Dialogue in Thai Hoa Town: Raising responsibility to the people

(Baonghean) - In order to promptly grasp the people's thoughts and aspirations, resolve their concerns and questions, and serve as a basis for implementing policies that satisfy the people, the People's Committee of Thai Hoa Town has organized dialogues with the people at the grassroots level. Through practical observations, this is an effective way of "smart mass mobilization", helping to build a closer relationship between the Party - government - people.

Resolve the issuefrom the base

On the morning of November 28, we attended a dialogue between the People's Committee of Thai Hoa Town chaired by Comrade Le Phuc An - Deputy Secretary of the Town Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thai Hoa Town with the people of Quang Phong Ward.

Ms. Tran Thi Minh from Forestry Processing Block 3, expressed her opinion. Photo: TD

From early morning, many ward residents and officials from the blocks and hamlets were present at the ward hall to directly dialogue. In an open and democratic atmosphere, many pressing issues of individuals and groups in the area were raised. Mr. Duong Dang Dich - Secretary of the Con Vang block Party cell expressed concerns about the issuance of new "land certificates" for households whose land was previously allocated by the farm, as well as the slow progress of issuing and exchanging Land Use Right Certificates (LURCs) of Thai Hoa Town for some households, affecting the production development plans of the people. Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Duc Van - Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thai Hoa Town answered questions related to determining the origin of land granted to the above households, including Mr. Duong Dang Dich's family, according to the provisions of the Land Law. Regarding the issuance and exchange of land use right certificates, Mr. Nguyen Duc Van also committed to the Secretary of the Con Vang Block Party Cell that the remaining files as reported by the block will be completed in the next working week.

Talking to us on the sidelines of the dialogue, Mr. Duong Dang Dich shared his feelings: “I appreciate and am satisfied with the response of the officer in charge of the land sector. Based on the content that has been answered, I will check and compare it with the 2013 Land Law to re-evaluate the land origin of my family as well as some other households”. Ms. Tran Thi Minh, Forestry Processing Block 3, expressed her opinion that although the people in her family's residential area are citizens of Thai Hoa Town, they are using electricity from Nghia Dan District. After Nghia Dan District Electricity installed new electricity meters, the electricity usage index increased abnormally. Therefore, she requested the authorities, sectors, and the town to get involved, work with relevant parties to check and ensure the rights of the people. This opinion was assigned by comrade Le Phuc An - Chairman of Thai Hoa Town People's Committee to the leader of the town's Economic Department to answer. Accordingly, the department's leaders committed to working with the Department of Industry and Trade and Electricity in the area to assess the quality of the new electricity meters. At the same time, in December 2014, they will also coordinate with Nghia Dan Electricity to calibrate the meters for the people according to Ms. Minh's feedback.

The dialogue also had many opinions reflecting on the fields of land, urban infrastructure construction, street naming, house numbers, etc. All were assigned by the Chairman of the People's Committee of Thai Hoa Town to the relevant departments to directly answer the people with a specific time. Although it was almost noon, after listening to the departments' explanations, the town leaders still directly summarized and responded to the people's opinions within their authority. The Chairman of the People's Committee of the town also widely announced his personal mobile phone number and affirmed that people could call, text or meet him directly to reflect their opinions, even on weekends. With the results achieved, both the people and the leaders and officials of the town felt more comfortable, closer, and more understanding. The democratic, frank, and open atmosphere along with the effective resolution of problems created satisfaction among the people.

Enhance dialogue

According to our research, the People's Committee of Thai Hoa Town will organize dialogues with people in all 10 wards and communes in the town. In addition, representatives of leaders of sectors, especially natural resources - environment, urban areas will carry out propaganda and dissemination of laws to people according to the criteria of "focus, key points, and unity within the town" in the dialogues. With those requirements, along with the spirit of openness, respect, listening and answering people's opinions from the leaders of the People's Committee of the town to the officials, departments and offices, the public opinion in the areas where the dialogues were held was very sympathetic and supportive. Mr. Tang Van Hung - Forestry Processing Block 2, Quang Phong Ward, who participated in the dialogue, said: "Dialogues like this are extremely necessary for the people. Because the specific questions of the people are discussed directly with the officials in charge, they can relieve their psychology and feel secure about the resolution process".

On the other hand, for the staff of the departments of the Town People's Committee and the local government, each dialogue with the people is an opportunity to better perform their duties and responsibilities and is also an occasion to carry out the work of the government's mass mobilization. Because the opinions and proposals of the people are specifically explained by the staff of the departments and offices. Reasonable opinions will provide timely solutions; on the contrary, there are also opinions that people reflect that are not in accordance with regulations, regimes and policies, which are clearly explained, thereby relieving the concerns of the people. Through monitoring, land is always the field that receives many opinions reflected by the people in the dialogue sessions.

However, when discussing, the leaders of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thai Hoa Town said that they considered this an opportunity to solve outstanding problems, problems that may not have been understood when sitting in the office. Mr. Nguyen Duc Van - Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thai Hoa Town shared: "Currently, land is a hot field, related to many interests of the people, so it is understandable that there are many opinions reflecting. Through the dialogue channel, we grasp the concerns from the grassroots to urge the commune level to resolve or strengthen coordination between levels. At the same time, we also guide people to properly implement the necessary procedures and processes and the relevant authorities will be responsible for resolving them, thereby eliminating the mentality of some people that they have to "rely" on this person or that person to solve the work".

Comrade Le Phuc An - Deputy Secretary of the Town Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thai Hoa Town added: "Direct dialogues with the people were carried out seriously, without fanfare, many pressing issues of the people from the grassroots level were directed to be resolved effectively, contributing to raising awareness and understanding of the law; people's trust in the Party and the State. Therefore, not only organized in 2014, but in the following years, the Town People's Committee will continue to organize dialogues with the people in this form. Thereby, creating unity, consensus, stability, together building the town to develop more and more". Thus, it can be seen that, after the organization of the dialogue between the Standing Committee of the Town Party Committee and the cadres doing mass mobilization work at the grassroots level, the organization of dialogues between the leaders of the Town People's Committee and the people of the wards and communes has demonstrated the flexibility and closeness in the mass mobilization work of the Party Committee and the Town government. Thereby, not only solving the issues that people are concerned about but also promoting collective strength, increasing people's participation in the planning process, building the town into the center of the Northwest of Nghe An.

Huu Nghia - Nhat Le