Last year, a certain brigade of the 77th Group Army introduced 32 measures to reduce the burden on grassroots units. After the document was issued, the officers and soldiers were overjoyed. In recent years, we have been continuously addressing the long-standing 'five plus' issues that have plagued grassroots communities. ”The leader of the brigade said that in 2019, after the Central Military Commission issued the "Several Provisions on Reducing the Burden of Grassroots Units to Solve the 'Five More' Problems," the brigade correspondingly issued "8 Provisions on Reducing the Burden of Grassroots Units"; The following year, they launched the "10 Strict Prohibitions for Rectifying Formalism" based on this foundation; Last year, the "32 Measures to Reduce Grassroots Burden" were introduced, which not only covered all the contents of the previous two documents, but also added more than 10 specific contents based on new situations and problems. From "8" to "10", and then to "32", some officers and soldiers have seen the determination of the brigade party committee to persistently rectify the "five excesses" problem from the constantly increasing numbers: "The rules are getting finer and finer, and the living space for the" five excesses "problem is getting smaller and smaller." Some officers and soldiers have also seen the stubbornness of the "five excesses" disease, so they have doubts: "Every year we are dealing with old problems, every year there are new situations, we have put in so much effort to rectify and eliminate problems, but the burden on the grassroots is still very heavy. Can the stubborn disease of the" five excesses "be eradicated?" "Currently, although the" five excesses "problem has been curbed to some extent, some deep-seated problems have not been completely solved, and some are illegal and not in line with the law. The phenomenon of regulation still has a certain inertia. ”The leader of the brigade said, "It is precisely because the 'five excesses' problem has a strong stubbornness that we must continue to work hard and achieve long-term results." "We have studied and updated the measures to reduce the burden on the grassroots in accordance with the regulations issued by our superiors. ”The leader of the brigade said that no matter how difficult it is to solve the "five excesses" problem, we must strengthen the fundamental work with perseverance and determination. The grassroots level of government agencies have their own difficulties in dealing with the "five excesses" problem, and it is necessary to eradicate the soil that causes dissatisfaction. ”I didn't expect Vice Captain Zhang of a certain camp in the brigade to make such an evaluation of his "former employer" and a certain department of the organization. At the end of 2022, in a satisfaction survey conducted on government agencies, nearly half of the grassroots cadres in the brigade, like Vice Captain Zhang, checked the "dissatisfied" option in the "reducing workload for grassroots" column. Upon seeing the results of the questionnaire, many government officials felt aggrieved: "Now that all the meetings that can be avoided are not held, and all the documents that can be avoided are not issued, why do grassroots officials still feel a lot of pressure?" At the symposium, Deputy Battalion Commander Zhang spoke up quickly, revealing all the "five plus" issues strongly reflected by grassroots officials, which attracted the attention of the brigade leaders. Subsequently, a larger scale survey kicked off in the brigade. It may seem like there isn't much work assigned to each department, but when one task after another weighs on us, it becomes a big mountain. ”During the survey, a guide admitted to the leader of the brigade, "Sometimes even if there are 'five plus' problems, it is difficult to find the' culprit '. The biggest concern is that government officials have increased the burden on grassroots levels without realizing it." Are government officials really' unaware '? At a grassroots symposium, a department head admitted, "We are not unaware of the difficulties faced by grassroots cadres, but now 'small agencies lead large troops', with only two or three cadres in the department, it is not a problem to maintain the operation of business work. However, once there are major tasks and activities arranged by superiors, we have to transmit the pressure downwards and work overtime with grassroots cadres." "There is division of labor in government work, but it is necessary to operate a' game of chess'. Only when each department finds its position and performs its own duties, can grassroots operations be orderly and stable. ”A leader of a government department revealed his true feelings, "However, the reality is that many departments believe that their business work is more important, and there is a tendency towards individualism, which leads to departments fighting on their own and making the grassroots chaotic." At the same time, some grassroots cadres are also reluctantly "putting pressure on themselves" for various reasons. In a survey, a certain instructor cited the management of personnel outside as an example: "After a safety accident occurs in a neighboring unit, I have to make phone calls one by one to verify the safety situation of the personnel outside, and the duration of the calls will be recorded. I also know that this is a bit excessive, but I have to do it. As a result, we spend a lot of time and energy on 'leaving traces' as a means of avoiding risks." "Indeed, accountability is a powerful tool. By using strong accountability to force accountability, many grassroots officials have tightened their responsibility and enhanced their sense of duty and responsibility. ”A platoon leader sighed and said, "But the generalization of accountability has led us to use 'leaving traces' as a means of avoiding risks. If we don't take firm measures against these new situations and problems that increase the burden on the grassroots, we will inevitably fall into the vicious cycle of' old burdens are reduced, new burdens are born again '. ”This survey has made the party committee of the brigade deeply realize that only by taking effective measures to thoroughly eradicate the soil where the "five excesses" problem originated and block the breeding space for the "five excesses" problem to mutate, can grassroots cadres truly go into battle with light equipment and inspire officers and soldiers to focus their thoughts and efforts on preparing for war. Abandoning the habitual thinking, practices, and behaviors of "relying on experience without explaining the law" and "following routines without following the law" is mainly due to the difficulty in thoroughly correcting the "five excesses" problem in terms of ideology. ”The leader of the brigade introduced that the "first shot" they fired to reduce the burden on grassroots cadres was to require government officials to conduct a major cleanup of outdated thinking and concepts. Taking the use of vehicles as an example, previously, the government required grassroots cadres to bring vehicles. Sometimes multiple tasks in the platoon go hand in hand, and some cadres have to abandon their current work and reluctantly act as "leading cadres". According to relevant regulations, soldiers with the rank of Sergeant or above can perform the duty of leading vehicles. The reason why officials are required to bring cars is because it has always been the case in the past. ”A department head of the brigade said, "To tackle the stubborn problem of 'five excesses', we must first abandon the habitual thinking of' relying on experience without explaining the law 'and' following routines without following the law ', and resolutely achieve' management according to regulations, construction according to the outline, training according to the outline, and service according to functions'. According to relevant documents, the first new content of the brigade's' 32 measures to reduce the burden on the grassroots' is to 'comprehensively clean up all past' local regulations' and 'local policies' that do not comply with regulations, such as' officers leading teams, cadres present, and chief officials leading'. In addition to the new regulations, the '32 measures to reduce the burden on the grassroots' also optimize and standardize the previously clear methods of reducing the burden. Taking the simplification of telegrams as an example, although the travel agency has clearly stated that documents issued by each department must be approved by the on duty leader, in actual implementation, some officials often adopt methods such as "white head replacing red head" and "verbal replacing formal" to issue notices to the grassroots for convenience, resulting in a seemingly significant reduction in the number of telegrams issued, but the burden on the grassroots has not been greatly reduced. In response to this situation, the "32 Measures to Reduce the Burden of Grassroots Organizations" stipulate that "when government agencies issue telegrams to grassroots organizations through channels such as telephone and the Strong Military Network, they must be approved by department leaders and filed for record." It also clarifies that "grassroots organizations have the right to refuse to execute informal notices issued through informal channels, and the consequences shall be borne by the department leaders of the issuing agency. I used to draft materials, and whenever I wanted any data, I would pick up the phone and ask the grassroots to compile it. Now, with this regulation in place, I believe no government officials dare to reach out to the grassroots anymore. ”A government official said, "This forces us to focus on data collection and other work in our daily lives, while also strengthening data sharing between departments." While reducing the burden on grassroots officials, the brigade also continues to "loosen up" for them by establishing a fault tolerance and error correction mechanism. A soldier's violation occurred in a certain platoon. After investigation, the working group of the organization concluded that the platoon leader was not negligent in fulfilling his educational management responsibilities, and the problem was sporadic. Therefore, it was decided not to pursue the leadership responsibility of the platoon leader. Nowadays, there is no need to be afraid of generalized accountability, and there are fewer constraints on doing things and starting businesses. ”When it comes to this matter, many grassroots officials have repeatedly praised it. By reducing the virtual work and increasing the practical work, we can find the "optimal solution" to reduce the burden on the grassroots. From replacing outdated "brains", to controlling the "hands" extending to the grassroots, and finally removing the "sword" hanging above our heads... After the introduction of the "32 Measures to Reduce the Burden on the Grassroots", has the burden on grassroots cadres been reduced? Perhaps we can glimpse the clues from the personal experience of Captain Zhao of a certain company. After breakfast, Captain Zhao quickly rushed to the training ground - thanks to his training experience in the travel coaching team, he was designated as the chief coach of three professional courses in the camp. After completing the demonstration teaching, in the afternoon of that day, Captain Zhao went to the Officer Training Center as a member of a certain combat strategy research group - where more than 10 battalion and company leaders gathered in front of a huge electronic sand table. If we were in the past, we wouldn't be able to keep up with transactional work, let alone spare time to study innovative tactics. ”Captain Zhao told reporters that since the establishment of the combat strategy research group, all four new ideas they proposed have passed the higher-level acceptance. Our burden has been reduced, and the quality and efficiency of company building have also been improved. ”He told reporters that last year, the military training performance of the platoon ranked among the top in the entire battalion. The measures to reduce the burden on the grassroots are changing both the grassroots and the institutions. The most obvious feeling is that the ability to scientifically coordinate work has become stronger. "The head of the training department of the brigade took out a recently received superior document and introduced to the reporter that in the past, they would distribute the original notice to the grassroots and attach various requirements for the battalion to implement. Nowadays, they will "streamline" the content of documents based on the actual work at the grassroots level before forwarding them to the battalion. "This not only reduces the burden on grassroots cadres, but also helps them understand the intentions of their superiors and implement them effectively." Of course, reducing burden is not a mechanical "subtraction". The department head told reporters that last year, they proposed the idea of establishing a "research and combat night school" and organizing grassroots cadres to claim topics and take turns taking the stage to exchange speeches. However, the related suggestions have sparked controversy: some government officials are concerned that this will increase the burden on the grassroots and be identified as a "five plus" problem. After everyone's discussion, we finally unified our thoughts and implemented this measure. ”The head of the department introduced that "the 'Research and Combat Night School' has been running for more than half a year and has achieved good results. Grassroots cadres not only do not see it as a burden, but also regard it as a platform for learning." "Measuring the 'Five More' problem is not simply based on quantity and frequency, but also requires establishing a standard for 'combat effectiveness contribution rate'. ”The section chief sighed and said, "If reducing the burden is simply treated as an 'arithmetic problem' rather than an 'application problem', it will inevitably constrain the hands and feet of government officials in their work and entrepreneurship, causing their work to fall into a low-level state of only being satisfied with 'prescribed actions', and then move from one extreme to another." "Our exploration of reducing the burden at the grassroots level essentially requires all levels to invest time and energy into work, entrepreneurship, military training and preparation. ”The leader of the brigade said, "I believe that as long as we establish the standards for measuring the 'five excesses' problem, effectively reduce virtual achievements, and increase practical work, we can find the' optimal solution 'to reduce the burden on the grassroots." (Xinhua News Agency)