Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 253 Statistical Fraud and Ghost Employees

The town's rural economic service center is located at the former agricultural technology station.

The yard was not small, but it was overgrown with weeds, with a few vegetable plots and a pond.

A two-story building with mottled exterior walls and an old-fashioned style stands alone, with a sign for the Xindian Town Rural Economic Service Center hanging at the entrance of the courtyard.

There are several single-story houses at the entrance of the courtyard, with a sign that reads "Agricultural Technology Station Agricultural Materials Service Department".

The first floor was converted into staff dormitories, and the second floor into offices.

Several people went upstairs.

In the distance, I could hear the shouts of several people playing cards.

"Yes, K!"

"I can't afford it."

Wu Zhiyuan walked to the office door with a sullen face.

The door was ajar, and the room was filled with smoke. Four people were playing cards around an old desk, while two others stood watching.

"Cough!" Sun Dewang coughed heavily.

Those playing cards and watching the game only then noticed someone standing at the door, and it was as if the game had been paused.

"Secretary Wu, you've arrived!" A middle-aged man stood up, looking nervous.

He is Xu Baosheng, the former head of the agricultural technology station and now the director of the town's rural economic service center.

"During work hours, they gather to play cards. It seems the work at the center is indeed very leisurely."

Wu Zhiyuan looked around the office. The furnishings were simple. The framed rules and regulations on the wall were covered in dust, and old newspapers and miscellaneous items were piled up in the corner.

"No, Secretary Wu, we just finished a busy period and are just taking a short break," Xu Baosheng explained.

"Oh, then tell me, what did you do this morning?" Wu Zhiyuan softened his tone.

Xu Baosheng stammered, "In the morning...we had a meeting in the morning."

They also compiled the agricultural statistics reports submitted by each village, which need to be submitted to the county agricultural commission tomorrow.

Wu Zhiyuan sat down in the chair: "Director Xu, we are not here today to cause trouble or to punish anyone, but to visit everyone, get a feel for the situation, and move forward with the work."

But the premise is that you must tell the truth and the facts, and you cannot make things up or speak carelessly.

"By the way, didn't you compile the statistical reports submitted by each village? Let me see them."

Xu Baosheng walked to another desk, picked up several reports, and handed them to Wu Zhiyuan.

Wu Zhiyuan's gaze fell on the date filled in at the top right corner of the form, which was clearly the day before yesterday.

Wu Zhiyuan didn't speak, but simply tapped the date lightly with his finger, then looked up at Xu Baosheng.

Xu Baosheng's lips moved, probably wanting to explain, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Wu Zhiyuan said in a very calm tone: "Director Xu, the report is from the day before yesterday."

This means that, at least this morning, compiling and summarizing this report was not your main task, or rather, it was already completed, right?

Xu Baosheng blushed and lowered his head in shame: "Secretary Wu, I lied. The report was compiled the day before yesterday, and I really didn't do anything productive this morning. I was wrong, I apologize!"

"It's good that you know you were wrong and are willing to admit it." Wu Zhiyuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the other employees who were also bowing their heads. "But I think that today's incident cannot be simply attributed to Director Xu lying, or just to a few of you violating work discipline."

He paused for a moment and slowly said, "What I'd like to discuss with everyone is why this situation occurred."

Why would a unit that should be busy, dedicated to serving farmers and working in the fields, have leaders playing cards with employees during work hours, and requiring work reports to be fabricated on the spot?

No one answered.

Wu Zhiyuan stood up and slowly paced around the office, his gaze once again sweeping over the dusty rules and regulations, the clutter piled in the corner, and the desolate courtyard outside the window.

"On the way here, Director Sun and Mayor Xiang also told me that the center is a 'hodgepodge' of seven stations and offices, and has gone through many ups and downs."

Aging staff, tight budget, outdated equipment, unclear responsibilities, vague performance evaluation, and lack of motivation...

These are objectively existing difficulties, even chronic problems.

He stopped and turned to face the crowd: "Do the county and town governments know about these difficulties? I think they know them to some extent."

But knowing something is one thing; having the determination and the means to truly solve it is another.

When faced with these difficulties, do you choose to sigh, go with the flow, or even give up entirely?

Or, even under limited conditions, should one strive to find a breakthrough and do their best to fulfill their responsibilities?

Wu Zhiyuan casually flipped through the agricultural statistics reports and asked, "Qingshui Village has a population of over two thousand, but the reported number of poultry is over thirty thousand. Are they all males, and none of them are females?"

Xu Baosheng was taken aback: "Secretary Wu, the statistical reports don't include male and female."

Wu Zhiyuan gestured for Xu Baosheng to come over and pointed to a line of numbers: "Look, in the poultry and egg production column, Qingshui Village has 0. How do you explain that? The only explanation is that all the poultry in Qingshui Village are male!"

Xu Baosheng said with shame, "Secretary Wu, this was due to lax review, which led to the oversight."

To be honest, village accountants generally lack a strong sense of responsibility and competence. Most of the data they fill in is based on their own assumptions.

Of course, I understand. Look at all these data items on this report. Take, for example, the poultry and egg production column. If it's to be filled in accurately, are we supposed to have them go door-to-door to collect the data? That's unrealistic."

Sun Dewang, who was previously the deputy director of the Agriculture, Forestry and Water Resources Office, interjected: "Secretary Wu, Director Xu is right."

Firstly, village cadres have limited ability and sense of responsibility, and secondly, it is difficult to obtain accurate statistics.

As far as I know, the least accurate figure is for grain production.

Don't be fooled by the county's annual boasts, such as that grain production has increased for more than ten consecutive years. Those figures are largely inflated, so just listen to them and don't take them too seriously.

As far as I know, there are three ways to count grain production.

One type of survey was conducted by the County Agricultural Commission, another by the County Statistics Bureau, and the third by the County Agricultural Survey Team, which involved actual harvesting and measurement.

The first two types of data are based on the village accountant's information, which is often inflated.

The agricultural survey team conducted actual harvesting and measurement by randomly selecting farmers. In our town, ten households were selected to harvest, dry, and weigh a certain area.

Logically, this should be accurate. But farmers wouldn't take it seriously, so in the end, it's inaccurate.

As Sun Dewang spoke, Xu Baosheng nodded repeatedly: "Secretary Wu, Director Sun is absolutely right! Grain production is a mess, and no one can explain it clearly."

Just listen to what the county says about grain production and growth, without taking it too seriously.

Just like the GDP growth figures and the per capita net income growth figures for farmers reported by the county, they are often inflated.

Moreover, in many cases, even townships are powerless to help.

County leaders want to achieve political achievements, and town leaders want to achieve political achievements too. They can't just report a very small GDP growth rate, or even negative growth, can they? Even if that's actually the case.

Wu Zhiyuan said seriously, "I understand the situations you've described. To some extent, they are a kind of helplessness and reality in grassroots work."

The varying abilities of village cadres, outdated statistical methods, and low level of cooperation from the masses are indeed objective difficulties.

However, understanding difficulties does not mean we can accept false data with a clear conscience, much less use "that's how it is" or "there's nothing we can do" to cover up our inaccurate, careless, and superficial work!

A village with over 2,000 people and more than 30,000 poultry has zero egg production?

This is no longer a statistical error; it's a blatant logical flaw!

Wu Zhiyuan paused for a moment, then continued, "Besides sitting in the office collecting reports and checking figures, how many people in your unit actually go down to the villages, walk into the fields, and visit farmers' homes regularly?"

Do you understand the actual planting and breeding structure of each village?

Do you know what farmers are most looking forward to and most afraid of this year?

Do we understand the adaptability of new technologies and varieties to the local conditions?

If you don't even understand these things, then what practical value does the data you compile have, besides appeasing your superiors?

Wu Zhiyuan softened his tone and asked, "How many employees does the center have in total?"

Xu Baosheng replied, "Seventeen are on the payroll, and thirteen are currently on duty."

Wu Zhiyuan pressed further: "Are there four people who are on the payroll but not actually working?"

Xu Baosheng hesitated for a moment, then said, "One has been on long-term secondment to the county agricultural commission, one to the town government, and one is on long-term sick leave. Whether he's really sick or not, we can't ask too much, but he looks to be in good spirits. As for the other one, I don't know."

Anyway, they're registered at our center, their salaries are paid here, and we only see them once or twice a year.

Wu Zhiyuan asked, "Is he receiving a salary without working?"

"You could say that. I heard he has connections; he's a relative of one of the county leaders."

It had been registered at other organizations before, but somehow it ended up being registered at our center.

We are only responsible for including his name in the payroll; the money is directly deposited into his account.

We can't control people, and we have no way of controlling them.