Hebei’s judicial department mobilizes Party cells to fight poverty

In recent years, the Judicial Department of North China's Hebei province spared no effort to fight the critical battle against poverty, fully mobilizing grassroots Party organizations, or Party cells, across its administrative system to help out impoverished rural families.

661 Party cells

To more effectively help four impoverished villages under the city of Zhangjiakou escape from poverty, the department selected 661 Party cells from its subordinate units, the province's prison and drug rehabilitation systems as well as law firms, instructing them to help out 661 poor families in the villages in a one-on-one mode.

A total of 120 judicial administrative officers, 430 lawyers and over 600 police officers from the prison and drug rehab systems joined the effort, sharing the unwavering goal of eradicating poverty in those villages.

Building industries

Sitting on the meager northern part of the Inner Mongolian Plateau, the villages lack both adequate agricultural production capacity and proper infrastructure.

Given that reality, the Party cells on the one hand spared no effort solving villagers' difficulties in such aspects as agricultural production, children's education and employment; on the other hand, they actively introduced handcraft industries to the villages in order to raise villagers' income.

They also helped the villages develop green bean plantations and looked for buyers for their products.

"The income per capita of impoverished villagers in those villages was only 800 yuan ($113.14) per year in 2017," said Wang Jinshan, an official from the department who is stationed at one of the four villages for poverty relief work. "With the output of the green bean plantations reaching 1,300 kilograms in 2019, that number jumped to 4,600 yuan. The planting of vegetables alone can meet villagers' basic needs now."

In addition, the Party cells also organized villagers to learn new skills, brought them new equipment, built new infrastructure, and even invested the poverty relief fund so that villagers could receive dividends.

Improving governance at grassroots level

In addition to figuring out ways to lift local villagers out of poverty, the Party cells were devoted to improving grassroots social governance with various public legal services.

Because of a poverty rate as high as 36.46 percent, disputes and conflicts were commonplace in Dongying village, one of the four villages, before 2018. But now, with the help of public legal services, the village is known for its peace and harmony.

Thanks to the great effort of people's mediators, a 70-years-old villager successfully resolved a dispute with his younger brother over the demolition of an old property of their family. "Were it not for these mediators, I wouldn't be able to reconcile with my brother," said the old man gratefully.

The Party cells' relentless effort also earned them honors as all the seven poverty relief task forces from Hebei's judicial administrative system were rated as excellent in the annual work assessment for 2019.