklist. I will not let me take it if I shouldn`t. This is a fundamental issue in grassroots governance.
There is no property in the old community, who should I call if the water pipe is leaking?
Wang Ruiduan: The biggest difference between the old community and the new community is the property. Whether there is professional property management is very different. The most prominent problem is, for example, the problem of water leakage when the house is old. It seems a small problem, but it needs to be solved by multiple departments, because the main body of the house may be an individual, a unit, or a state, which is difficult to deal with in many cases. What method should be used to solve it?
Ding Yuanzhu: I have encountered this problem recently because I participated in the drafting of the "Eleventh Five-Year" and "12th Five-Year" community service system construction plan. At that time, it was stipulated that community construction is the responsibility of the local government. Therefore, the central government now stipulates that it is necessary to accelerate the transformation of old urban areas and old communities, and the final implementation of the issue of money lies with the local government. I think the next step, how to find a better solution is a very important issue.
In this year's proposal, I also mentioned the "micro-construction of the community". We used to talk about community building, which meant building a community service center and setting up a store. These are basically solved in many communities. However, some deep-seated problems in the transformation of old communities need to be put on the agenda.
Where is the "career ceiling" for community workers?
Wang Ruiduan: Compared with before, our welfare benefits have been greatly improved, and it has also broken the bottleneck of the original lack of upward channels. Now we can also change our identities by applying for civil service examinations, we can work in the street, and there are many channels for promotion. This also gives us a lot of strength and hope. I work in this place and have a feeling of being recognized. But our community has more than 8,000 people and more than 2,000 households. The strength of community security team members and community officers is also indispensable. They have been working in the community for so many years, they may experience job burnout, which is also a problem that needs to be considered.
What kind of district is the community, and what is the neighborhood committee?
Ding Yuanzhu: According to the "Organization Law of Urban Resident Committees of the People's Republic of China", neighborhood committees are actually the autonomous organizations of communities. Just like the "Organization Law of Villagers Committees of the People's Republic of China", village committees are also autonomous organizations of villagers. However, in actual operation, the neighborhood committee has undertaken many tasks assigned by the neighborhoods, even upstream government departments and territorial units, and it is not just an autonomous organization. It also assumes many other functions and is intertwined with many government functions. This is also a Chinese characteristic.
