66 counties misappropriated 1.951 billion yuan in subsidies for student nutritious meals to repay local debts and other expenditures

Source: Sina Caijing magazine

On June 25, at the 10th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, Hou Kai, Auditor General of the Audit Administration, pointed out in his "Audit Report of the State Council on the Implementation of the Central Budget and Other Financial Revenues and Expenditures in 2023" that from 2021 to August 2023, 66 counties misappropriated 1.951 billion yuan of student nutritious meal subsidy funds to repay local debts and other expenditures.

　　 Focusing on education, employment, rural revitalization, etc., which are of general concern to the society, this audit report reveals some problems in the management and use of livelihood funds. In terms of the audit of the special funds for the nutrition improvement plan for rural compulsory education students, the State Council focused on auditing the subsidy funds of 23.137 billion yuan from 2021 to August 2023 in 159 counties in 13 provinces, accounting for 91% of the total subsidy amount in the selected counties in the same period, and found three major problems:

　　 First, the funds were misappropriated and directly used to solve the financial difficulties of local governments. Some were directly misappropriated, and 66 counties used 1.951 billion yuan to repay government debts and the "three guarantees" at the grassroots level (ensuring basic people's livelihood, wages, and operating expenses). Some were squeezed out in disguise, with 41 counties and 1,533 schools occupying 270 million yuan in disguised form by lowering feeding standards and fictitious procurement business. Some were colluded to arbitrage, and the education departments of the five counties conspired with the bid-winning suppliers to extract 42.1602 million yuan through supplier dividends, donations, etc., for the distribution of benefits.

　　 Second, some feeding units operate in violation of regulations. 147 suppliers and some school canteens and other feeding units operated in violation of regulations, cutting corners and providing shoddy meals.

　　 Third, the bidding for meal procurement and the supervision of meal supply are not standardized and strict. In 25 counties, 52 suppliers were identified to provide meals to 2,605 schools by directly designating them in violation of regulations and setting unreasonable terms. 78 enterprises or individuals won the bid for 101 nutritious meal projects in 35 counties through illegal borrowing of qualifications, falsification of materials, bid-rigging and collusion. Regulatory power rent-seeking, the relevant regulatory departments and the staff of 77 schools are suspected of bending the law for personal gain in the process of feeding supervision and other processes.

　　 It is reported that on October 26, 2011, the executive meeting of the State Council decided to start the implementation of the nutrition improvement plan for rural compulsory education students from the autumn semester of 2011. The meeting emphasized that the subsidy funds are strictly used to provide food for students, and it is strictly forbidden to distribute them directly to students and parents, so as to prevent false claims and fraudulent claims. Fully disclose the accounts and catering standards of school canteens and student nutrition funds, and accept the supervision of students, parents and society.

　　 At that time, malnutrition among students in rural China was still prominent. According to the Report on the Nutrition and Health of Chinese Children and Adolescents (2012) released by the China Student Nutrition and Health Promotion Association, in poor areas, rural students are generally "nutritionally poor", nearly half of the students are not guaranteed to eat three meals a day, 47.6% of rural students can only eat two meals a day, and 66.4% of them skip breakfast; In a month, one-third of the students did not eat meat, two-thirds of the students did not eat eggs, 80% of the students did not drink milk, 39% of the students did not eat beans, and 35% of the students only ate one vegetable per day, mainly potatoes, cabbage and radish, etc., most of them relied on their own pickles, chili sauce, and even salt bibimbap. According to the Evaluation Report on the Nutrition Improvement Plan for Rural Compulsory Education Students, in the 10 years since the implementation of the Nutrition Improvement Plan, the anemia rate of rural students in underdeveloped areas has decreased from 19.2% in 2012 to 9.6%, and the height of 15-year-old boys has increased from 155.8 cm in 2012 to 166.1 cm in 2020.

　　 According to the executive meeting of the State Council on October 26, 2011, the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students was initially piloted in concentrated contiguous areas with special difficulties, and the central government provided nutritious dietary subsidies for rural compulsory education students in the pilot areas at the rate of 3 yuan per student per day. The pilot covers 680 counties (cities) and about 26 million students. According to preliminary estimates, the national pilot project needs more than 16 billion yuan per year, which will be borne by the central government. Since then, the subsidy standard has been continuously raised.

　　 In 2021, the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Education, issued a notice clarifying that from the autumn semester of 2021, the meal subsidy standard for rural compulsory education students will be increased from 4 yuan to 5 yuan per student per day. The "Notice" makes it clear that the funds required for the national pilot areas will continue to be fully borne by the central government; The funds required by the local pilot areas shall be borne by the local finance, and the central government will give a fixed amount of 4 yuan per student per day after the local implementation of the meal subsidy standard.

　　 In October 2022, the Ministry of Education and other seven departments issued the "Implementation Measures for the Nutrition Improvement Plan for Rural Compulsory Education Students", which allows all localities to further improve the mechanism for the government, families and social forces to jointly bear the cost of meals in the implementation of the national basic standards in combination with the actual local economic and social development and the price level, and scientifically determine the charging standards for food expenses.

　　 It is reported that since the implementation of the nutrition improvement plan, rural students in underdeveloped areas have bid farewell to the campus life of carrying dry food to school and cooking on the street, and have changed the dilemma of eating only two meals a day. According to China Education Daily, from 2011 to 2021, the central government has arranged a total of 196.734 billion yuan in subsidies for students' nutritious meals. In 2021, a total of 26.034 billion yuan of nutritional meal subsidies were arranged for students, an increase of 12.9% over the previous year. By the end of 2020, 1,732 counties in 28 provinces had implemented nutrition improvement programs, covering 131,600 rural compulsory education schools and benefiting 37,978,300 students. According to Finance

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Rural students' nutritious meal subsidies cannot become "Tang monk meat"

　　 The Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students, which began in 2011, has significant practical significance. Many studies have shown that subsidizing nutritious meals for compulsory education students in underdeveloped rural areas is an important means of reducing child malnutrition rates and improving cognitive and academic performance. However, the "report" reminds everyone to be vigilant that the subsidy for nutritious meals has become "Tang monk meat" in a few places.

　　 The Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students is related to whether the majority of rural students can eat well and eat healthily. Misappropriation and misappropriation of relevant funds and other behaviors are tantamount to "splitting the meat on the legs of the heron", which will not only hinder the healthy growth of rural students, but also hinder the balanced development of education. Whether it is directly misappropriated, occupied in disguise, or colluded to arbitrage, it all stems from the fact that the cage of the system has not yet been tightened in some places, so that some people who have "crooked thoughts" have an opportunity to take advantage of it.

　　 To eradicate the relevant chaos, resolutely cut off the black hand that "snatches" from the mouths of children, and ensure that every cent of subsidy funds is used on students, a multi-pronged approach is needed.

　　 First of all, the relevant departments at all levels, especially in the places where problems are found in the audit, should seriously deal with the relevant personnel suspected of violating discipline and laws and regulations, draw inferences from one case, and take effective measures to plug the loopholes in the management of subsidy funds and the supervision of catering enterprises, so as to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

　　 Secondly, relevant departments at all levels and localities should also make full use of new means such as big data to strengthen the daily supervision of the use of relevant subsidies, keep a close eye on capital expenditures, and check daily accounts one by one. At the same time, it is necessary to promptly publicize the typical cases investigated and handled, and always keep the sword hanging high, so as to achieve the effect of setting an example, and prompting the relevant personnel not to dare to move or occupy.

　　 It is necessary to further strengthen supervision, standardize and restrict the use of subsidy funds and the selection of catering enterprises, clarify the responsibilities of government departments, schools, enterprises, families and other aspects, and establish a negative list system, so that every penny is really spent on the "blade".

Who will pay the debt owed to the child

　　 It is said that "no matter how poor you are, you can't be poor children", however, these people have no bottom line to make up their minds about their children's meals.

　　 "Grabbing food" from the child's mouth is even more shocking.

　　 First of all, the use of children's "food rations" to repay local debts and the expenditure of the "three guarantees" has directly affected the implementation of the nutrition plan for rural students and deprived the vast number of rural students of their due rights. The local debt is repaid with the child's food money, so who will pay the debt owed to the child? This is enough to expose the health of the finances of some places.

　　 Second, unlike individual corruption, "66 counties across the country have embezzled 1.951 billion yuan of student nutrition meal subsidy funds" is a systematic failure of the local financial management system. You must know that such misappropriation of funds not only involves the education department, but also includes many departments and links such as local finance and auditing. Systemic problems need to be more vigilant, when each link is responsible, it is likely to mean that every link has a blame problem.

　　 Third, as the core of local governance, the county government's behavior has an exemplary effect. If the government takes the lead in misappropriating funds in violation of regulations, it may have a negative demonstration effect on local departments at all levels, and if it is effective at the upside and downward, it will cause more widespread corruption and management chaos, and overdraft the credibility of local governments. Therefore, such systemic problems often require higher-level supervision and management mechanisms to achieve stricter norms and constraints.

　　 Today, the Audit Commission's report dares to reveal the problem, does not cover up the shortcomings, does not cover up, and shows the determination and courage of the national level to face the problem head-on. Next, it is necessary to start by improving the financial budget and management mechanism of local governments, ensure that special funds are earmarked, and realize the whole chain of supervision, so that the misappropriation hand cannot reach in, and once it reaches out, it will be caught. At the same time, we will strengthen supervision and accountability, improve relevant laws and regulations, and impose severe penalties on misappropriation of special funds, regardless of whether it involves individuals or collectives. It is also necessary to strengthen supervision by public opinion and create a good atmosphere of joint supervision by the whole society. At the same time, it is also necessary to give certain assistance policies to some local governments that are indeed in financial difficulties, optimize the local business environment, and find a path for the benign development of local finance.

Source: Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Network, etc. B51