A NUMBER of local authorities in China have rolled out a humorous way of giving “snail awards” and “lie-flatter” titles to sluggish civil servants, warning those with such problems to correct their behavior at work and better serve the needs of the people.

In Binhai County, East China’s Jiangsu Province, the first batch of seven “lie-flatters” were admonished on July 26, China News Service reported on Tuesday.

According to Wang Dawei, a senior local official, the “awards” were all picked by anonymous votes from local residents and colleagues.

The “lie-flatters” were defined as acting slowly, ineffectively and irresponsibly. Some of these people took days off their work with no eligible reasons.

Central China’s Hunan Province also rolled out an assessment of all the civil servants in Hanshou County, ifeng.com reported Tuesday. Based on their performances at work, local officials were categorized into four types — diligent, gossipy, mischievous and lying flat. As of June, a total of 345 officials had been voted as being “diligent,” while another 15 were labeled as “gossipy,” six as “mischievous,” and 62 as “lying flat.” The latter three types were given official notices for improvement by local authorities.

Similar lists of negative examples such as the “snail awards” have been seen in Central China’s Henan Province and Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, where in addition to facing public criticism, relevant personnel will have points deducted from their annual performance assessments.

In these regions, hotlines and other channels have been opened to receive complaints and supervision from the public.

Meanwhile, several places in China have rolled out incentives in recent days to award those who are outstanding at work and devoted to serving the people.

Nanyang City in Henan issued a guidebook for the self-referral mechanism of government officials in June, with the aim of “providing a broader stage for excellent civil servants with strong will and competence,” China News Service reported.

Huzhou of East China’s Zhejiang Province vowed to break the stereotypes surrounding the promotion of civil servants, prioritizing the outstanding ones regardless of age, seniority, education or ranking, according to media reports.

(Global Times)