File photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping during his anti-corruption speech. Chinese authorities are now stepping up the anti-graft campaign against officials misusing poverty relief funds. (Photo : YouTube)
China is stepping up its anti-graft campaign in an effort to combat the misuse of poverty alleviation funds and ensure that these are delivered to those who are in need.
According to Cao Janming, prosecutor-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), they will now be conducting more aggressive probes on allegations of funds misuse coming from the country's rural regions, Reuters reported.
Cao said that they will focus on going after officials in these regions who are accused of abusing the use of finances for living allowances, education, medical insurance, or even environmental protection funds.
The chief prosecutor added that they will be going after those who are involved in infrastructure projects like traffic management, electric power, and those dealing with rural home renovations.
China's government has allotted 43.3 billion yuan ($6.66 billion) in 2015 for poverty alleviation, with the aim of uplifting the more than 200 million people still living below the poverty line by 2020.
However, Cao said that the large amount of funds involved has attracted a lot of corrupt officials, who have abused loopholes in the supervision system to get their hands on the money.
According to the SPP's records, 933 officials accused of misusing poverty alleviation funds have been investigated by prosecutors last year. The number was a 19.2 percent more than the previous years, China Daily reported.
"We will step up efforts to combat such crimes to let more people at the grassroots level share the fruits of the anti-graft campaign," Cao stressed.
The strengthened campaign came on the heels of Chinese President Xi Jinping's renewed call for a more aggressive campaign against corruption. In a keynote speech Xi delivered in January, he promised to continue the level of development being experienced at the grassroots and assured that it will benefit everyone in the country.
