Society

Wuhan punishes officials for dereliction of duty

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-10 18:02

WUHAN - One hundred and nine officials were recently punished for neglecting their official responsibilities in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, according to the city's Communist Party of China committee chief.

The officials in question were punished in a variety of ways, including being removed from their posts, demoted or warned, according to Ruan Chengfa, Party chief of the city.

One of the officials was removed from his post for playing ma hjong, a Chinese tabletop game, during his shift.

The highest-level officials punished were three bureau heads, who were given warnings for allowing their subordinates to ignore their duties.

The punishments were announced one month after Wuhan launched a campaign to investigate and eliminate cases of neglect by government officials.

"The campaign has had the effect of frightening some officials, " said Ruan.

The inefficiency of some government officials has been widely criticized in China, with some officials found playing online games, trading stocks, chatting or leaving their posts without permission during working hours.

Campaigns to crack down on neglectful officials have accordingly swept across China in response to public anger. The provinces of Shanxi, Hunan, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, as well as the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, have also taken measures to improve the efficiency of their local governing bodies.

"The campaign should not only last for a short period," said Wang Taihui, vice secretary general with the Wuhan Party committee. "Secret investigations will also be conducted in the future," he said.

"The key to improving efficiency is to assign suitable people to different posts, so that they can fulfill their duties actively," said Ma Guanghai, a sociologist at Shandong University.