(TibetanReview.net, Oct27, 2014) – Without the opportunity to enrich oneself through corruption, civil service in China seems to lack attraction for today youngsters, going by a report by China’s official China Daily newspaper Oct 25. It said China’s once popular civil service exam saw fewer applicants this year and that experts attributed it to the ongoing corruption crackdown in the country.
The report cited China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security as saying about 1.06 million eligible candidates had signed up for the 2015 exam by Oct 24 morning, compared to 1.52 million last year.
Civil service is always considered a good job with stable employment, good welfare like pension plan and income, as well as high social status, the report said. However, while candidates are attracted to the job by these considerations, the reality can be different, Zhang Yan, a researcher with the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, was cited as saying.
The report pointed out that the ongoing campaign to curb bureaucracy and extravagance in civil service under the current leadership, which took office in late 2012, has required officials to practice frugality and fiercely punished those violating the rules.
And the measures to cut red tape have produced uncertainty in some departments, even the previously powerful ones, Prof Yan Jirong of Peking University was cited as saying. He has added that the most important quality for the job is now the willingness to serve the people.