Official answers call of duty

Imram Bahket strives to ensure that the needs of the residents in her subdistrict are met

Huang Jiaqiong and her husband moved to an apartment in Aksu prefecture's Langan subdistrict in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region from another community more than a year ago.

Still, from time to time she receives calls from Imram Bakhet, director of the subdistrict office, asking about her living situation and whether she needs assistance. "Director Imram treats me like a sister, and she has helped me solve many problems since my husband and I relocated to the subdistrict," Huang said.

In late 2019, her husband was diagnosed with cancer. They had a very difficult time and had no place to live."Imram heard about our situation and applied for public housing for us in Langan. It was she who helped my husband and I through that dark period of time in our life,"Huang said. "I will always remember her kindness."

After graduating from college in 2005, Imram worked as police officer for 10 years. In late 2017, she was elected deputy secretary of the Party committee of Langan and director of the subdistrict office.

In December, the 37-year-old was honored as one of 32 Outstanding Civil Servants in China for her hard work at the grassroots level. The honor was awarded by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Over the past few years, Imram has continuously shown concern about the lives of the local residents and has tried to assist them in their daily lives.

Because her husband is a police officer who is busy with work and often away from home during the COVID-19 pandemic early last year, Imram was asked by the subdistrict's Party committee to work from home so that her young son wouldn't be left alone.

But Imram insisted on working in the subdistrict and living in her office. She said she couldn't feel at ease at home while the nation faced such a big challenge and residents of the subdistrict needed her. As she worked, her brother-in-law took care of her son.

Every day during that period, Imram visited communities in Langan to ensure all the disease control and prevention measures were implemented. She also checked on the residents to see if their food supplies were sufficient and asked if they had any issues that needed resolving.

She was particularly concerned about the situations of residents with special conditions, including 49 widowed, elderly people, 84 seniors who had been left behind by their children who worked in other cities, and 35 people with disabilities. Every few days, she went door-to-door to see about their needs."I'm a Party member and should take the lead at work all the time," she said.

Improving employment

Langan is an area with many low-income families and unemployed residents. To help people improve their lives and find jobs, Imram has been working to organize vocational training in the hope of improving the residents' capabilities and skills.

So far, training sessions for 26 types of skills have been held, including tailoring, electrical engineering and auto mechanic work.

Imram and her colleagues have also set up internship centers in the subdistrict, providing work for unemployed residents to practice their skills. In addition, they have tried to attract businesses there to increase residents' employment opportunities.

Due to their efforts, 91 companies have come to Langan since 2019, helping more than 13,000 residents land jobs.

Ahmet Kabir, 38, a Langan resident, has disabilities and was unable to find a job to support his family. Being aware of his difficulties, Imram contacted a lock maintenance store in Aksu, which agreed to accept Ahmet as a trainee.

Ahmet worked there for six months, learning how to repair locks and operate a business. Soon, he applied for an 80,000 yuan ($12,360) loan from a bank with Imram's help and started his own lock business in Langan.

Now earning 7,000 yuan a month, Ahmet recently bought a new apartment with another loan and is planning to buy a car. "Without Imram, my family and I wouldn't have been able to earn such a good living," he said."We're really grateful to her."

Imram said when she came to work in the subdistrict three years ago, she set a goal for herself－to make it and the life of its residents better. As far as she's concerned, she's just getting started."I'll continue to work hard toward my goal."

Aybek Askhar contributed to this story.