Two-level local government in Hanoi

VNA reporters wrote two articles reflecting a comprehensive picture of the advantages, challenges and future requirements of this model.

Photo caption — People come to work at the Public Administration Service Center of Nghia Do Ward, Hanoi City. Photo: Nguyen Cuc/VNA

Lesson 1: New motivation in managing and serving the people

After 3 months of implementing the 2-level local government model, state management activities and public service in Hanoi have had positive changes. The apparatus has been streamlined, effective and efficient; the authority and responsibility of each level have been clearly defined, creating a basis for improving the quality of management, reforming administrative procedures and better meeting the needs of people and businesses. This not only creates new momentum to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of state management, but also contributes to affirming the leading role of the Capital in the process of innovation in the organization and operation of local governments.

“5 clear” - the motto of continuous innovation

When operating the 2-level local government model, localities in Hanoi city all determined to take the motto "5 clear" (clear people - clear work - clear process - clear responsibility - clear efficiency) to minimize overlap and avoidance in handling work, thereby improving transparency, efficiency and public service discipline.

According to Mr. Le Hong Thang, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hong Ha Ward, immediately after July 1, 2025, the ward proactively deployed directives and instructions from superiors, concretizing them into action plans and programs suitable to the actual situation of the locality; at the same time, clearly assigned responsibilities to each relevant unit and individual for implementation.

“The ward requires cadres and civil servants to uphold their sense of responsibility and complete assigned tasks well according to the motto of “5 clear” (clear people, clear work, clear process, clear responsibility and clear efficiency). On that basis, the locality strengthens inspection and supervision of task implementation, ensuring that the activities of the ward People's Committee are orderly and effective,” Mr. Le Hong Thang emphasized.

During the 3 months of implementing the 2-level local government model, the People's Committee of Hong Ha Ward received and processed 6,323 administrative procedure files, the number of files resolved was 6,050, the number of files being resolved was 273 (of which, the number of overdue files was 38, accounting for 13.92% of the total number of files being resolved). The number of overdue files was mainly due to errors in the public service system software system. In addition, there were some other subjective reasons such as: Staff at the Public Administration Service Point were slow in receiving; professional department staff were slow in processing files...

“This is a result of the continuous efforts to innovate, improve the efficiency of state management, promote digital transformation and reform administrative procedures in Hong Ha ward. Thereby, it contributes to optimizing the use of resources, limiting the situation of scattered investment, improving professionalism, modernity and transparency in service, taking the satisfaction of people and businesses as a measure of the quality of public administration activities”, said the Chairman of the People's Committee of Hong Ha ward.

In Thuong Tin commune, the 2-level local government model after 3 months of implementation has had many strong changes, initially basically meeting the requirements of the tasks, flexible in management, close to reality, closely following the characteristics of the newly merged commune with large scale in terms of boundaries and population.

According to the Chief of Office of the People's Committee of Thuong Tin Commune, Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong, as soon as the model was put into operation, the People's Committee of the commune issued a plan to review and evaluate administrative procedures, interconnected procedures, promptly compile statistics and unify administrative procedures handled at the Thuong Tin Commune Public Administration Service Point. From there, evaluate the quality of handling administrative procedures for citizens, detect cumbersome and complicated administrative procedures, inappropriate and overlapping regulations, unclearly defining implementing agencies and units, causing difficulties and obstacles to production and business activities of organizations and individuals to propose competent authorities to amend, supplement, replace, abolish, and cancel.

“The commune has reviewed, ensured accuracy and standardized data for 418 administrative procedures in many fields. By the end of September 2025, the Commune People's Committee received 4,684 records, processed 4,607 records correctly and before the deadline (reaching 98.4%); processed 0 records past the deadline; and is processing (due to not yet reaching the deadline to return results to citizens) 77 records (equal to 1.7%). Evaluating the results of administrative procedure settlement in September 2025, Thuong Tin commune ranked first among 126 communes and wards in the "Indices for serving people and businesses" of Hanoi city", Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong informed.

Digital transformation - a vital "bridge" between two levels of government

As a new administrative unit formed on the basis of merging all wards: Tran Hung Dao, Hang Bai, Phan Chu Trinh, most of Cua Nam ward and part of Hang Bong, Hang Trong, Trang Tien wards (formerly Hoan Kiem district) and 2 wards Pham Dinh Ho and Nguyen Du (formerly Hai Ba Trung district), Cua Nam ward has an area of about 1.68 km2 and a population of more than 52,000 people. From a merged administrative area with a large workload and a large area, the ward has quickly established a comprehensive digital transformation roadmap with a clear goal: to build a modern grassroots government, close to the people, to best serve the people and businesses.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cua Nam Ward Trinh Ngoc Tram said that, being aware of its position as the government closest to the people, the ward pays special attention to the human factor, first of all the staff and civil servants. Training and development work is implemented systematically, focusing on information technology skills, administrative procedure settlement processes and public administration communication in the spirit of putting people at the center. The locality not only improves the capacity of the staff but also actively innovates service methods.

“The reception, joy and satisfaction of the people with the experiments in implementing administrative procedures in Cua Nam ward may not be much, or maybe those are just the first wishes and initiatives, but they will be the motivation for us to continue to have new products to serve the people and businesses better and better”, Vice Chairman of Cua Nam ward People's Committee shared.

Implementing Directive No. 11/CT-UBND dated July 24, 2025 of the Hanoi People's Committee on the implementation of the campaign "45 days and nights of launching to support digital transformation activities in wards and communes implementing the 2-level local government model", the entire political system of Cua Nam ward has been mobilized. The locality has arranged an IT specialist, completed 28 community digital transformation teams with 193 members, and established a technology rescue team with 11 members. Union members, youth, and volunteers actively work side by side, directly supporting people in using online public services.

In just 45 days, the ward has supported about 1,680 citizens, installed and activated more than 1,700 level 2 VNeID accounts, nearly 950 iHanoi applications and more than 2,300 Etax Mobile applications. People were also guided to submit applications online, install applications and perform electronic administrative procedures. In particular, the ward has coordinated with the Fatherland Front to deploy 6 mobile "Digital Education for the People" points, creating opportunities for the elderly and disadvantaged people to access and practice online public services. Thanks to that, the rate of online public services in the locality increased from 34% to 89%; 100% of online applications were resolved on time.

Cua Nam became the first ward in Hanoi to bring AI robots to public administrative points to perform many functions such as: service consulting, issuing queue numbers, collecting online feedback, moving automatically, distributing water and candy in the waiting area, reading and authenticating citizen identification cards... At the "one-stop" department, people can both transact and survey their satisfaction right on the robot.

Ms. Pham Thi Pho (Tho Nhuom Street) was very surprised and delighted when she first met this "special civil servant". Ms. Pho shared: "I never thought that when doing administrative procedures, I would be served by a robot so attentively. All operations are very civilized, modern, easy to understand; there are also staff members who support people meticulously and thoughtfully."

Ms. Nguyen Lan Huong (Ham Long street) could not hide her surprise when seeing the robot giving out drinks and candy to people. Ms. Huong confided that the saying “people-centered” is no longer just a slogan.

After 3 months of implementation, the 2-level local government model in Hanoi has created clear changes such as: streamlined apparatus, improved management effectiveness, and more convenient service for people. These are positive signals affirming the correctness of the policy. However, along with advantages, reality also reveals many difficulties and limitations that need to be frankly acknowledged and correctly assessed in order to have solutions to overcome and adjust so that the model can truly be effective. (To be continued)

Final article: Challenges and requirements for innovation

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/chinh-quyen-dia-phuong-2-cap-o-ha-noi-bai-1-20251005083307382.htm