Minister of Home Affairs: "Increase provincial-level officials and civil servants to support commune-level"

(Dan Tri) - Informing that some localities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang... have increased provincial-level officials to support commune-level officials, the Minister of Home Affairs emphasized that this is a big job, contributing to improving the effectiveness of governance at the grassroots level.

This is one of the key tasks in the coming time mentioned by Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra when speaking at the Government's online conference with localities on the morning of October 5.

According to the Minister, after 3 months of implementing the 2-level local government model, the Politburo and the Government initially assessed that there have been many positive changes and clear progress in all aspects.

Four major groups of difficulties need to be focused on overcoming

The Minister of Home Affairs emphasized that in recent times, social management work has been strengthened; local governance efficiency has improved significantly.

The team of cadres, civil servants and public employees gradually adapted to the new organizational model; the handling of administrative procedures for people and businesses has seen remarkable changes.

Along with that, decentralization, delegation of power, and division of authority between government levels have become more favorable, helping localities to be more proactive and flexible in organizing and implementing tasks.

Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra speaks at the Government's online meeting with localities on the morning of October 5 (Photo: Doan Bac).

Besides positive results, the Minister frankly pointed out some shortcomings and limitations in the process of implementing the new model.

First of all, it is about the staff, civil servants and public employees at the commune level. According to the Minister, localities have made great efforts to strengthen the provincial staff at the commune level, but in many places, this is still a weak link.

"Currently, each commune has an average of about 41 officials and civil servants. This number is not lacking. The number of commune-level civil servants who do not meet the job requirements in terms of expertise and profession is only about 5%. What is important here is capacity, responsibility, initiative, and the ability to adapt to the operation of a two-level local government," the Minister stated.

The second difficulty is that the implementation of decentralization, delegation of power, and assignment of authority is still entangled. Some legal documents and administrative procedures have not been adjusted in a timely manner, causing difficulties for the grassroots in the implementation process. Meanwhile, the capacity of implementation in many localities is still confused and lacks initiative.

Third, the information technology infrastructure for handling administrative procedures in many places is not yet synchronous, not yet interconnected, not yet connected, and still has "bottlenecks", especially in densely populated areas.

Fourth, the settlement of policies and regimes for officials, civil servants and public employees who quit their jobs according to Decree 178 and Decree 67 in some places is still slow.

Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra said that currently only 8/34 provinces and cities have completed this work, while 26 provinces have not yet completed it. At the central level, 18/27 ministries and branches have completed this work.

"This is a task that needs attention and progress to ensure the legitimate rights of the team," the Minister emphasized.

Finalize the arrangement of public service units and state-owned enterprises

From the above mentioned practices, Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra pointed out a number of key tasks in operating two-level local government, first of all, reviewing and perfecting the system of legal documents related to decentralization and delegation of power, associated with cutting and simplifying administrative procedures, ensuring consistency and continuity from the central to local levels.

"This is a matter that the Politburo is very interested in, and has given specific and close instructions. The Government and the Prime Minister regularly urge. Ministries and branches need to continue to support, guide, train, and foster expertise for localities to effectively implement decentralization, delegation of power, and assignment of authority," the Minister emphasized.

Online Government meeting with localities on the morning of October 5 (Photo: Doan Bac).

One of the urgent solutions mentioned by the Minister is to increase provincial-level officials and civil servants to support commune-level.

“Some localities such as Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City have done a very good job in this, contributing to solving difficulties and improving the effectiveness of management at the grassroots level. This is a very big task, requiring high attention and concentration on regulating the staff and civil servants to meet the requirements of the task,” the Minister emphasized.

Along with that, according to the Minister, it is necessary to invest in and upgrade facilities and information technology infrastructure, train and foster staff, civil servants and public employees, ensure interconnection, effectively serve the direction and administration work, reform administrative procedures and provide online public services.

In particular, the Minister requested that localities urgently establish public service units to provide basic, essential, multi-sectoral, multi-field public services at the commune level.

Another important task, Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra said, the Ministry of Home Affairs is urgently completing documents and a comprehensive plan to reorganize public service units and state-owned enterprises.

“In the near future, we will submit to the Government Steering Committee to report to competent authorities, thereby focusing on implementing it resolutely, synchronously and thoroughly in the fourth quarter of 2025, to complete the arrangement of public service units as well as State-owned enterprises,” the Minister informed.

According to the Minister, this work needs to be completed in 2025, ensuring that the next period focuses on socio-economic development, creating and strengthening national and local governance.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/thoi-su/bo-truong-noi-vu-tang-cuong-can-bo-cong-chuc-cap-tinh-ve-ho-tro-cap-xa-20251005121559204.htm