Correcting discipline and working style

(Baonghean) - Implementing Directive No. 17-CT/TU of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and Directive No. 10-CT/UBND of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman on strengthening discipline and administrative discipline, units, localities, agencies and offices have had many positive changes. However, through surprise inspections by the interdisciplinary working group, it was found that there are still many shortcomings...

Checking compliance with Directive 17 at Con Cuong Land Use Registration Office.

The changes

The provincial Interdisciplinary Inspection Team was established under Decision 2290/QD-UBND dated May 27, 2014 of the Provincial People's Committee Chairman. Starting from June, the team has conducted inspections and supervision of the strengthening of discipline, administrative discipline and public ethics according to Directive 17 of the Provincial Party Committee. Through surprise inspections at 10 districts, towns and a number of departments and branches, the team recorded positive changes in the localities. At the units of Nghi Loc, Cua Lo, Nam Dan, Quynh Luu, Thai Hoa Town, Quy Hop, Thanh Chuong, Do Luong and Yen Thanh, the inspection showed that the majority of cadres and civil servants complied well with regulations on the number of working cadres; cases of absence from agencies and offices during working hours were all planned and ordered by superior management. In addition, localities have also reviewed and supplemented internal regulations, working regulations, as well as coordination regulations between Party committees, authorities and organizations. Many districts have specified the provisions of Directive 17 and Directive 10 into the internal regulations of their agencies and units, thereby promptly correcting administrative discipline and labor discipline. Particularly in Anh Son, Do Luong and Yen Thanh districts, district leaders have established inspection teams for administrative discipline in departments, offices and commune levels. These activities have contributed positively to the implementation of professional tasks, serving people and businesses well in each field of work...

After Directive 17 took effect, most officials and civil servants strictly complied with the regulation on not drinking alcohol before, during working hours and at lunch break. This was an unexpected success, because there had been doubts about the feasibility of the regulation. Civil servants all expressed their high agreement, because: "Thanks to Directive 17/CT, we were able to refuse invitations to socialize at noon, ensuring health and working efficiency in the afternoon...". Also thanks to the increased voluntary and self-awareness of each official and civil servant, the situation of officials and civil servants violating internal rules and regulations has decreased significantly, and their sense of service has been raised. For the commune level, some localities, in addition to the annual and quarterly work programs, have monthly and weekly work schedules such as citizen reception schedules, visits to the grassroots... posted in each department, and at the same time, sent via the official mailbox to superiors for monitoring and supervision...

And the signs of negligence

In addition to positive changes, through actual inspections in units and localities, it is shown that the compliance with working hours and labor discipline of some cadres and civil servants is not strict. There is still a phenomenon of cadres "cutting" working hours. According to the regulation of an 8-hour working day, in the summer, the morning starts from 7:00 to 11:30 and the afternoon from 13:30 to 17:00, but through surprise inspections in the early, late morning or early afternoon, it is shown that very few cadres and civil servants arrive on time. The situation of "coming late, leaving early" often occurs and most of them reduce from 15 to 30 minutes of administrative working hours. Typically, the People's Committee of Do Luong district is "flexible" with cadres of departments and grassroots levels, the afternoon working hours are at 14:00, instead of the correct time of 13:30 according to the regulation of the Provincial People's Committee every day; Or like at the People's Committee of Chau Quang commune (Quy Hop), although the regulation is 13:30 pm, most of the cadres and civil servants only come to work after 14:00, even 14:30. Witnessing the above scene, not only the inspection team but also many people waiting for the cadres to handle the situation are very upset. Not only that, some units such as Dong Hieu commune (Thai Hoa town), Quynh Van (Quynh Luu) also posted working hours at the one-stop transaction department reduced by 1 hour/working day. In addition, although there are regulations that cadres and civil servants must wear badges when working, there are still many cadres who do not wear badges or the leaders do not care about making badges, signs with the name of the office, signs with the title of the managing civil servant for people to monitor.

In addition to the manifestation of lax working hours, some units and localities, although having working regulations and rules, have not updated and specified the provisions of Directive 17 into regulations and ethical standards for cadres and civil servants to comply with. Directive 17 was issued in December 2013 and Directive 10 was issued in April 2014, but up to now, many agencies still maintain the old regulations. Some agencies, although amending their internal regulations and rules since February 2014, have not specified Directive 17 into their units' practices, or have specified it but have not closely followed the spirit of the directive. Typically, the People's Committees of Hung Nguyen and Yen Thanh districts, although Directive 17 stipulates an absolute ban on drinking alcohol and beer during working hours and lunch breaks, still open parentheses with the statement "except in cases where the district leaders have a policy". Some localities reported that they had implemented Directive 17 for cadres and civil servants, but the archived records did not show it, and even some key cadres innocently answered that they had not received or known about Directive 17/CT on strengthening administrative discipline... Through surprise inspections at the People's Committee of Do Luong district, Quynh Van commune (Quynh Luu) and Chau Quang (Quy Hop)... there were still cadres and civil servants who had not strictly complied with the regulations prohibiting drinking alcohol and beer during lunch breaks; And when sending cadres on duty at the one-stop transaction department to study or attend long-term training, there was no plan to arrange for cadres to replace them, causing people to wait; some communes such as Nghi Long (Nghi Loc), Chau Quang (Quy Hop), Quynh Van (Quynh Luu), although having a weekly work schedule, had not arranged enough schedules to receive people according to regulations...

According to Government regulations, the National Emblem and National Flag must be hung in public offices, especially administrative headquarters, but in some inspected communes such as Nghi Kim (Vinh City), Dong Hieu (Thai Hoa Town), Chau Quang, Chau Thai (Quy Hop), although the headquarters are quite spacious, they have not complied with the regulations. For these localities, through inspection, the delegation requested local leaders to correct and reminded the heads of their responsibilities in this field.

Continue to rectifyadministrative discipline

That was the first request of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee when signing the decision to establish an unscheduled interdisciplinary inspection team. The Department of Home Affairs also identified this as one of the key tasks of the department in the last 5 months of the year. Most recently, at a working session with the Department of Home Affairs on administrative reform, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee once again affirmed his determination to promote administrative reform, strengthen discipline and public ethics, in which inspection and supervision activities are focused; at the same time, he emphasized that after the inspection, the team must have a timely report in writing so that the province can immediately handle any violations and negligence.

In each locality, after the inspection, the interdisciplinary team has issued a written report to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and representatives of the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, the Town Party Committee and leaders of the People's Committees of the relevant districts and towns; at the same time, notify units with signs of violations within a certain period of time to correct and fix them. If necessary, the team can conduct a re-inspection and the locality does not comply, it will make recommendations to the Provincial People's Committee to consider and handle the responsibility of the head. Mr. Le Dinh Ly, Deputy Director of the Department of Home Affairs, Head of the interdisciplinary inspection team, said: The establishment of the inspection team for Directive 17/CT demonstrates the province's determination to strengthen discipline, rectify administrative discipline, public ethics, and clean up the administrative apparatus. Through inspection and review, any cadres who are weak in capacity or whose public service style and ethics are not guaranteed will be recommended for handling and replacing with younger cadres who are more capable and responsible.

According to the plan, the interdisciplinary inspection team is currently focusing on checking compliance with working hours, staff numbers and wearing of civil servant badges; the results of developing internal regulations, agency regulations, and workplace conduct according to the requirements of Directive 17 at the district and commune levels to have an overview. In the coming time, in addition to continuing to conduct surprise inspections at a number of localities and departments and branches at headquarters and outside the office, the team also recommends that districts establish inspection teams to urge and supervise the commune level; units that have been inspected may also be re-inspected and not only check the quantity and "surface" activities, but also go deeper into checking the quality of public service performance and the responsibilities of the heads of agencies and units. Hopefully, this inspection will be an opportunity to remind the heads of their responsibilities in ensuring administrative discipline and public service discipline to improve the quality and efficiency of work, contributing to serving the effective operation and management of the state.

Article and photos:Phuong Ha