At the 6th Session of the 15th National Assembly, delegate Thai Thi An Chung - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province mentioned the issue of compensation for land clearance on National Highway 1A passing through the province. This is one of three complicated and mass complaints and denunciations that have lasted for three National Assembly terms (13th, 14th, 15th) and has received many petitions from National Assembly delegates over the past 10 years.
“There are times when there are many complicated and mass complaints and lawsuits. Nghe An province has established many inspection and examination teams and coordinated with relevant ministries and branches and repeatedly asked for opinions from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to resolve the issue,” said delegate Thai Thi An Chung, adding that when she was elected as a National Assembly delegate for Hoang Mai Town and Quynh Luu District, she also received many complaints and frustrations from voters about this issue.
Nghe An Provincial People's Committee has also established an inter-sectoral working group to review the content of citizens' complaints. However, the resolution process has encountered many difficulties and problems related to mechanisms and policies. Nghe An Provincial People's Committee has studied the experiences of several provinces and issued many documents to seek opinions from the Prime Minister and central ministries and branches.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has also issued official dispatches in response, affirming that the cleared area of the project must be compensated and supported according to current regulations. Therefore, Nghe An province has coordinated closely with the Ministry of Transport to review and determine the amount of funds that need to be paid to affected households. Accordingly, the total reported cost is 1,275 billion VND, of which the principal is more than 573 billion VND, and the interest due to late payment is more than 701 billion VND (as of December 31, 2022).
Although the policy and viewpoints have been agreed upon, the difficulty is where will the funds for compensation come from, while the project has finalized its capital in 2019? That obstacle has led to the case being prolonged, potentially destabilizing social order and safety. In March 2021, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province Nguyen Duc Trung received citizens from the districts of Nghi Loc, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu and Hoang Mai town. Leaders of relevant localities, especially in Hoang Mai town, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau and Nghi Loc districts, also regularly receive citizens related to this issue, but once the "bottleneck" regarding funding has not been resolved, the handling remains at a standstill.
Up to now, after the efforts of the political system of Nghe An province, as well as through monitoring, listening to voters' opinions and presenting opinions of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation and the coordination of relevant ministries and branches, at the 6th Session of the 15th National Assembly taking place in October and November 2023, the Government submitted to the National Assembly a Draft Resolution on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies on investment in the construction of road traffic works.
On November 21, 2023, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly issued a Notice of Conclusion on the Resolution of the National Assembly on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies on investment in the construction of road traffic works and a number of related issues.
In this announcement, the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed that it is necessary to pay off outstanding debts for basic construction of the National Highway 1 expansion project through Nghe An province and the Ho Chi Minh Road bypass project through Chu Se district, Gia Lai province.
Regarding the policy of allocating additional revenue from the central budget in 2022 to pay for site clearance costs for the National Highway 1 expansion project through Nghe An province, it is proposed to include it in the Joint Resolution of the 6th Session of the National Assembly. Regarding the payment of site clearance costs for the Ho Chi Minh Road project bypassing Chu Se district, Gia Lai province, it is proposed that the Government consider allocating capital to promptly resolve difficulties and problems for the people, avoiding prolonged complaints.
On that basis, on the morning of November 29, after listening to the Secretary General of the National Assembly - Head of the National Assembly Office Bui Van Cuong present the Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Resolution of the 6th Session, 15th National Assembly and the draft Resolution of the 6th Session, the National Assembly voted to pass this Resolution.
The electronic voting results showed that 477 delegates participated in the vote in favor (accounting for 96.56%). Thus, with the majority of delegates participating in the vote in favor, the National Assembly officially passed the Resolution of the 6th Session, 15th National Assembly.
Accordingly, the National Assembly agreed to add VND 1,275 billion in investment expenditure for Nghe An province from the increased central budget revenue in 2022 to resolve compensation for site clearance (including late payment) of the National Highway 1 expansion projects through Nghe An province under the central budget tasks arising after these projects are finalized.
The National Assembly assigned: The Government is responsible for the content of the proposal, the accuracy of information, data, and legal basis when implementing it, and only pays for obligations under the State's responsibility, ensuring that no complaints arise.
Thus, after a long journey of pursuing and resolving, this complicated case has resolved the most important bottleneck, which is the source of funding for payment, so that on that basis there will be a plan to resolve the legitimate rights of the people and stabilize the security and order situation in the area; at the same time, avoiding waste in budget spending, because the longer the payment is delayed, the more interest will arise.
In early June 2023, after nearly 10 years of dedication to the education sector, teacher Nguyen Thi Nhan at Dien Chau Town Kindergarten was moved when she received the official decision to be recruited into the payroll. Teacher Nguyen Thi Nhan said she was very happy because she had just been relieved of the "burden" of uncertainty to feel secure in her work and dedication, while also being more assured in terms of income and political rights.
“When on contract, they will always be ranked as a grade 4 teacher, no matter how many years they have worked. After being on the payroll, they will be ranked as grade 3 and will be upgraded in the following years, accordingly, the salary will increase from 3.4 million (grade 4) to 4.7 million (grade 3). On the other hand, contract teachers, no matter how many years they have worked, will not be counted for seniority, but when they are on the payroll, they will be counted for seniority; the political rights of those on the payroll will also be different, and the source of management staff will be planned,” said teacher Nhan.
Teacher Nguyen Thi Nhan is one of 2,352 teachers recruited into the payroll within 10 months, from October 2022 to August 2023 in Nghe An province. This is the result of listening to and understanding the concerns of voters who are education management officials, contract teachers who have been waiting for "payroll" for more than 10 years, 20 years and the pursuit and supervision of agencies and elected representatives of Nghe An province for many years.
Mr. Chu Duc Thai - Head of the Culture and Social Affairs Committee, Nghe An Provincial People's Council, shared: The story of the lack of teachers at all levels in Nghe An has been continuously reflected through many meetings with voters; in practice, it has affected the quality of education and the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program, creating labor pressure on the teaching staff, limiting the creativity of teachers. Meanwhile, in the province, many contract teachers (according to Joint Circular No. 09, dated March 11, 2013 of the Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs and Decree 06 of the Government, dated January 5, 2018) have not been on the payroll for more than 10 years, 20 years, affecting the rights and aspirations of this team. Therefore, this is an issue raised by the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council and the Culture - Social Committee of the Nghe An Provincial People's Council at a number of working sessions with the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments and branches; and was reflected and questioned by Provincial People's Council delegates at many Provincial People's Council meetings.
Based on the province's proposal and the Central Government's addition of a total of 2,820 people to the payroll, the Provincial People's Council issued Resolution No. 44 dated October 12, 2022 on approving the addition of teachers for the 2022-2023 school year and adjusting the total payroll of civil servants in public service units and Association organizations in 2022 and 2023; in which priority is given to recruiting all contract teachers under categories 06 and 09 across the province.
However, through monitoring the progress of teacher recruitment in localities, which is still slow, causing frustration and suspicion about hidden and negative issues, the Culture - Social Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Council conducted a field survey and reported to the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council. At the 14th session (taking place in early July 2023), the Provincial People's Council continued to raise this issue and requested the Provincial People's Committee and related departments and branches to focus on directing the recruitment work. Immediately after the Provincial People's Council session, the Provincial People's Committee issued an official dispatch urging and requesting the District People's Committees to complete the recruitment of teachers before August 30, 2023. Up to this point, the units have basically completed the recruitment of teachers according to the allocation, except for 29 quotas for contract preschool teachers of categories 06 and 09 waiting for additional qualifications and 56 quotas without sufficient application documents.
Listening to voters' recommendations, monitoring and urging the settlement of voters' recommendations for State management levels is a form of monitoring the implementation and enforcement of policies, laws in practice as well as the capacity and efficiency of the apparatus. Therefore, this is an area that the National Assembly Delegation and the People's Council of Nghe An province pay special attention to in order to innovate by expanding and diversifying "channels" to receive opinions and feedback from voters and people, including through voter contact conferences of delegates, through online telephone lines at meetings, through petitions and feedback sent to the Office of the National Assembly Delegation and the Provincial People's Council; through the participation in citizen reception sessions at constituencies of the Provincial People's Council delegates, Zalo, Facebook...
At the same time, the National Assembly Delegation and the Provincial People's Council also promoted responsibility, "follow-up", and urged all levels and sectors to resolve voters' petitions, demonstrated through reflecting opinions on the National Assembly forum; through working sessions with central ministries, sectors and relevant departments, sectors and localities on issues sent by voters.
Vice Chairman of the People's Council of Nghe An province, Nguyen Nhu Khoi, said: The People's Council of Nghe An province has issued a resolution to resolve voters' petitions at each regular session and through actual monitoring of the settlement of voters' petitions by competent authorities, at the same time listening to voters' petitions with many contents being petitioned over and over again. In September and October 2023, the Standing Committee of the People's Council of Nghe An province organized a delegation to supervise the settlement of voters' petitions in the province from the beginning of the 2021-2026 term to present.
