'Toughest servant' takes job after 9 years
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Zheng Lixin, the head of the Longyan construction bureau, said the salary continued to be paid out of charity to Jiang, who was experiencing domestic troubles.
But many experts said such humanitarian acts were uncalled for in this situation.
"Whatever the reason, paying salaries to chronically absent civil servants is a misuse of public resources," said Wen Yueran, a human resources expert at Renmin University of China. "Yet Jiang's case is just a tip of the iceberg among our nation's civil service employees."
"The cause of these troubles is our inadequate system for selecting civil servants," Ren Jianmin, a public administration expert with Tsinghua University, said in a report by Legal Daily.
"Although candidates for entry-level positions are selected by examinations, those for higher positions have usually been appointed," Ren said. "The best solution is to have competition at all levels of selection."
Jiang Jinxiang told China Daily that he now has a job working at the pension office for the supervision department he was supposed to be transferred to nine years ago. Beyond his basic pay of 2700 yuan a month, he has the possibility of receiving a travel allowance of 300 yuan a month. "But it seemed as if all my colleagues are still shunning me as if I'm some kind of alien."
"I'd never thought my case would raise so much attention nationwide," Jiang said. "But I don't regret anything, so long as the whole thing can be brought to a satisfactory end."
Although local authorities said they properly responded to the questions Jiang raised in 2003 over construction quality, Jiang claimed the case was never thoroughly investigated and the full truth has yet to be uncovered.
"By returning to work, I did not eliminate my objections to the unfair treatment I received and the issue I reported," said the 55-year-old. "I'll keep watching and will hand in my resignation if the problems are not properly dealt with."
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