A GOVERNMENTAL body in China is planning to send police to penalise people who do not make their beds or wash their dishes.
The South China Morning Post reported that under the draconian new policies, Chinese officials will be fining citizens that fail to live up to new standards of cleanliness.
The fine for failing to make your bed or wash your dishes is set to be 10-yuan (£1.12). Citizens will also be fined 20-yuan (£2.24) if they squat whilst eating.
The government in Puge county, Sichuan has claimed that the new policies are being implemented to enhance living conditions in the area.
But it has sparked fierce debate across the country, as citizens have started questioning whether the government should be allowed to invade so intrusively into home life.
The policy, titled “Fine Standards for the New Countryside for Human Settlement Environment” currently details 14 categories of behaviour which are subject to fines.
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As well as the fines already outlined, there’s a five-yuan (56p) penalty for having intact spider webs anywhere on their property.
Fines also range in the region of three to 10-yuan (34p-£1.12) depending on the severity of clutter or faeces in people's backyards.
The county government has emphasised that fines will be doubled for repeat offenders.
The vice-director of the county stated that the goal is to address the pervasive issue of “dirty, messy, and disorderly living conditions”.
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He said that the fines are still in the drafting stage, and that he intends for them to be used as a deterrent to aid the current issues in rural homes.
He said: “When you visit a farmer’s home, the conditions are often far from presentable.
"The environment is filthy and messy, featuring spider webs, people dining on the ground, with numerous mosquitoes and dogs in close proximity.
“To be honest, fines cannot effectively address these problems. We are using fines as a means of deterrence."
He added that the government intends to reinvest the money they collect from the fines back into the community.
He said: “For instance, if a household is penalised three yuan, we will use that amount to purchase a broom for them.
"If the fine is 10 yuan, we will buy a basin for them. Our goal is to transform these detrimental habits, which is an extremely difficult task."
Another member of Puge county's government mentioned that they are not the first to impose such fines.
They addressed concerns about the spread of disease due to poor living conditions, and emphasised the difficulty of breaking habits in poorer regions.
Puge county is located within one of China's most impoverished regions, and attempts to aid its economic development is a common topic in Chinese state media.
It is often featured in success stories about how China's poverty alleviation schemes, and how the country has been able to revitalise its rural areas.
Public opinion on the issue of fining their citizens has been split.
Some view the intense monitoring of people's cleanliness as an overreach of government power.
One online user said: “The local government seems to be meddling in every aspect of the people’s lives, even inspecting whether they have made their beds".
Another questioned the intentions behind the fines, and sarcastically remarked that the town is “making money the right way, and fines are king”.
However, others have argued that the penalties were justified within the context of poverty alleviation and rural revitalisation.
One person said: “Outrageous situations always promote outrageous policies.
“Anyone who has visited Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture would likely find these requirements quite reasonable. Working at the grassroots level is much more challenging than most people imagine.”
While another added: “In some impoverished places, changing customs and habits requires some external forces. Apart from fines, there may not be a better solution".
This comes after claims that Xi Jingping is morphing into a totalitarian police state.
Former defence official, Michael Beckley, warned that the dictator is set to "tighten control over every aspect of society".
Beckley predicted the Communist Party's surveillance will grow more invasive to maintain its iron fist rule.
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