Nghe An Provincial Steering Committee on the Project to reorganize administrative units at district and commune levels initially discussed the overall plan.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Head of the Steering Committee chaired the meeting.

Attending the meeting were comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial Steering Committee and members of the Steering Committee.

PROACTIVELY REVIEW AND ARRANGE ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS LINKED TO PUBLIC ASSET HANDLING AND PERSONNEL ARRANGEMENT

Nghe An currently has 21 district-level administrative units (17 districts, 1 city, 3 towns) and 460 commune-level administrative units (including 411 communes, 32 wards and 17 towns). At the meeting, the People's Committee of Nghe An province asked for the opinion of the Provincial Steering Committee on the arrangement plan.

At the district level, Cua Lo town will be merged into Vinh city according to the project to expand administrative boundaries and urban space of Vinh city, which is currently under construction.

At the commune level, after review, the whole province has 89 commune-level administrative units subject to rearrangement (79 communes, 4 wards, 6 towns). According to the developed plan, at the commune level, the whole province is expected to have 105administrative units related to the arrangement plan; of which 75 administrative units do not meet the standards for arrangement and 30Adjacent qualified administrative units to unqualified units are rearranged to form 49 new administrative units, reducing 55 administrative units.

At the meeting, members of the Steering Committee focused on discussing and clarifying plans for arranging commune-level administrative units, especially those proposed not to be arranged in the 2023-2025 period due to specific factors or to specify the development orientation associated with the implementation of Resolution No. 39-NQ/TW of the Politburo on building and developing Nghe An province to 2030 with a vision to 2045, and the provincial planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050.

Delegates also discussed and reached consensus on leadership, direction, and implementation methods to deploy the reorganization process to achieve the best results, ensuring stability and development in new administrative units after the reorganization.

Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung said that the guiding viewpoint of the Provincial People's Committee is that in the process of developing a general arrangement plan, it is necessary to prepare a review and prepare a plan to arrange cadres, civil servants and handle public assets so that when developing the project, there is initiative in the arrangement.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Thanh An suggested that based on the arrangement plan, relevant departments and branches strengthen coordination and direction with localities to convert planning to handle public assets.

At the same time, the Provincial People's Committee issued an official dispatch on handling headquarters and public assets, which clearly stated 3 steps. First, while waiting for the overall plan to be approved, district and commune-level units will make a list and proactively plan; then, during the approval process of each unit's arrangement plan, the public asset arrangement plan must be approved.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Thanh An also said that while waiting for the approval of the overall plan, the Department of Planning and Investment was assigned to review and temporarily suspend new construction projects and repair headquarters at commune-level units subject to rearrangement; only when the overall plan is approved will it be considered for implementation.

STICK TO THE BASIS, FOCUS TIME AND EFFORT ON IMPLEMENTATION

Concluding the meeting, Nghe An Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy - Head of the Provincial Steering Committee emphasized that it is necessary to have a common understanding that the arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels is a difficult and sensitive task, deeply affecting many areas such as: cadres, civil servants and people, culture, local customs and practices... therefore, it is necessary to focus time and effort on implementation.

Therefore, at the same time as promoting experience in the arrangement of administrative units in the previous period, the Provincial Party Secretary requested that, after being assigned to be in charge of each locality, members of the Provincial Steering Committee need to closely follow the grassroots, direct the locality to implement, especially to promptly detect problems and difficulties to promptly handle or report to the Provincial Steering Committee for consideration and handling.

At the same time as preparing a master plan for the arrangement of administrative units in the province, the Provincial Steering Committee and the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee directed localities to review, calculate, and prepare plans for the arrangement of finance, assets, and personnel.

During the implementation process, the Provincial Steering Committee assigned relevant departments, agencies and branches of the province to accompany and coordinate with localities to implement and must ensure that there are plans to arrange assets and personnel in the detailed project.

The Provincial Party Secretary and Head of the Provincial Steering Committee also pointed out that for the planned areas, investment projects related to people's livelihoods will still be implemented, but new construction projects or approved headquarters repairs must be temporarily suspended.

Regarding the arrangement plan submitted by the Provincial People's Committee, the Provincial Steering Committee agreed to merge Cua Lo town and 4 communes of Nghi Loc district into Vinh city according to the Project to expand administrative boundaries and urban space of Vinh city.

Particularly for commune-level administrative units, the Provincial Steering Committee has discussed and reached consensus on specific plans and approaches, especially for localities that do not meet the prescribed standards or those units that, after rearrangement, do not meet the prescribed standards but the districts have proposed not to rearrange due to specific factors, or rural localities that are included in approved urban planning but do not meet the standards for urban administrative units and the districts have also proposed not to rearrange. On that basis, the Provincial Steering Committee assigned the Provincial People's Committee to complete the plan to submit to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee for consideration.