Reducing Burdens and Empowering to Inspire Responsibility and Action

Rectifying formalism and bureaucracy is not only the call of the masses but also the expectation of grassroots cadres. Currently, the study and education on thoroughly implementing the spirit of the Eight-Point Regulations is being carried out across the entire Party. Party organizations at all levels must integrate the ongoing rectification of formalism to reduce burdens at the grassroots level throughout the entire process of study and education, fostering reverence through learning, identifying gaps through inspection, and achieving tangible results through reform. This will ensure that the “burdens that should be reduced” are indeed reduced, and the “responsibilities that should be fulfilled” are shouldered, motivating the vast number of grassroots cadres to move forward lightly and take on their roles with initiative, turning the effectiveness of burden reduction into a powerful driving force for genuine action and overcoming difficulties on the new journey.

整治形式主义、官僚主义，既是群众的呼声，也是基层干部的期盼。当前，深入贯彻中央八项规定精神学习教育正在全党开展，各级党组织要把持续整治形式主义为基层减负贯穿学习教育全过程，在学中知敬畏、在查中找差距、在改中见实效，推动真正把“应减之负”减下去，把“应尽之责”担起来，激励广大基层干部轻装上阵、担当作为，将减负成效化作新征程上真抓实干、攻坚克难的强大动力。

Since the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has consistently attached great importance to rectifying formalism to reduce burdens at the grassroots level, pointing out that “to reduce burdens at the grassroots, responsibilities and powers must be clarified; not everything should be pushed onto the grassroots. The tasks that the grassroots should undertake must be clearly defined.” He has demanded that “Party groups (Party committees) of all departments, especially their principal responsible comrades, must establish a correct outlook on political performance, avoid setting unrealistic goals, refrain from convening meetings that do not solve problems, avoid issuing documents without substantive content, and refrain from doing things that ‘leave traces but not achievements,’ resolutely overcoming formalism and bureaucracy,” thereby charting the course for rectifying formalism to reduce grassroots burdens. Various regions and departments have further tightened the streamlining of documents and meetings, liberating grassroots cadres from red tape and the mountains of documents and seas of meetings; they have further coordinated and standardized supervision, inspection, and assessment, better leveraging the role of assessment as a weather vane and baton… A series of concrete and forceful measures have resolved a number of prominent issues, fostering a strong atmosphere that values real work, solid effort, and tangible results.

新时代以来，习近平总书记始终高度重视整治形式主义为基层减负工作，指出“为基层减负要明确权责，不能什么事都压给基层，基层该承担哪些工作，要把职责事项搞清楚”；要求“各部门党组(党委)特别是主要负责同志要树立正确政绩观，不定不切实际的目标，不开不解决问题的会，不发没有实质内容的文，不做‘只留痕不留绩’的事，坚决克服形式主义、官僚主义”等，为整治形式主义为基层减负指明了方向。各地区各部门进一步从严精简文件、精简会议，把基层干部从繁文缛节、文山会海中解放出来；进一步统筹规范督查检查考核，更好发挥考核的风向标、指挥棒作用……一系列实招硬招解决了一批突出问题，营造出重实干、做实功、求实效的浓厚氛围。

At the same time, it must be recognized that some problems that increase grassroots burdens remain persistently rampant, and new situations and trends continue to emerge. Some are “eager for quick success,” pursuing work without a long-term view or systematic approach, engaging in face-saving projects; some, lacking achievements, rely on documents to compensate, “spending every day at the grassroots but never having time to go down to the grassroots”; some have rigid and mechanical process management, turning technological empowerment into a “burden at the fingertips”… It is essential to fully understand the stubborn and recurrent nature of formalism and bureaucracy, adhere to a problem-oriented approach, closely monitor the new manifestations of formalism after it “changes its guise,” and make no concessions while pursuing the issue to the end. Problems strongly reflected by the grassroots should be addressed one by one as they are discovered, freeing Party members and cadres from meaningless affairs. It is necessary to identify the different manifestations of formalism and bureaucracy that increase grassroots burdens across different regions, fields, and levels, strengthen investigation and research, implement targeted measures, and promote an extension from “solving one problem” to “solving a category of problems.”

同时也要看到，一些加重基层负担的问题仍然屡禁不止，新情况新动向仍在滋生。有的“急功近利”，开展工作不看长远、不成系统，搞面子工程；有的成绩不够材料来凑，“天天在基层，却没空下基层”；有的过程管理机械僵硬、技术赋能变成“指尖之累”……要充分认识形式主义、官僚主义具有顽固性和反复性，坚持问题导向，紧盯形式主义“改头换面”后的新表现，寸步不让、一抓到底。对基层反映强烈的问题发现一个整治一个，把党员干部从一些无谓的事务中解脱出来。要摸清加重基层负担的形式主义、官僚主义在不同地区、不同领域、不同层级的不同表现，加强调查研究，精准施策，推动从“解决一个问题”向“解决一类问题”延伸。

Improve the normalization mechanism for reducing grassroots burdens, promoting a deepening of grassroots burden reduction toward addressing root causes. The problems of formalism and bureaucracy that increase grassroots burdens stem not only from deviations in ideological understanding and outlook on political performance but also from deficiencies in leadership methods, working styles, institutional mechanisms, and other aspects, requiring systematic and comprehensive treatment. For commonly occurring problems, rectification should be deepened, promoting the establishment of clear and well-defined institutional norms across regions, effectively solving the difficulty of “a small horse pulling a big cart” [1]1 “A small horse pulling a big cart” (小马拉大车) is a Chinese idiom describing a situation where a weak or under-resourced entity is tasked with an excessively heavy or oversized responsibility, often used to critique the mismatch between grassroots capacity and assigned duties. and the mismatch of powers and responsibilities that lead to heavy grassroots burdens. It is necessary to push Party organizations at all levels to genuinely assume the primary responsibility for reducing grassroots burdens, resolutely correcting problems that “manifest at the grassroots but have roots at higher levels.” In practice, some units have implemented a “meeting-free week” system and a “multi-meeting integration” system, significantly reducing the number of meetings; some localities have used systematic thinking to solve the problem of “overlapping research visits,” sharing research data and merging visit routes to drastically compress research activities that originally required multiple receptions by the grassroots. These practices of “reducing frequency, shortening duration, and extracting essentials” help squeeze out the water of formalism, allowing grassroots cadres to implement tasks in a more scientific and effective manner.

健全基层减负常态化机制，推动为基层减负不断向治本深化。加重基层负担的形式主义、官僚主义问题，背后既有思想认识、政绩观的偏差，也有领导方法、工作方式、制度机制等方面的不足，必须系统施治、综合施策。要对普遍发生的问题深化整治，推动各地区建立清晰明确的制度规范，有效破解“小马拉大车”、权责不对等导致基层负担重的难题。要推动各级党组织切实担起为基层减负主体责任，对“表现在基层、根子在上面”的问题坚决纠治。工作中，有的单位实施“无会周”制度和“多事合一”合并套开制度，会议数量大幅减少；有的地方以系统思维破解“调研扎堆”难题，通过共享调研数据、合并走访路线，将原本需要基层多次接待的调研大幅度压缩。这些“减频次、缩时长、捞干货”的实践，有利于挤掉形式主义水分，让基层干部以更加科学有效的方式抓落实。

Coordinate burden reduction and empowerment, guiding grassroots cadres to forge ahead with determination and take on responsibilities. Burden reduction does not mean reducing responsibility or accountability; rather, it means allowing the grassroots to shed burdens they should not bear, shoulder the responsibilities they ought to bear, settle down and immerse themselves, and concentrate their efforts on solving problems and doing practical things for the masses. It is necessary to further improve the cadre assessment and evaluation mechanism, clearly establish an assessment orientation that values real work, real achievements, and real responsibility, highlight the work orientation of focusing on the grassroots and strengthening the foundation, use both supervision to apply pressure and trust to add impetus, genuinely value, care for, and support the grassroots, offer more timely help to grassroots cadres and less nitpicking, and provide a broad stage for those who start undertakings and innovate. Discipline inspection and supervision organs must strengthen routine supervision, promptly urge rectification when problems that increase grassroots burdens are discovered, accurately apply the “four forms” [2]2 The “four forms” (四种形态) refer to a graduated system of disciplinary oversight within the CPC, ranging from criticism and self-criticism (the lightest) to arrest and prosecution (the most severe), designed to address misconduct at different levels., further refine and standardize accountability and blame, adhere to the combination of strict management with care and the balance of incentives with constraints, so that the vast number of grassroots cadres can focus wholeheartedly on implementation and development.

统筹减负与赋能，引导基层干部锐意进取，担当作为。减负不是减责任、减担当，而是让基层卸下不该承担的负担，担起该担之责，沉下心沉下身，集中精力为群众解难题办实事。要进一步完善干部考核评价机制，鲜明树立重实干、重实绩、重担当的考核导向，突出抓基层、强基础的工作导向，既用监督加压、又用信任加力，真正重视基层、关心基层、支持基层，对基层干部多一些雪中送炭、少一些求全责备，为干事创业者提供广阔舞台。纪检监察机关要强化常态监督，发现加重基层负担的问题及时督促整改，准确运用“四种形态”，进一步精准规范追责问责，坚持严管厚爱结合、激励约束并重，让广大基层干部心无旁骛抓落实、促发展。

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心