Lesson 2: Staff and civil servants work overtime and strive to overcome difficulties

After nearly 3 months of operation, the commune-level government apparatus in many places is overloaded and under high work pressure, but the team of cadres and civil servants have made great efforts to overcome the pressure to complete their tasks.

After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City has only 53 communes and wards with a population of over 100,000 people, including 4 "super" wards and "super" communes with a population of over 200,000 people: Ba Diem, Hiep Binh, Tang Nhon Phu and Di An.

After nearly 3 months of operation, the commune-level government apparatus in many places is overloaded and under high work pressure... but the team of cadres and civil servants have made great efforts to overcome all circumstances and pressures to complete their tasks.

Overtime, out of work, not just out of hours

The working day of Mr. Nguyen Kim Toan, a specialist in the Economic Department of Thai My Commune, starts at 7:00 a.m. and lasts until 7:00 p.m., and sometimes even until 11:00 p.m. Mr. Toan shared that due to the large area under his management and the large workload, he often has to work overtime, even on Saturdays and Sundays.

“With the motto “no work until the end of the day,” my colleagues and I often work through lunch (no lunch break) and sometimes finish until 11 p.m., trying to complete all the documents during the day while also having to arrange and prepare the “pillow” work for the next day,” Mr. Nguyen Kim Toan confided.

According to Mr. Toan, a civil servant of Thai My Economic Ward currently has to undertake up to 8 different tasks, including handling administrative procedures for people and businesses, and also having to research the area, inspect, supervise and directly handle special violations in the fields of urban order, land, construction and environment.

Mr. Toan is in charge of all compensation, support and resettlement work for people in two major projects (Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai Expressway project and 500KV Power Line project), the workload has increased 10 times compared to before, but the time schedule requirements are more stringent than before.

“On weekends, if I don’t have to work overtime, I have to spend time researching documents and legal regulations related to the land sector to better serve my work. I just hope everything goes smoothly and is resolved quickly while still ensuring the rights of the people,” Toan shared.

Civil defense forces in Thai My commune (Ho Chi Minh City) participate in guiding people to complete online public service procedures. (Photo: Huu Duyen/VNA)

Not only civil servants in Thai My commune, in Chau Pha commune (Ho Chi Minh City), the team of cadres and civil servants also have to regularly work overtime to process administrative documents and procedures for the people.

From July 1st to now, Chau Pha commune has received 38 planning dossiers, 8 construction permit dossiers, 86 land use purpose conversion dossiers and 163 land use right certificate dossiers. All were resolved on time or before the deadline.

In particular, in Chau Pha commune, there are 12 projects being implemented, including 6 city-level projects.

Mr. Phan Minh Hop, Chairman of Chau Pha Commune People's Committee, said that to ensure the progress of administrative procedure settlement for people and businesses, the locality has set the motto "when work is over, not just when time is up." Officials and civil servants must be proactive with assigned work, ensuring completion on schedule and within the prescribed time.

“The tasks from now until the end of the year are even more difficult. The commune will focus on monitoring and synthesizing the situation of land fluctuations, coordinating the settlement of dossiers for granting land use right certificates, inspecting and handling cases of encroachment and misuse of land, and at the same time focusing on resolving problems related to site clearance... Therefore, the commune's cadres and civil servants must quickly adapt to the work requirements in the new situation, while proactively improving their qualifications, expertise, and skills to ensure the completion of their tasks," Mr. Phan Minh Hop emphasized.

Superiors support subordinates

Working side by side with the team of civil servants to "overcome difficulties" to complete their tasks in the past 100 days, Ms. Tran Thuy Huong, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Ba Diem Commune (Ho Chi Minh City) acknowledged that it was a challenging time and that the efforts and dedication of the team of civil servants must be recognized.

We encountered many difficulties in the first days after the arrangement. When the data was not yet synchronized and clear, the staff and civil servants were still confused and bewildered when starting their work... but with all our efforts and determination, we completed the assigned work, gradually put the apparatus into operation, and operated smoothly, bringing efficiency in serving the people and businesses.

Officials and civil servants of Ba Diem commune (Ho Chi Minh City) work through lunch to process administrative documents to serve the people. (Photo: Huu Duyen/VNA)

According to the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ba Diem commune, in the beginning, to ensure the work was quick and effective, the commune leaders also had to "roll up their sleeves" to support their subordinates in handling records and administrative procedures for the people.

Specifically, a Vice Chairman is on duty at the Commune Public Administration Service Center to sign documents. Others, who have expertise in a certain field, either "hold hands and show work," guide and transfer to civil servants, or directly handle it.

Since its establishment, Ba Diem Commune Public Administration Service Center has been operating at full capacity. Officials and civil servants work through lunch, and the time to finish work also lasts until night.

"The past three months have been a challenging period, those who have remained strong until today and continued to accompany us have truly demonstrated their capacity and dedication. It is a process that deserves recognition," Ms. Tran Thuy Huong especially expressed.

Similarly, in Phuoc Thang ward (Ho Chi Minh City), from July 1 to now, the Public Administration Service Center has received 7,826 administrative procedure files, and has processed 7,657 files, reaching 98%, of which 7,621 files were completed before the deadline.

In the land sector alone, Phuoc Thang ward has received and processed 526 files (including 295 files transferred from old localities). Up to now, 276 files have been processed, the rest are being processed.

According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuoc Thang Ward, thanks to the "sharing of the burden" from superiors (department and branch levels), most of the files in important fields such as land, environment, and construction were received and resolved quickly.

Both local officials and reinforcements have their own advantages. Local officials have a good grasp of the area and understand the people, while reinforcements have higher expertise. This helps to solve complicated procedures, especially in the fields of land management, site clearance and construction order.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung also said that Phuoc Thang ward has been assigned an officer by the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City to support. This officer was assigned to the Economic Department, in charge of infrastructure and urban areas, thereby helping to speed up the progress of site clearance for projects in the area, while promoting the disbursement of public investment and infrastructure development.

Even the seconded officers admit that the workload in the communes and wards after the reorganization is very large, combined with the pressure of time progress, causing the officers and civil servants in the communes to be overloaded and not very efficient. However, when there is "sharing the burden", especially from the team with expertise in handling complicated cases, the files are resolved more quickly and effectively.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai, an expert from the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City, who was assigned to Phuoc Thang ward, shared that recently, he and his colleagues in Phuoc Thang ward have been studying documents, handling each case, discussing arising issues and finding solutions to help the work be resolved quickly.

The rate of slow-processing files is low, bringing satisfaction to people and businesses./.

Final article: Synchronizing solutions to improve and enhance the apparatus

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/bai-2-doi-ngu-can-bo-cong-chuc-phuc-vu-tang-ca-no-luc-vuot-kho-post1064786.vnp