Challenges and requirements for innovation in implementing two-level government

The two-level local government model has initially affirmed its effectiveness as well as its correctness and suitability in the new era.

For Hanoi - a locality with a context of rapid urbanization, large population size and modern management requirements, the urgency is even more evident. However, this model is also facing many challenges, requiring perfection in both organization and operation methods.

Identify the difficulties

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 lengthy procedures and uneven effectiveness.

Leaders of Phuc Tho commune inspect public administrative service points after two months of implementing two-level government. (Photo: Quoc Luy/VNA)

Besides, the management human resources at the grassroots level are not uniform, the level of information technology application is still limited, affecting the quality of service for 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: Deploying work to villages and areas is difficult due to access to information technology; receiving and processing 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. Decentralization 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 is digitized, contributing to improving responsibility and limiting negativity.

However, Chief of the Office of the People's Committee of Hai Ba Trung Ward 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 jobs. 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 not interconnected. The archived records are large, the digitization is still slow, not meeting the requirements of modern management...", Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Dong Commune Dao Duc Minh shared frankly.

Sharing the same view, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Chuyen My Commune 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 two-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 staff 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 main 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 increasing 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 did they take drastic action and quickly adapt, the cadres and civil servants of Phu Dong commune also determined that the consensus of the people was the decisive factor for the success of the two-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 officials to assign appropriate tasks, limiting concurrent positions outside of their expertise; developing a plan to train, foster, and improve professional qualifications and digital skills for officials.

The commune strengthens inspection, supervision, and arouses the proactive and creative spirit of the staff and civil servants. The locality prioritizes the effective deployment of shared software, error handling, and improvement of features suitable for reality; corrects and digitizes archived documents according to the roadmap; and establishes 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.

People are assisted by officials and civil servants in processing their documents at the Public Administration Service Point in Hai Ba Trung Ward (Hanoi). (Photo: Vu Quang/VNA)

According to Nguyen Minh Huong, Chief of the Office of the People's Committee of Hai Ba Trung Ward, 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.

Infrastructure has been invested in accordance with regulations, creating the most favorable conditions for people to work in the ward. Chairman of the Hanoi People's Council Nguyen Ngoc Tuan affirmed that in recent times, all levels, sectors and localities have been active, 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 continues 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, and suitable manner to local development practices.

Three months of implementing the two-level local government model is not a long time, but it is enough for Hanoi to learn many valuable experiences.

The initial advantages have confirmed the correctness of the policy; the difficulties that arise require timely and synchronous handling.

With high political determination, people's consensus 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 its leading role in the country./.