102 new Dong Thap communes and wards: Solving people's problems right from the grassroots

(Chinhphu.vn) – After more than 2 months of operating a 2-level government, Dong Thap people today not only see the government "closer" to them in terms of geographical distance, but also "closer" in service attitude and understanding. That is the greatest achievement of the process of merging and reforming the apparatus, an achievement that promises to be strongly promoted in the coming time.

Dong Thap Provincial Party Secretary Le Quoc Phong inspects actual activities in Cao Lanh ward - Photo: VGP/LS

Organizational structure: Right person, right job, right expertise

To achieve that result, Dong Thap province has prepared from the beginning when implementing the policy of building a two-level local government. Accordingly, from mid-June 2025, the Provincial Party Standing Committee has established working groups to directly go to localities to inspect the preparation work for the operation of the two-level local government organization. The Provincial People's Committee also established a working group to monitor and coordinate the transitional management of programs, tasks, projects, and public investment plans in the process of arranging and perfecting the organization of the two-level local government apparatus.

The proactiveness of the government, the drastic participation of localities, all levels, sectors and all cadres, civil servants and public employees of Dong Thap province have contributed to helping the province ensure the conditions for the official operation of a two-level government on July 1, 2025.

The first thing that Dong Thap (new) did was to review and rearrange the staff at the commune level by sending competent and qualified civil servants from the province to communes and wards to support and improve the quality of operations after merging communes and wards in the whole province.

Speaking to the Government Electronic Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Van Vu Minh, Director of the Department of Home Affairs of Dong Thap province, said: "We put the criteria of professional qualifications and moral qualities first. In particular, positions directly related to resolving the interests of people and businesses (such as land administration, finance, construction, social security, tax) are given priority to those who are skilled and knowledgeable about the area."

Dong Thap continues to train its staff, improve its IT infrastructure and improve service quality. The goal is that people and businesses only need to go to the government once to get things done.

Not only focusing on expertise, Dong Thap also adjusts the number of commune-level staff to match the actual workload being concentrated at the grassroots level. Thanks to that, at communes and wards, officials are not overloaded during peak hours of receiving documents; work is processed according to an interconnected process, avoiding the situation of documents being "soaked" past the deadline.

Coming to receive social pension benefits for his relatives in My Tho ward, Mr. Chau Moc Phat, residing at 182 Trinh Hoai Duc street, expressed his satisfaction with the enthusiastic working attitude of the civil servants at the ward's Public Administration Service Center. Mr. Phat was clearly instructed and supported to submit documents online on the National Public Service Portal and how to look up documents online.

"My family's documents were processed quickly, the procedures were simple, the civil servants did not cause trouble, and their attitude was friendly, so I felt secure when I came to do the procedures for my relatives," said Mr. Phat.

According to Mr. Ngo Huynh Quang Thai, Secretary of the My Tho Ward Party Committee, from July 1, 2025 to September 5, 2025, the My Tho Ward Public Administration Service Center received a total of 2,456 administrative procedure records in many fields such as civil status, authentication, social security, land, construction, and business. As a result, 2,389 records were processed, 1,783 ahead of schedule, 606 on schedule, and 67 records are being processed.

People come to carry out administrative procedures in My Tho ward - Photo: VGP/Huu Chung

Public Administration Service Center: The first 'touch point' for people

One of the "bright spots" after the merger of Dong Thap province is the establishment and organization of the activities of the Public Administration Service Centers at the commune and ward levels. These centers are invested in both facilities and human resources, helping people access administrative services conveniently right where they live.

Mr. Tran Van Tan, Director of the Dong Thap Province Public Administration Service Center, commented: "The Commune and Ward Public Administration Service Center is the first 'gateway' of the new government to the people. We require all files to be received quickly, processed on time, and if there are any problems, we must call or notify the people directly."

In addition, Dong Thap province announced a hotline to guide the operation model of the Public Administration Service Center via phone number 0904.428193; receive and guide citizens on the work of receiving citizens and handling complaints and denunciations of people when implementing the 2-level government via phone number 0976.068475.

The provincial working groups directly inspected the field, especially at the Public Administration Service Centers, to direct, supervise, urge, guide, and remove difficulties and obstacles of the new commune-level administrative units. Thanks to that, on the first day of operating the 2-level government system, most of the commune-level Public Administration Service Centers received administrative procedure settlement files of organizations and individuals, transferred them to competent agencies and units for processing and returned results to organizations and individuals, ensuring compliance with the prescribed time.

At the upstream border commune of Thuong Phuoc, Mr. Le Hung Dung, Secretary of the Commune Party Committee, said that after 2 months of operation, the Public Administration Service Center has received and returned results for 5,568 files (in the fields of civil status, land, certification, etc.). The rate of settlement and return of results before the deadline and on time is high (reaching 99.6%), the rate of files returning results after the deadline is very low (accounting for 0.4%).

Survey assessing the satisfaction level of organizations and individuals through the National Public Service Portal reached over 99%.

Mr. Chau Thanh Binh, residing in Long Hung 2 hamlet, Tan Chau ward, An Giang province, went to Thuong Phuoc commune to register his marriage with his wife Huynh Thi My Phuong, but she did not have citizenship yet and only had a permanent residence card. "When I was at home, I was worried about whether I could register or not, but when I arrived at the commune, my wife and I were guided and thoroughly advised on legal procedures by the staff," Mr. Binh said excitedly.

Chairman of Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee Tran Tri Quang (third, left) inspects activities in Thoi Son ward - Photo: VGP/Huu Chung

Solve problems right from the grassroots

After the merger, one of Dong Thap's top priorities is to promptly resolve procedures related to land, construction permits, investment, business and taxes... which are areas that easily cause public concerns.

Speaking to the Government Electronic Newspaper, Chairman of Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee Tran Tri Quang affirmed: "People and businesses need transparency and speed. We require commune-level officials to have a firm grasp of the law, follow the correct procedures, but not shirk responsibility. If there are any difficulties, report them immediately so that superiors can resolve them."

Many people commented that the biggest difference is that officials are now closer to the people. Streamlining the apparatus and delegating more power to the commune level allows decisions to be made quickly, without having to go through many levels.

Not only improving the process, Dong Thap also synchronizes the data system and management software from the commune level to the province. All public services are directly connected to the National Public Service Portal. This helps to significantly reduce the time for transferring documents and at the same time, makes the processing progress transparent.

In particular, the province has established 1,890 community digital technology teams with more than 15,000 members - from officials, union members to teachers and students - to support people in accessing online public services. Each team is in charge of a neighborhood or hamlet, ready to guide how to submit documents online, look up information or use the tax declaration application.

From direction to action of the entire political system

To achieve the current results, Dong Thap province has focused on leading and closely directing the situation at the grassroots level. Provincial leaders regularly hold online meetings with all 102 communes and wards to listen to reports and immediately resolve problems.

By bringing the authority to handle work to the grassroots level, Dong Thap is turning the slogan "resolving people's problems right at the commune and ward level" into concrete actions, bringing satisfaction to people and businesses every day.

Chairman of Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee Tran Tri Quang emphasized: "We will not let the problem linger for more than a week. Commune officials must proactively report, departments and branches must send people to the site to guide and support promptly and effectively."

In addition, Dong Thap province also organized many dialogues and listened to people's opinions, especially "hot" issues that were directly handled by commune and ward leaders at citizen receptions. This is an important channel for the government to grasp people's thoughts and aspirations, thereby adjusting its approach accordingly.

Mr. Ngo Huynh Quang Thai, Secretary of the Party Committee of My Tho Ward, shared: After 2 months of operation, My Tho Ward has quickly stabilized its organization and operated in a disciplined manner. Although there are still many difficulties due to the new apparatus and some cadres who are not familiar with the work, thanks to the spirit of solidarity, responsibility and consensus of the people, the ward has effectively implemented key tasks. The Party Committee promptly disseminated and implemented the Resolutions, Conclusions and Plans of the Central and Provincial Party Committees; established a full staff agency, clearly assigned people and tasks. The People's Council issued a resolution on socio-economic development, national defense and security, and completely resolved previous backlogs.

The Ward Public Administration Service Center operates smoothly, without any late documents, creating convenience for the people. Security and order are maintained, especially during the September 2nd holiday. Social security work is given attention, timely support for poor households and policy families, and socialized resources are mobilized to take care of the people. With that foundation, the ward is focusing on exploiting the strengths of trade and services to promote socio-economic development in the last months of 2025.

People come to do administrative procedures in Thuong Phuoc commune - Photo: VGP/Le Son

Looking to the future after 'rearranging the country'…

The new two-level government model of Dong Thap is operating smoothly and effectively, initially showing that this is the right direction of a revolutionary policy from the Central Government on "rearranging the country" so that Dong Thap in particular and the whole country in general have an important premise and foundation to firmly enter the new era.

The first thing that people and businesses can clearly feel when approaching the government is that administrative procedures are simplified, data is digitized and synchronized, officials are closer to the people... all of which are creating the foundation for sustainable development.

After more than 2 months of operating the 2-level government, the Standing Committee of Dong Thap Provincial Party Committee held a conference to evaluate the operation of 102 communes and wards in the province. The results showed that all communes and wards strictly followed the policies, leadership, direction and guidance of superiors on implementing the arrangement of organizational apparatus, administrative units and the 2-level government model.

The majority of cadres and party members have a firm stance and ideology, trust in the leadership of the Party, the management and administration of the government, and feel secure in their work. In the initial stages of operating the new operating model, in general, cadres and party members have shown greater effort, determination, and responsibility in performing their tasks, and have approached the work quite quickly.

Up to now, 102 Public Administration Service Centers at commune and ward levels and Provincial Public Administration Service Centers have been operating stably, effectively handling administrative procedures for people and businesses.

Dong Thap Provincial Party Secretary Le Quoc Phong requested the entire political system in the province to be more determined, make more efforts, improve operational efficiency, and better serve the needs of the people. Especially, promote the role and responsibility of commune and ward leaders in operating the apparatus; comprehensively review the contents and tasks that have been decentralized and delegated; synthesize and report on the necessary conditions to ensure good operation.

Secretary Le Quoc Phong stated that this September, there must be solutions to ensure the material facilities serving the activities of communes and wards, especially the Public Administration Service Center, to meet the requirements of people and businesses; review the staff and civil servants to have timely assessments and make reasonable arrangements. Departments and branches in the province must proactively support expertise and information through working groups, share expertise; promote the spirit of solidarity, ensure a smooth reporting system from the province to communes and wards.

With what has been achieved after more than 2 months of operation, Dong Thap province is showing that the 2-level government model can completely operate smoothly and effectively, if there is political determination, consensus of the people and scientific and reasonable organization.

Dong Thap people today not only see the government "closer" to them in terms of geographical distance, but also "closer" in service attitude and understanding. That is the greatest achievement of the process of unification and reform of the apparatus, an achievement that promises to be strongly promoted in the coming time.

Le Son - Huu Chung

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/102-xa-phuong-dong-thap-moi-giai-quyet-viec-dan-ngay-tu-co-so-102250907144324331.htm