Has it been done yet?, Investigation | Shanghai's districts and streets and towns' reports of "not being able to do things" by window service personnel | service centers | streets and towns
"Hello! May I ask what matters need to be handled?"
Entering the lobby on the first floor of the Jiading District Administrative Service Center, a row of service windows are neatly arranged, integrating over 600 government service matters from 31 functional departments throughout the district. At the prominent entrance of this "one door" comprehensive hall, there is a regionally independent and novel named window - the "Can't Do It" reflection window. When the reporter approached, staff member Lu Feier took the initiative to inquire with the reporter.
Since the beginning of this year, government service halls in various districts and towns in Shanghai have opened windows to report that "things cannot be done". Why is this window specifically designed? What has been accomplished after the establishment of the dedicated window? How does this window force optimization of government services? With these questions in mind, the reporter recently conducted on-site visits.
Make special matters special, urgent matters urgent, and difficult matters easy to handle
The "failure to achieve" reflection window, as the name suggests, refers to the window where enterprises and the public can report whether they have achieved something, and government departments can find ways to achieve it. Is it necessary to set up a single "cannot do" reflection window, given that there are generally dozens of service windows in the government service hall? Since it can be done, why wait for the relevant matters to flow to this window before we can proceed?
In fact, "following the rules" is a working method followed by functional departments, but the demands of enterprises and the public are diverse, and existing rules and regulations cannot fully cover all demands, resulting in some reasonable demands that cannot be easily handled based on the existing "rules". When something "difficult" occurs, the "impossible" reflection window can function to provide a bottom line service for new problems and difficult issues that arise in the process of social development.
Lu Feier told reporters that some citizens had previously sought help at this window because they were not familiar with the process of applying for a drainage permit again and did not know if they needed to go to the municipal water department to apply for it. The window staff connected him with the relevant business departments and informed him that he could apply through the "One Stop Service" platform without having to go multiple times.
Jiading District Administrative Service Center's "Failure to Achieve" Reflection Window
There are multiple reasons why things cannot be accomplished. In addition to providing consultation to those who are unclear about policies and providing acceptance for those who lack materials within the legal framework, a major role of the "cannot do things" window is to coordinate and promote the collaborative handling of multiple departments, making special matters special, urgent, and difficult matters easy to handle.
At the beginning of this year, a merchant from Raffles Plaza on the North Bund rushed to the Hongkou District Government Service Center for help, claiming that they had rented a shop to operate a catering restaurant. However, the previous tenant of the same shop had not completed the cancellation of the enterprise, resulting in their inability to apply for a license. After receiving the report of "unable to complete the task", the reporting window immediately contacted the district market supervision bureau to jointly promote a solution. The district government service center and the North Bund market supervision office respectively contacted the mall property and former tenants to help them complete the simple cancellation. Subsequently, relevant departments assisted the merchant in accelerating the process of obtaining licenses. "Thank you for allowing me to open business during the peak consumption season of the Spring Festival!" The merchant was very happy.
Hongkou District Government Service Center's "failure to complete tasks" reporting window. Photo by Zhou Nan
Cao Yan, the head of the Window Management Department at the Qingpu District Administrative Service Center, told reporters that among the "impossible" tasks, some tasks require window staff to take the initiative and take a step forward. "Many 'impossible' things may come to an end in accordance with the law and regulations, but we cannot simply make technical judgments about whether they can be done, but should make more value judgments about whether they should be done or not."
Not long ago, a business owner came to the Qingpu District Administrative Service Center to handle the cancellation of the enterprise, but was told that the cancellation of the enterprise needed to notify another shareholder of the company, who lives in a different place and has been lost for many years. "He was very worried. After we fed back the situation to the" Failure "window, we first checked through the ID card, and the ID number number of the other party was 15, which could not be found; we then contacted the local police station to inquire, and learned that the family had already been demolished. Finally, we found the related enterprise of the other shareholder through an online platform, found the contact information of the other party, made a phone call, and completed the cancellation procedure." Cao Yan told reporters that the handler was very excited and pleased at the moment of contacting the other shareholder.
Qingpu District Administrative Service Center's "Failure to Achieve" Reflection Window
To transform from "one thing" to "one type of thing"
Shanghai's various districts and towns have set up windows to reflect on the "inability to accomplish things". On the one hand, they are trying their best to solve the urgent and difficult problems of enterprises and the masses, while also actively studying the "why things cannot be accomplished"? How to transform "one thing" into "one type of thing" and optimize the mechanism of handling affairs?
"The overall reform and innovation of government services is of course important, but local 'micro innovation' is also important. 'Unable to achieve things' reflects that every time the window handles affairs, it is a' micro innovation ', which is to urge the reform and improvement of government services." Huang Zongkui, director of the Chongming District Administrative Service Center, told reporters.
At present, there have been many cases in various districts where "temporary measures" have been transformed into "long-term measures". One day in February this year, three staff members went to the Chongming District Administrative Service Center to handle the change of corporate legal representative. Due to incomplete materials, the window was not accepted, and the staff members reported to the "unable to complete the task" window for help. Upon inquiry, it was found that the agent was unable to submit the original ID card of the new legal representative. Considering that the person in charge came from Beijing all the way, if it cannot be completed on the same day, they will face economic losses due to breach of contract fines, and the main materials meet the requirements. Finally, the business department decided to accept the missing materials and remotely verify the new legal person's information on the spot. The missing materials will be checked afterwards.
"The situation of incomplete materials is not an exception. With this window, the business department has taken a step forward and accumulated one successful case after another in accepting defects. With enough individual cases accumulated, the business department has become more adept at accepting defects, and has also helped us solidify new methods for filling materials such as telephone, WeChat, and public welfare postal services, eliminating the trouble of" having to go back again "for service personnel," said Huang Zongkui.
Chongming District Administrative Service Center
"Before each performance, it is necessary to apply for the" Business Performance License ". Each time, a stack of materials must be printed, and then rushed to the district cultural and tourism bureau for offline processing. The materials can be as few as 50 pages, and as many as hundreds of pages. Some performance times are urgent, and if materials are missing and a second application is made, it is easy to delay the performance. Can these matters be improved?" Recently, at the "Unable to Do Things" reflection window of the Putuo District Government Service Center, the staff of the Wanda Nanmeng Palace Shanghai Cultural Center reported to the staff.
Afterwards, the Putuo District Government Office, in collaboration with the Putuo District Cultural and Tourism Bureau, launched a full online processing mechanism for the "Business Performance License" at the Putuo flagship store of "Suishenban" to address the two bottlenecks of "complex materials" and "secondary application". The staff can apply for the license for the performance without leaving the office, and upload the materials item by item through the guidance, which takes about 5 minutes for the entire process.
The system is not simply collecting images, but through data sharing among multiple departments, it automatically identifies material content, fills out forms, and matches uploaded content to ensure compliance with policy requirements. "The most impressive thing for me is that when a certain material does not match, the page can still pop up a reminder and provide the correct sample for reference, which is very intelligent and smooth," said the person in charge of the Shanghai Cultural Center at Bandai Nanmenggong.
The Putuo District Government Service Center has set up a window to reflect the situation of "failure to complete tasks". Photo by Zhou Nan
Promoting the transformation of government service concepts and upgrading of levels
In the "2023 Shanghai Comprehensive Deepening of the Reform of" One Network Service ", which was released in March this year, it was mentioned that we should" optimize and expand online and offline assistance services ", and establish a closed-loop linkage mechanism for reporting, assisting, and rectifying" unfinished tasks "both online and offline. Many districts in Shanghai have continuously optimized their government service mechanisms through the reflection window of "not being able to accomplish things".
For example, Jiading categorizes "impossible" tasks into four categories and establishes a closed-loop workflow from acceptance registration, analysis and judgment, to tracking and evaluation, and case filing. Hongkou District categorizes "impossible" tasks into several categories - tasks that are truly "impossible" due to legal and regulatory limitations, tasks that are "impossible" due to incomplete understanding of policies by the enterprise and public, tasks that are "difficult" to handle with strong professionalism, and tasks that require expedited processing. A workflow is established to ensure that relevant issues are properly resolved. Putuo District has developed a characteristic service module based on the district level "comprehensive window management platform". The government provides functions such as inputting, transferring, and providing feedback on "unfinished" matters, assisting departments in efficient operation. It also has a dedicated "unfinished" problem case library, and departments share relevant solutions to promote the improvement of government service levels.
While optimizing the government service process, this window also promotes the transformation of government service concepts. The masses and enterprises may encounter urgent and difficult issues, and some may not be able to solve them due to exceeding the policy scope. However, window service staff actively seek solutions and seek other suitable policies to solve the problems.
Recently, Ms. Zhang went to the Quyang Road Street Community Affairs Acceptance Service Center in Hongkou District to apply for a low rent housing subsidy, but the window staff found that Ms. Zhang did not meet the relevant standards. After learning that Ms. Zhang is suffering from a serious illness and needs to bear high medical expenses, as well as facing housing difficulties, the staff guided her to the "unable to complete the task" reporting window. The on duty team leader immediately coordinated and linked personnel in areas such as housing security, medical security, and assistance to those in need. By providing policies such as funding subsidies that met their difficulties, Ms. Zhang was able to alleviate her living pressure.
The Quyang Community Affairs Acceptance Center has a service window for "unable to complete tasks". Photo by Zhou Nan
During the interview, the reporter learned that the staff at the "impossible" window also encountered some confusion. For example, the online launch of "Can't Do It" reflects that in hotlines and dedicated windows, some people's feedback is not closely related to government services, such as difficulties in parking in residential areas; The staff at this window sometimes encounter limited coordination abilities when coordinating relevant departments.
Some grassroots cadres believe that the key to solving these problems lies in further clarifying the functional positioning of the reflection window for "not being able to accomplish things". The scope and process of acceptance for this window should be more focused and clear. For example, Shanghai has a strong economic vitality and policy documents are updated quickly. In the stage of connecting new and old policies, it is easy to encounter the problem of "not being able to accomplish things". Such matters can be coordinated and resolved by this window; At the same time, this window can be granted greater coordination authority to facilitate bridging the "responsibility gap" between departments.
"Establishing a 'fail to do' reflection window is a means, and the goal is to enable enterprises and the public to 'succeed'. We hope that the acceptance volume of this window will decrease, and it will be more convenient for enterprises and the public to follow normal procedures," said Wang Hongqiang, director of the Hongkou District Government Service Center.
