Closer eye on grain subsidies

The recent exposure of the widespread acquisition of a huge amount of State subsidies earmarked for grain planting has revealed the loopholes in oversight and management of these State funds.

Through falsely overstating the growing area in Central China's Hubei province, more than 1,000 people, including government officials and State farmland employees in multiple cities of the province, have illegally gained more than 80 million yuan ($12.52 million).

Some of those involved have been punished and some funds have been retrieved, but the participation of such a large number of people, even some government employees, in the misappropriation of these funds is shocking. The malpractice has fully exposed the lax monitoring and management system for the policy, whose effective implementation is intended to help ensure the country's grain security.