Two-level local government in Hanoi

Final article: Challenges and requirements for innovation

Identify the difficulties

Photo caption — People come to do administrative procedures in Hai Ba Trung ward, Hanoi city. Photo: Quoc Luy/VNA

Hanoi currently has a population of over 8 million people, a high urbanization rate, and an increasing demand for infrastructure, public services, and social management. The two-level local government model easily creates overlapping in decentralization and delegation of authority between the city and grassroots levels, leading to prolonged procedures and uneven efficiency. In addition, the management human resources at the grassroots level are not uniform, and the level of information technology application is limited, affecting the quality of service to people and businesses.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Da Phuc Commune, Do Thu Nga, said that after nearly 3 months of officially operating the 2-level local government, the commune's administrative apparatus has gradually come into stable and effective operation, promptly meeting the needs of the people; contributing to bringing the government closer to the people.

However, Ms. Do Thu Nga also frankly pointed out some problems such as: The deployment of work to villages and areas is difficult due to access to information technology; the reception and processing of records and administrative procedures for organizations and individuals is difficult and overloaded due to the large population after the reorganization of commune-level administrative units. On the other hand, the software still has many errors, shortcomings, and is not optimized, causing difficulties for officials and people when operating on the new system. The decentralization work is slow, confusing in determining authority and procedural order...

From July 1, 2025 to now, Hai Ba Trung ward has received 3,251 records; of which 100% were resolved on time and before the deadline, with no overdue records. This result not only affirms the effectiveness of the apparatus but also shows that the process of assessing people's satisfaction has been digitized, contributing to improving responsibility and limiting negativity. However, Chief of Office of Hai Ba Trung Ward People's Committee Nguyen Minh Huong also shared about some difficulties of the locality in the first weeks of implementing the model. That is the overload situation due to the high number of people coming to do procedures while the software and network system often have problems and network congestion when many people access at the same time. A part of the people, especially the elderly, have little access to technology and are still confused when using online services...

“The quality and capacity of staff are not uniform. Some staff have not received specialized training and have not kept up with the requirements of newly decentralized work. Some areas are still confused due to the lack of unified guidance from superiors, causing difficulties in handling interconnected procedures such as: land, public investment, construction. The workload after the merger has increased sharply; many staff hold concurrent positions, while specialized software is not synchronized and interconnected. The archived files are large, the digitization process is slow, and does not meet the requirements of modern management…”, Chairman of Phu Dong Commune People's Committee Dao Duc Minh shared frankly.

Sharing the same view, Vice Chairwoman of Chuyen My Commune People's Committee Nguyen Thi Thuy Huong stated: "The area is large, the workload is increasing rapidly, while some civil servants are still limited in technology skills and how to handle new situations. The infrastructure serving digital transformation is not yet synchronized" is also a difficulty that the locality is facing when implementing the 2-level local government model.

Opportunity to practice and adapt

Records in many localities in the city show that, in order for the 2-level local government model to truly be effective, Hanoi needs to continue to promote decentralization and delegation of power with clear accountability, avoiding the situation of "both excess and shortage" in management work. Along with that, the city increases investment in digital infrastructure, builds e-government, digital government, creating conditions for people to access public services quickly and transparently. Continuing to improve the quality of cadres and civil servants at the grassroots level is also an urgent requirement, ensuring adequate management capacity in the new context.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cua Nam Ward Trinh Ngoc Tram said that in the process of implementing the construction of digital government, the ward has clearly identified both advantages and challenges. The advantage is the consensus and strong support of the people for the 2-level local government model because this is a great driving force. In particular, the development of the national digital platform, online public services, along with the increasingly better access to technology of the people (including the elderly) are creating a solid foundation for implementing the digital government model at the grassroots level.

“After the merger, the population is larger, the workload also increases, creating a lot of pressure for the staff and civil servants. Although this force is qualified and experienced, the increasingly high job requirements require a sense of responsibility, smooth coordination and mutual support between departments. But I think that in difficulties, there are also opportunities. This is the environment for the grassroots administrative apparatus to practice, mature and gradually adapt effectively to the requirements of digital transformation in the new period,” Ms. Trinh Ngoc Tram emphasized.

Not only resolutely taking action and quickly adapting, the cadres and civil servants of Phu Dong commune also identified the consensus of the people as the decisive factor for the success of the 2-level local government model. To overcome difficulties, the People's Committee of the commune has implemented many solutions such as: Reviewing the capacity and qualifications of cadres to assign appropriate tasks, limiting concurrent positions outside of their expertise; developing a plan for training, fostering, and improving professional qualifications and digital skills for cadres. The commune has strengthened inspection, urging, and arousing the proactive and creative spirit of the cadres and civil servants. The locality prioritizes the effective deployment of shared software, handling errors, and perfecting features suitable for reality; editing and digitizing archived documents according to the roadmap; establishing a mechanism for quick information coordination between specialized departments...

“The operation of a two-level government model is an inevitable trend, but it requires synchronous participation and timely support from higher levels. We identify this as an important transitional period, requiring great efforts from the entire political system to meet the requirements of the tasks in the new situation,” Chairman of the People’s Committee of Phu Dong Commune, Dao Duc Minh, stated.

According to Nguyen Minh Huong, Chief of Office of Hai Ba Trung Ward People's Committee, in the face of difficulties and challenges, the ward will continue to make efforts to promptly overcome them, ensuring that all records are processed and results are returned on time. Up to now, the system has been operating more stably, people can carry out many procedures right at home instead of having to come directly, helping to save time and effort. Facilities are invested in accordance with regulations, creating the most favorable conditions for people when coming to work at the ward.

Chairman of the Hanoi People's Council Nguyen Ngoc Tuan affirmed that in recent times, all levels, sectors and localities have been proactive, made efforts, tried, promoted the sense of responsibility, promptly guided, removed and overcome many obstacles and difficulties in the practical implementation of the two-level local government, ensuring smoothness and efficiency. In the coming time, the City People's Committee will continue to review and perfect the legal system; focus on directing, guiding, promptly removing obstacles and difficulties, creating favorable conditions for communes and wards to carry out their tasks. The City will continue to research, review and evaluate the ability to implement regulations on decentralization, delegation of power, and division of authority to promptly adjust, guide, amend, supplement and perfect them in a synchronous, unified, effective manner, suitable to the practical development of the locality.

Three months of implementing the two-level local government model is not a long time, but it is enough for Hanoi to draw many valuable experiences. The initial advantages have affirmed the correctness of the policy; the difficulties that arise must be handled promptly and synchronously. With high political determination, consensus of the people and support from the Central Government, the two-level local government model in Hanoi will continue to be perfected, becoming an important driving force to build a civilized and modern capital, worthy of the leading role of the whole country./.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/phan-hoi-phan-bien/chinh-quyen-dia-phuong-2-cap-o-ha-noi-bai-cuoi-20251005090608824.htm