Movement in the arrangement of ward and commune apparatus in Vinh city

This is also a solution to help streamline the apparatus and reduce staff in wards and communes, helping the apparatus operate effectively and reduce state budget expenditures.

Not only in Vinh City but also in other localities in the province, the position of Party Committee Office staff at the commune level is a temporary contract, not full-time, leading to low allowances. Some people are assigned to take on other jobs to increase their income, but the increase is not significant, leading to this team not being really satisfied with their work. According to a survey by the Vinh City Party Committee, 17/25 wards and communes regularly change the personnel in charge of the Party Committee Office, causing difficulties in personnel arrangement; affecting the quality and effectiveness of Party work consultation at the grassroots level.

Comrade Nguyen Thi Quynh (sitting), a civil servant of the Office of the Party Committee of Vinh Tan Ward (Vinh City), takes on the position of officer of the Office of the Party Committee of Vinh Tan Ward (Vinh City). Photo: Thanh Duy

Therefore, after consulting and receiving the consent of the Provincial Party Committee's Organizing Committee and the Department of Home Affairs, as well as based on Circular No. 06/2012/TT-BNV dated October 30, 2012 of the Ministry of Home Affairs guiding on specific responsibilities, standards, tasks and recruitment of civil servants in communes, wards and towns; Decision No. 24/2016/QD-UBND dated March 4, 2016 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province on promulgating regulations on recruitment, reception, mobilization, transfer, number, standards, responsibilities and tasks for civil servants in communes, wards and towns in Nghe An province, the Standing Committee of Vinh City Party Committee discussed and announced the conclusion of agreeing to the policy of arranging civil servants of the Office - Office of the People's Committee of wards and communes to perform the tasks of the Office of the Party Committee, People's Council of wards and communes to improve the effectiveness of Party work at the grassroots level on May 31, 2017.

In particular, according to the conclusion announcement, the Standing Committee of Vinh City Party Committee requested that during the implementation process, it is necessary to pay attention to doing a good job of ideological work, or arranging other work for non-professional staff who are under contract to work as Party Committee office staff in wards and communes.

This policy has only been implemented in Vinh City for a short time, but initially it can be seen that this is a way to overcome the long-standing difficulties for the position of Party Committee Office staff in wards and communes in the area. That is, the Office - Office staff are civil servants, so they have a stable income and can work with peace of mind, and are more dedicated to their work, thereby being able to advise on quality and efficiency of Party work at the grassroots level. Secretary of Vinh Tan Ward Party Committee Nguyen Hoang Minh said that since implementing Resolution 39 of the Politburo on streamlining the payroll and restructuring the team of cadres, civil servants and public employees, the ward has had a direction to arrange cadres to hold many concurrent positions in order to streamline the apparatus, increase work efficiency, especially with socio-political organizations. Therefore, when the City Party Committee had the above policy, the Ward Party Committee implemented it with specific arrangement plans.

Accordingly, comrade Phan Thi Thuy Hang, who joined the Party Committee Office in October 2014, was assigned to be the Deputy Head of the Party Committee Inspection Committee, concurrently the President of the Red Cross Society, President of the Association for the Protection of the Disabled and Orphans, and a member of the Standing Committee of the Ward Women's Union. Receiving comrade Hang's work was comrade Nguyen Thi Quynh, an official of the ward's Office - Accounting Department. Talking to us, comrades Phan Thi Thuy Hang and Nguyen Thi Quynh agreed with the organization's work arrangement and assignment plan and said that they are making efforts to be able to quickly approach and effectively carry out professional work.

According to Clause 3, Article 64, Decision No. 24/2016/QD - UBND dated March 4, 2016 of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, which stipulates the duties of the Office - Accounting Officer similar to Circular No. 06/2012/TT - BNV of the Ministry of Home Affairs, there is also an additional content: "In addition to the work prescribed on the functions and duties of the Office - Accounting Officer, the People's Committee at the commune level arranges for an Office - Accounting Officer to concurrently hold a number of additional duties of the Party Committee Office (the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level agrees with the Secretary of the Party Committee at the commune level on specific duties for the Office - Accounting Officer to concurrently hold".

From the perspective of the leader, the Secretary of the Vinh Tan Ward Party Committee assessed: Civil servants who are well-trained, regular, and have a stable regime, when taking up a position at the Party Committee Office, will have higher responsibility, contributing to improving the quality and efficiency of their work. On the other hand, for cadres who used to be non-professional cadres working at the Party Committee Office, they are now arranged to be Deputy Heads of the Party Committee Inspection Committee and concurrently hold a number of positions in organizations, so they have a stable allowance of over 3 million VND/month; at the same time, it helps to improve the inspection and supervision work in the Party because there is a person in charge regularly (previously the position of Deputy Head of the Party Committee Inspection Committee was held concurrently by a cadre) and also helps to reduce the number of cadres in the Red Cross Society, the Association for the Protection of the Disabled and Orphans... "This arrangement contributes to streamlining the apparatus, administrative reform; reduces budget costs, cadres feel more secure in their work" - said comrade Nguyen Hoang Minh.

Transaction at the one-stop shop of Hung Binh ward (Vinh city). Photo: Thanh Duy

Deputy Head of the Vinh City Party Committee's Organization Committee Nguyen Trung Nghia said: "Up to now, 25 wards and communes in Vinh City have basically arranged and assigned an office staff - TK to take on the work of the Party Committee Office. We have also organized training for new Party Committee Office staff transferred from the office - TK". On the other hand, most of the part-time staff who previously worked in this position have also been assigned to do other work, in the direction of holding many positions concurrently, such as in Doi Cung, Le Loi, Quang Trung wards... they were arranged to be Deputy Heads of the Party Committee Inspection Committee; in Hong Son, Hung Binh, Dong Vinh wards... they were appointed as Vice Chairmen of the Women's Union...

It can be said that the implementation of the above policy of Vinh City Party Committee has brought initial results, creating a premise for implementing Resolution 6 of the Central Committee (term XII) "Some issues on continuing to innovate, reorganize the apparatus of the political system, streamline, operate effectively and efficiently", in which the city is one of the units selected by the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee as a pilot unit.

According to Plan No. 111 - KH/TU dated January 2, 2018 issued by the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee to implement the Resolution of the 6th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee "Some issues on continuing to innovate and reorganize the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined and operate effectively and efficiently", Nghe An will pilot the merger of the Party Committee office with the People's Council and People's Committee office at the district and commune levels. According to the plan, the Project will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee for comments before June 2018 and will be implemented from this year.