Beijing acts to scrap bias against migrants
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-02-24 08:54

Beijing is expected to abolish a regulation for supervision of workers and business people without permanent registered residence in the capital city.

The portrait of Sun Zhigang, who has lost his young life at a repatriation center in Guangzhou in 2003 March. [baidu]

This is among 11 legislative items planned to be worked on by the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, the city's legislature, this year.

The standing committee also initially fixed plans for supervising law enforcement, hearing government reports and reviewing work of government officials, judges and prosecutors.

The move to vote next month for withdrawing the special regulation supervising migrant people was believed to be a signpost to treat them equally with local residents in Beijing.

But officials say that the abolition does not necessarily mean that all measures for migrant workers seeking jobs in Beijing, for example, temporary living certificate, will be abandoned.

Approved by the standing committee in 1995, the regulation, which is to be abolished, prescribed that a temporary living certificate was a must for all migrant people in the city.

Only authorized units and personnel were permitted to rent houses to migrant people.

Those units and personnel, as well as companies that hired migrant people, had to get approval from the local public security bureau.

Migrant workers were only permitted to work for professions approved by the municipal labour authority, according to the regulation to be abolished.

"This local regulation runs counter to the principle set by the central government which requires that migrant workers and business people should be treated as equals with local residents," Zhou Jidong, director of the Legal Affairs Office of the Beijing municipal government, was quoted by the Beijing Times as saying.

The proposal to abolish the regulation was submitted by the office to the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

"Some restrictive measures in the regulation were unfair to migrant people. For example, they had to apply for various employment certificates before starting a career in the city," Zhou said.

But he emphasized that some prescriptions in the regulation, which accord with national regulations, will continue.

Besides the abolishment of the somewhat prejudicial regulation, another 10 local legislative items will also be discussed or voted on at sessions of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress this year.

Historical and cultural heritage protection, safety of large-scale social gatherings, and food safety supervision will be involved.

Meanwhile, preparations for legislation on noise prevention and cure, taxi management and others will be done this year by local legislators.

The standing committee will also supervise enforcement of local regulations on water pollution prevention, production safety, and the sale and purchase of seeds.

Local legislators will listen to and discuss reports submitted by the municipal government on communications layout, the draft of the city's five-year plan for 2006-10, rural education development and public health system construction, sources said.

Furthermore, a vice-mayor, four top government department officials, a judge and a public prosecutor will be reviewed by the congress.

They, elected and appointed by the congress, were required to receive work appraisal from legislators and will be voted about on their post performances. 

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