The first Braille suggested reply story in the history of NPC deputies’ work.
Wang Yongcheng is a representative of the 14th National People’s Congress and the only representative of the blind. In the first year of his duties, he spoke for the blind group and submitted four representative suggestions, including three during the conference and one during the intersessional period.
On the afternoon of November 13th, in the conference room of Fujian Disabled Persons’ Federation, Wang Yongcheng excitedly received four representative suggestions from the staff of the organizer. This is the first time that Wang Yongcheng has received a representative’s suggestion reply since he was elected as a deputy to the National People’s Congress. At the same time, it is also the first time in the history of NPC deputies’ work that a Braille version of the suggestion reply has been specially made for delegates.
"Bring the voices of blind brothers and sisters to the National People’s Congress"
In 1985, due to an accident, 19-year-old Wang Yongcheng was blind. Since then, his world has fallen into darkness. After being blind, Wang Yongcheng went to Henan alone to study blind massage, overcoming the unimaginable difficulties of ordinary people and graduating with excellent results. In 1995, Wang Yongcheng returned to his hometown and founded the first local Chinese massage health care center for the blind. Since 1996, he has held massage training classes for the blind, with the aim of "training one person, finding a job and helping a family". Later, he founded the Fujian Strait Massage Guidance Center for the Blind, which trained more than 6,000 blind masseurs for free for more than ten years, with an employment rate of 98%, driving more blind people to the road of poverty alleviation and self-reliance.
Today, Wang Yongcheng is the chief physician of Fujian Disabled Employment Service Center. On the road of life, he walked out of a road of self-reliance and self-improvement to benefit the society with hard struggle.
In February this year, Wang Yongcheng was elected as the representative of the 14th National People’s Congress, becoming the only representative of the blind.
"I must bring the voices of blind brothers and sisters to the National People’s Congress. If we can’t see them, let more people see us!" With this responsibility, Wang Yongcheng embarked on the road of performing his duties as a representative who did his duty according to law.
Attended the National People’s Congress seriously, attended the the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) meeting as a non-voting member, participated in centralized inspections and special investigations, and participated in training courses for delegates … Under the protection of the relevant departments of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) and Fujian Province, Wang Yongcheng quickly adapted to the posts and tasks of the National People’s Congress and constantly improved his ability to perform his duties.
In the first year of his duties, Wang Yongcheng put forward four suggestions on education, employment and preferential travel policies for the blind through in-depth investigation, covering employment, education and barrier-free environment construction for the blind.
Every suggestion carries behind it the yearning of the blind people for a better life and reflects their wishes and voices.
Four deputies’ suggestions were handled with high quality.
Putting forward suggestions for deputies is an important form for deputies to perform their duties according to law and reflect the opinions of the people. It is the legal duty of all state organs to seriously study and handle the suggestions made by deputies, and it is also an inevitable requirement to respect the people’s dominant position and support deputies to perform their duties according to law.
The four suggestions put forward by Wang Yongcheng were submitted to the Ministry of Education, the National Health and Wellness Commission, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation. The organizers attached great importance to it, carefully studied it, and worked hard to promote the implementation of the deputies’ suggestions.
In the process of handling the proposal of publishing large-character textbooks for students with low vision in regular classes, the Ministry of Education has closely communicated with Wang Yongcheng, conducted in-depth research, found out the needs of students with low vision in regular classes, and understood the practical difficulties existing in publishing large-character textbooks by textbook publishing units. Actively encourage all textbook publishing units to make compulsory education textbooks into large-character textbooks for low-vision students studying in regular schools. In the autumn semester of 2023, 13 kinds of large-character textbooks have been launched. In the next step, the Ministry of Education will continue to promote the development of integrated education with relevant departments to provide more convenience for students with low vision to study in regular classes.
On the basis of extensive and in-depth investigation, Wang Yongcheng put forward suggestions on ensuring the stable employment of blind medical massage personnel. As the sponsor of the proposal, the National Health and Wellness Commission held a symposium with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, listened carefully to Wang Yongcheng’s opinions face to face, patiently and carefully introduced the relevant work and policy background, and made a special trip to Fujian to investigate the blind massage institutions with Wang Yongcheng, focusing on the most direct and realistic interests that the majority of blind medical massage personnel are most concerned about, deeply understanding the situation, finding the crux of the problem and promoting the formation of solutions.
"This is a representative suggestion with high quality. Medical massage for the blind is not only an important part of the cause of the disabled, but also a useful supplement to Chinese medical services. Promoting the standardized development of blind medical massage services is of great significance for promoting the stable employment of blind medical massage personnel and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of blind medical massage personnel. " The relevant person in charge of the National Health and Wellness Commission said that in the next step, it will actively work with relevant departments to promote the standardized development of medical massage services for the blind, and at the same time further strengthen the construction of the medical service system for eye health, do a solid job in preventing and treating blindness, and strive to relieve the pain for more patients.
Wang Yongcheng also put forward suggestions on increasing preferential treatment for severely disabled people. It is understood that the railway department attaches great importance to it, and while seriously studying and handling suggestions, it has re-examined the service guarantee measures for disabled passengers. He also said that he will continue to pay attention to the service measures for disabled passengers, making it more convenient for passengers to travel and making the passenger experience better.
The proposal sponsored by China Disabled Persons’ Federation on strengthening research and development and equipping visually impaired students with information-based Braille point display equipment was put forward by Wang Yongcheng during the intersessional period. China Disabled Persons’ Federation and Wang Yongcheng exchanged opinions for many times, went to cultural service institutions for the blind to carry out research, actively communicated and cooperated with the co-organizers, and jointly worked out four targeted measures to implement this proposal, including promoting R&D investment, supporting scientific and technological research, improving the construction of information barrier-free environment, and doing well in the work of assistive devices on campus, which promoted the development and popularization of Braille point display equipment in an all-round and steady way.
It is worth mentioning that Article 54 of the Barrier-free Environment Construction Law stipulates that the state promotes the application of new scientific and technological achievements in barrier-free environment construction through financial support, government procurement and tax incentives, encourages the research, development, production, application and promotion of barrier-free technologies, products and services, and supports the integrated development of barrier-free facilities, information and services.
"This is a forward-looking proposal. The process of handling this proposal is also the implementation of the barrier-free environment construction law, which will further promote the high-quality development of the cause of the disabled. " Zhou Jian, director of the Rights Protection Department of China Disabled Persons’ Federation, pointed out that disabled people are equal members of the socialist family, and their demand for a better life is also the common responsibility of the whole society. Taking the handling of suggestions as the starting point and opportunity, along with the implementation of the barrier-free environment construction law, it will better ensure that disabled people receive equal education, achieve full employment, better integrate into society, share the achievements of modern civilization with the whole society and create a better life together.
The vivid practice of people’s democracy in the whole process
"On behalf of all aspects of the work, it is an important form to perform the duties of deputies according to law and reflect the opinions of the people, and it is clearly stipulated in the Representative Law. The Measures for Handling Suggestions, Criticism and Opinions of Deputies to the National People’s Congress clearly stipulates that the organizer’s reply to the suggestions, criticisms and opinions of deputies shall be written in a unified format, signed by the person in charge of the organizer and stamped with the official seal of the unit. " The National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), the responsible comrade of the Working Committee of Deputies, pointed out that these regulations guarantee the deputies’ performance of their functions and powers from the legal system level, ensure that the deputies’ suggestions are handled in a timely manner, and truly achieve the purpose of solving problems, promoting work and promoting development.
"Every suggested reply shall be sent to the representative as required. Considering Wang Yongcheng’s actual situation, it is convenient for him to understand the content of the proposal reply. This time, we specially produced a Braille version of the proposal reply. " The National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), the responsible comrade of the Working Committee of Deputies, said that this is not only to implement the provisions of the Law on Deputies, to ensure that delegates receive timely suggestions and answers, but also to fully implement the relevant provisions of the Law on the Construction of Barrier-free Environment and the Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons. In addition, if you send a reply in person, you can further listen to Wang Yongcheng’s opinions, introduce the handling of policies and suggestions, implement the communication mechanism for the whole process of the representative’s suggestions, and promote the implementation of the suggestions.
From Wang Yongcheng’s election as a deputy to the National People’s Congress to the production of the first Braille version of the representative’s suggestion reply; From representatives going deep into the grassroots to collect the urgent problems that people, especially the disabled, are most concerned about, to the relevant departments attaching great importance to suggestions, actively studying and promoting problem solving, and jointly promoting the disabled to receive better education, achieve more full employment, and integrate into social life more widely, we can see the great progress in the development of China’s disabled cause everywhere in the process of Wang Yongcheng’s representative performing his duties and ensuring the services of various departments, and we can also feel that all aspects of social conditions and public opinions are unified in the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, and the people are the masters of the country in a concrete and realistic way. (Reporter Zhu Ningning)