In Jilin, quality of life is priority No 1
By Li Fusheng
( China Daily )
2013-03-12
In 2013, residents of Jilin can expect their quality of life to improve, according to a recent government work report.
Leaders of the province, located in Northeast China, promised noticeable improvements in almost all sectors of daily life, ranging from retirement and medical care to employment and social security.
This year, pensions for retired corporate employees are to increase by no less than 10 percent. This comes on the heels of a 15.6 percent rise in 2012 that brought their average monthly pension to 1,370 yuan ($220), said an official from the provincial human resources and social security department.
In addition, the provincial government expects to finish construction of day care centers for senior citizens in 30 percent of urban communities and 20 percent of rural ones, said Zhang Jing, head of the provincial civil affairs department.
Composed of zones for entertainment, reading, rehabilitation, rest and meals, those care centers in urban areas will each cover no less than 150 square meters, while their rural counterparts no less than 200 square meters.
Zhang said such centers will be available in all urban communities and 50 percent of rural ones by the end of 2017.
Besides, the government will build or renovate 12 municipal nursing homes, 29 county ones and more in rural areas.
It will also finance 100 private nursing homes and offer subsidies to senior citizens with low incomes so that they afford it.
Medical care
As part of its campaign to improve medical care, the provincial government plans to establish one provincial first-aid instruction center as well as 10 emergency centers at the municipal or prefecture level, 42 at the county level and 790 in towns over the course of the year, according to a provincial health official.
The government has also earmarked 16 million yuan to build community-based check-up centers that provide local residents with basic physical examinations and medical advice at lower costs, the official added. Having set up 110 by the end of 2012, it plans to build more in 2013.
The government is also working to make it easier to pay medical fees, said an official at the human resources and social security department.
By the end of the year, local patients will be able to pay with their medical insurance card at whichever hospital they choose within the province, he said.
Employment
The Jilin government plans to create 550,000 job opportunities in 2013 and help 10,000 people start their own businesses, said an official at the provincial department of human resources and social security.
It also plans to offer employment to some 3.8 million surplus rural workers in the province and strives to increase their average annual wage income to 2,700 yuan per capita, the official added.
The government is paying special attention to one group of job seekers - recent graduates.
"It has been difficult for college graduates to get jobs nowadays, especially those who are from underprivileged families and studied in obscure universities," said Lu Lianda, head of the provincial educational department.
Training will be offered to them in the year before they graduate so that they can get better prepared for the job market, Lu said.
"We used to help 5,000 such graduates get employed each year," Lu said.
"Now that the government has earmarked some funds to solve the problem, the number is expected to triple to 15,000 this year."
Social security
The government will launch a three-year effort in 2013 to build a sound mechanism to improve the welfare of people with physical and mental disabilities.
It will offer subsidies to 800 families to make their houses more accessible to family members with disabilities, said an official at the provincial federation of persons with disabilities.
He also said that the government will create 7,000 jobs for people with disabilities in the province and train more than 10,000 in job skills this year. The number of people with disabilities benefiting from government-subsidized insurance is expected to reach 100,000 in 2013.
In addition, the government will cover the tuition of 2,000 students with disabilities and arrange rehabilitation programs for 250,000 people.
It plans to build libraries for the visually impaired in cities and counties.
The government is also stepping up efforts in such sectors as education, food security and affordable housing, according to the report.
lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn
