Reform poverty-alleviation measures

China should reform its poverty-alleviation measures. It is more important to help the poor regions find ways to eliminate poverty than simply giving them money, says an article in the Legal Daily. Excerpts:

Some underdeveloped counties are reluctant to get rid of the ‘poor’ tag as it ensures huge financial support from the central government. It is necessary for the central authority to reform the criteria that categorize regions into poor and rich, strengthen supervision of poverty-elimination fund and set up an exit mechanism for the poor counties.

In the absence of effective supervision, some of the state’s funds to help the underdeveloped areas become an incentive for local officials to profit illegally.

The assessment of poor counties should be transparent, and the spending of the poverty- alleviation fund must go through strict auditing to make sure that each penny is well-spent.

The main index in current assessment system includes per capita gross domestic product, per capita financial income and per capita income of the farmers. The government needs to add more sections into the assessment system so that people can check whether the index is working correctly, or whether it has been influenced by officials.

Some county governments fudge the statistics. Those responsible for reporting incorrect figures should be strictly punished to deter others.