Authorities in central China's Henan Province have ordered thousands of its grassroots governments to merge with one another or cut their staffs in an effort to bring down the government's administration costs and lessen farmers' burdens.

"Any town or township government in plain areas with a population less than 300,000 should be revoked," said a mandate issued by the provincial government.

But in mountainous areas a town or township government with a population greater than 200,000 can still be reserved, according to the mandate, which aims to curb rampant overstaffing in local governments and curb arbitrary charges and fees imposed on farmers.

According to the new criteria, more than 470 town or township governments need to be streamlined through mergers or removal, reducing the number of grassroots governments by about 200, said a spokesman for the Henan Province Department of Civil Affairs.

Official statistics show about 2,100 town or township governments in the province, home to about 97 million people, had hired 302,300 employees by the end of last year, 143,900 more than the number the country legally allowed.

The payrolls of such a large number of officials are under increasing pressure not only from the higher governments, but also from a decline of grassroots financial revenue following the exemption of agricultural taxes in rural areas. Many of those grassroots governments are operating in debt.

To stabilize its grain output and revitalize its rural economy, Henan has implemented a series of reforms, including direct subsidies and tax exemption, to alleviate the burdens of the province's 70 million-plus farmers during the past several years, forgiving farmers 10.1 billion yuan (1.25 billion US dollars) in taxes and fees.

Source: Xinhua