Details of the blocks and hamlets in Do Luong that are expected to be merged.

A view of Do Luong town. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

To ensure that the merger of hamlets and villages is carried out in accordance with the set objectives, requirements, and schedule, the People's Committee of Do Luong District requests the People's Committees of communes and towns to develop plans for rearranging and merging hamlets and blocks in their areas that do not meet the standards stipulated in Circular 14/2018/TT-BNV dated December 3, 2018, of the Ministry of Interior.

During the implementation process, the district promptly provided written instructions to ensure progress.The guidelines on documentation and procedures were provided to local authorities so they could understand and implement them effectively. At the same time, local authorities also did a good job of disseminating information through meetings, addressing concerns from grassroots levels, directly handling unit issues, and through various information and communication systems.

The steering committee for the project has assigned clusters and points to promptly support the grassroots level. For specific and difficult communes such as Hien Son, Giang Son Dong, Tru Son, Dai Son, Thuong Son, Thai Son, etc., district officials have directly gone down to guide and support the localities in disseminating information, while also coordinating and proposing solutions to overcome difficulties and clarify the people's mindset; creating a high level of consensus.

Leaders of Hien Son commune held a meeting to discuss the plan for merging hamlets and villages in the area. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

Currently, Do Luong district has 368 hamlets and villages. In terms of the number of households, 16 hamlets and villages have met 100% of the criteria, 201 hamlets and villages have met 50% or more of the criteria, and 151 hamlets and villages have met less than 50% of the criteria.

According to the merger plan, the total number of hamlets and villages in the area to be merged (both those meeting less than 50% of the criteria and those meeting 50% or more of the criteria) is 356; 178 new hamlets and villages will be formed. The total number of hamlets and villages after the merger is 190, meaning that the entire district will have 178 fewer hamlets and villages after the merger.

Diagram of the proposed merger of hamlets and villages in Do Luong district. Designed by: Huu Quan

Mr. Tran Doan Hung, Head of the Department of Internal Affairs of Do Luong District, said that the process of implementing the project to merge villages and hamlets in the district has received high consensus from the people. The villages and hamlets have gathered opinions on the merger from the people and submitted resolutions to the People's Councils of the communes, reporting to the District People's Committee before April 30, 2019; these have now been submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs for approval.

The reorganization of village-level administrative units will create positive changes, not only benefiting socio-economic development but also contributing to streamlining the administrative apparatus, improving the quality of the workforce, and enhancing management efficiency; while simultaneously reducing the burden on the state budget.

According to estimates from the District Department of Internal Affairs, after the merger, the entire district has saved over 15 billion VND per year in allowances for non-specialized officials compared to before.