Deng Wen from Guangxi, aged 36, a doctor of material physics in research abroad in recent years, made a proposal to establish a network to guarantee lives of aged people. He’s now in Beijing for the fourth session of the Ninth National People's Congress.
As his education and work seemed far from the subject, Deng aroused the reporter's interest. During the interview, Deng said eagerly that the issue of population was one of the most urgent problems China was facing, because it had constituted a heavy burden on the development of economy and society. Rural areas have more than 0.8 billion people and are more important place for family planning. The idea, “Having sons, you have no worries when you get on age,” is popular particularly in countryside. If the worries are dismissed, the life of aged people is guaranteed, people will change ideas and family planning will be easier.
While Deng’s project is mostly family-based, neighborhood committee in urban areas and villager’s committee in rural places are a center for welfare service. Every one in the program needs to do one-or-two year voluntary work for the unit when he or she is young, in addition to a certain amount of money he or she pays as fee. When they are aged and no longer able to work, the home for the aged under the unit will take care of them. Deng’s proposal describes operation modes, fund’s resource, and social workers’ requirements.
(CIIC by Feng Haiquan 03/08/2001)
