CPPCC proposal 'mysteriously' OK'd

CPPCC proposal 'mysteriously' OK'd

• Source: Global Times
• [09:21 March 08 2011]
• Comments

By Yan Shuang

A professor was surprised when her proposal, which was submitted during last year's Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and had remained unanswered, was indicated as "received and author notified" in this year's conference report.

"I'll write another proposal and suggest that the CPPCC supervise the process government departments use in dealing with proposals," said Wang Yufeng, a CPPCC member and professor of physics at Beijing Jiaotong University.

Wang's proposal, an advanced education and training plan, was submitted during the conference in March last year. Wang explained she did not receive any reply, however the CPPCC's official report said the government did reply after conducting thorough research, and Wang was "satisfied with their response."

The report also cited it as an example of the efficiency and thoroughness of governmental departments in dealing with CPPCC proposals, Wang told the Global Times Monday.

"For a whole year no one contacted me or any of the joint-submitters. I was about to inquire during the conference when I was shocked to find my 'reply' in the report," she said.

After receiving the proposal, the Ministry of Education claimed to have sent out questionnaires and conducted research in Shanghai and Beijing, according to the report.

A media department employee with the ministry told the Global Times Monday "fax us your questions first."

As for her other submission last year, a proposal to fix the amount of funding for research grants, the Human Resources and Social Security Ministry promptly replied, according to Wang.

"But they said it's difficult to solve the problem I raised, without explaining how and why. No wonder the reply came so quickly," she said.

There were 5,678 proposals submitted to the CPPCC last year, and 5,300 of them were filed. While almost all proposals were marked for further processing by relevant governmental departments by February 20, only 27.2 percent were accepted, according to a chinanews.com report.