If district level is abolished, commune level civil servants must be 'upgraded' to the provincial level.

According to Conclusion 126, the Politburo assigned the Government Party Committee to preside over and coordinate with the Central Organizing Committee, the National Assembly Party Committee, and relevant Party committees and organizations to study the orientation to continue to reorganize and eliminate the intermediate administrative level (district level).

The whole country has 696 district-level administrative units.

Through two recent rounds of reorganization and merger of district-level administrative units (2019 - 2021 and 2023 - 2025), the country now has 696 district-level administrative units. Of which, there are two cities under the central government (Thu Duc - Ho Chi Minh City, Thuy Nguyen - Hai Phong City), 84 provincial cities, 53 towns, 49 districts and 508 rural districts.

Hanoi currently has the most district-level administrative units with 30 units, followed by Thanh Hoa with 26, Ho Chi Minh City with 22, Nghe An 20, Quang Nam 17, Gia Lai 17.

4 provinces have 15 district-level administrative units including: Kien Giang, Long An, Hai Phong, Dak Lak. 4 provinces have 13 district-level administrative units including: Ha Tinh, Phu Tho, Quang Ngai, Quang Ninh. 4 provinces have 12 district-level administrative units including: Son La, Lam Dong, Hai Duong, Dong Thap.

8 provinces have 11 district-level administrative units including: An Giang, Binh Dinh, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Ha Giang, Lang Son, Soc Trang, Tien Giang.

9 provinces have 10 district-level administrative units including: Quang Tri, Nam Dinh, Kon Tum, Hung Yen, Hoa Binh, Dien Bien, Cao Bang, Binh Thuan, Bac Giang.

14 provinces and cities have 9 district-level administrative units including: Ben Tre, Binh Duong, Ca Mau, Can Tho, Khanh Hoa, Lao Cai, Phu Yen, Tay Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Thua Thien Hue, Tra Vinh, Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai.

11 provinces and cities have 8 district-level administrative units including: Vinh Long, Thai Binh, Quang Binh, Ninh Binh, Lai Chau, Hau Giang, Dak Nong, Da Nang, Bac Ninh, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Bac Kan.

3 provinces have 7 district-level administrative units including: Bac Lieu, Ninh Thuan, Tuyen Quang. Ha Nam is the province with 6 district-level administrative units, the least compared to the whole country.

No district or county boundary barriers

Emphasizing that the abolition of district-level administrative units is inevitable, former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Tien Dinh said that, according to the Politburo's direction, Vietnam's administrative apparatus may in the future have only 3 levels (Central, Provincial, Commune) instead of 4 levels as at present.

"This is also the practice of many countries in the world because most countries only have a 3-level administrative model," Mr. Dinh emphasized.

The former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs said that currently the district level is an intermediate level and has revealed many limitations when Vietnam has 4 levels, in which the central level has the role of policy making and building legal institutions. As for the provincial level, in addition to implementing the Party's policies and the State's legal policies, the provincial level also decides many issues of local self-management.

Accordingly, the district level is only the intermediate level for transmission. While the commune level is the direct implementation level.

According to Mr. Dinh, there are some problems that arise through this intermediary level. That is, when implementing policies through the district level, there is likely to be a delay because it has to go through an additional intermediary level, have to sit down, issue documents, and then organize implementation.

“In fact, not only is there a delay, but it is also sometimes an obstacle, because in the implementation process, if the district level does not implement or implements incorrectly, there may be delays and obstacles in policy implementation. Therefore, when the intermediate level is eliminated, it will be smooth down to the commune level,” the former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs analyzed.

Prof. Dr. Tran Ngoc Duong - Member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, former Deputy Head of the Office of the National Assembly, said that if the district level is abolished, there will be many advantages.

Specifically, eliminating the district level will create a relatively wider space for economic and social development without being limited to a certain district or county; creating a broader environment to attract potential and resources for development.

"That is a huge advantage in the context of increasingly broad economic integration. At that time, there will be no barriers by the boundaries and territories of districts or counties," Mr. Duong emphasized.

In addition, eliminating the district level also creates conditions to attract larger resources from the entire province to serve a project of a certain commune or ward.

Reducing intermediate levels also contributes to increasing the State budget, because the current costs for district and county apparatus are also very high.

“If we remove the intermediate level of district level, we will remove a step in decentralization and delegation of power. Then we will decentralize and delegate power directly from the provincial level to the commune and ward level, helping the management environment to be more open and favorable,” said Professor Tran Ngoc Duong.

No distinction between commune-level civil servants

However, to implement the policy of abolishing district-level administrative units, the former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs noted that it is necessary to prepare a number of conditions from funding, apparatus, to the capacity and qualifications of commune-level officials and civil servants.

Currently, the Ministry of Home Affairs has proposed linking civil servants at commune, district and provincial levels, meaning that there is no distinction between civil servants at commune and provincial levels, but they are called common civil servants in the State administrative system and will soon amend the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants related to this content.

If we want to reorganize and eliminate the intermediate level of the district level, the commune level must be strengthened. At the same time, decentralization and delegation of power must go hand in hand. As the General Secretary said: Locality decides, locality acts, locality takes responsibility.

“It is important that we strengthen and improve the quality and conditions for local authorities at the grassroots level to perform well in order to meet increasingly high requirements and tasks. In addition, the regime and policies must also be different. All are for the purpose of the apparatus.compact, strong, efficient, powerful, effectiveand the root is still effectiveness and efficiency," Mr. Dinh emphasized.