Better management of public complaints urged

The central government urged local authorities and officials on Tuesday to improve their methods of handling the public's grievances.

In a notice, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council said though the people's livelihood keeps improving, some local governments' misconduct has been compromising the public's interests.

Such misconduct is usually seen in areas including land seizures, labor issues, social security, education, healthcare and State-owned enterprises' reform, leading to a large number of petitions, according to the notice.

The notice requests government departments and officials to solve the public's grievances "from the root" by taking more measures to improve livelihoods, strengthen the transparency of government duties, and eliminate bureaucracy and extravagance.

Officials are also urged to streamline the reception and handling of the public's petitions and spend more time communicating with those who want to voice their concerns.

The notice encourages the public to speak out about their demands or difficulties in an appropriate and lawful manner, saying irrational or unreasonable petitions will not be supported.

The government will establish a hearing mechanism to deal with petitions that are complicated or have not been resolved for a long time and intensify supervision on petition-handling authorities.

In addition, the document asks the Party's grassroots organs and local governments to improve their service and motivate more participation from the public in handling petitions so conflicts can be avoided or addressed at the very beginning.

Gong Weibin, a sociology professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said: "It is fair to say that today's officials are well aware of the importance of offering the public a channel to let them voice their grievances. However, some of the petitions couldn't be properly addressed in a timely manner, so the conflicts were consequently exacerbated."

He suggested local authorities to attach more attention and allocate more resources in giving a feasible and timely solution to petitioners after hearing their grievances.

"Unfair or unreasonable policies are prone to social unrests. Therefore the governments must solicit the public's opinions in their making and implementation of policies," said Xie Chuntao, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

"On the other hand, those who hope to have their issues solved should raise their concerns or requests in accordance with the laws and regulations."

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn