The effects of dereliction of duty can be disastrous and
fatal.
Statistics provided by the country's top procuratorate prove
that such effects are even more harmful than those of bribery. The
direct loss of 35.73 billion yuan (US$4.64 billion) caused by
dereliction of duty since 2003 speaks volumes.
However, the nearly 30,000 cases investigated by prosecutors
nationwide account for only a small percentage of the total. The
fact that many cases have been neglected or dismissed as anything
but a crime explains why so many government officials would have
committed such offences.
A lack of sense of responsibility and laziness are usually the
major culprits of dereliction of duty.
Power means responsibility. And such responsibility requires
those with power to know how to use it to perform their duty.
But many officials lack such a sense of responsibility. Or, they
once wielded it, but it was carried away on the back of the
privileges that come with power. Still others believe that their
power entitles them to privileges whether or not they perform their
duties.
In extreme cases, some officials with decision-making power make
decisions arbitrarily, and these decisions have an impact on the
general public's interests and rights.
These officials are somehow oblivious to the fact that they are
paid by taxpayers to serve public interests.
And some officials are just lazy. They do not conduct
investigations or on-the-spot inspections before making
decisions.
If those officials who supervise workplace safety in coal mines
went down to inspect these mines, many fatal accidents could have
been prevented.
In many cases, there is a connection between dereliction of duty
and abuse of power. Some would turn a blind eye to anything counter
to the public's rights and interests once bribed. Such cases are
derelictions of duty on the surface with undercurrents of
corruption.
The campaign launched by the Supreme People's Precuratorate to
invite the public to join the fight against dereliction of duty
could kill two birds with one stone.
The participation of the public will exert effective supervision
over the conduct of officials, who will also be alerted by the
campaign and made aware of their responsibility for the public
power in their hands.
(China Daily May 12, 2007)