Resolving petitions must be decisive and get to the bottom of the problem.

On the afternoon of May 16, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council had a meeting with the Provincial People's Committee on the work of receiving citizens, handling complaints, denunciations, petitions and reflections of citizens in the province. Members of the Provincial Party Standing Committee: Cao Thi Hien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council and Le Hong Vinh - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee attended the meeting.

Working scene. Photo: Mai Hoa

A step forward in handling petitions

Recently, the province and districts, cities and towns have paid attention to the work of receiving citizens and handling petitions, so the number of citizens attending citizen reception sessions at the provincial and district levels as well as complicated cases has gradually decreased.

From 2017 to the end of the first quarter of 2019, state agencies at all levels in the province received 14,063 citizens coming to complain, denounce, petition, reflect and 23 large groups. The total number of petitions received by the agencies was 16,469; of which the content was mainly related to land, accounting for 64.1%.

According to the report from the Provincial Citizen Reception Committee, citizens' petitions are handled by all levels in accordance with legal regulations. However, currently, although the province has handled them in accordance with regulations and within its authority, there are still some cases that have dragged on and gone beyond the central level.

On the other hand, there are still a number of complicated pending petitions, especially those related to compensation and site clearance for the National Highway 1A Project.

Land is the field that generates many petitions. Photo: Mai Hoa

Resolve petitions to end the matter

Based on a survey of the actual work of receiving people, handling petitions and complaints of citizens in a number of localities, at the meeting, a number of members of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council pointed out the shortcomings and limitations in this work.

That is, in some localities, the classification of petitions is not accurate, from complaints and denunciations to recommendations and proposals to simplify the settlement process, and when the classification is not correct, the handling is also incorrect.

On the other hand, the assignment of authority to resolve petitions in some cases is also not accurate; the resolution of petitions has not yet fully covered the content and the case has not been resolved to the end, leading to citizens continuing to send petitions. Regarding cases transferred by the Provincial People's Council, some opinions of the Provincial People's Council affirmed that they are still slow and have not responded promptly.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh said that the work of resolving petitions related to land is difficult and complicated. Photo: Mai Hoa

Acknowledging some shortcomings and limitations in handling petitions, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh said that handling petitions is a difficult issue, especially those related to land, which are even more difficult and complicated, because there are cases that arose 20 or 30 years ago, while land policies are constantly changing and state management in this issue also poses many shortcomings and limitations.

In the coming time, the Provincial People's Committee will continue to pay more attention and be more determined in this work, assigning specific responsibilities to each level, each sector and individual in charge, in order to create a change.

Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Council Cao Thi Hien emphasized: Resolving petitions must be decisive and get to the bottom of the problem. Photo: Mai Hoa

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Council Cao Thi Hien highly appreciated the attention and efforts of authorities at all levels in receiving people and handling citizens' petitions.

Pointing out a number of shortcomings and limitations, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council emphasized that in handling petitions, besides requiring compliance with the law and pacifying the people, the more important thing is to resolve the case thoroughly, get to the core of the problem, avoid giving roundabout answers that do not go straight to the point, causing citizens to be upset, making complaints and reflections last long and complicated.

To do so, the Provincial People's Committee needs to direct and enhance the responsibility of government leaders at all levels in receiving people and resolving citizens' petitions; the resolution process should focus on dialogue and reconciliation, while proactively identifying complex cases to focus on and urge the resolution of complex and prolonged petitions.

In addition, the Provincial People's Committee needs to strengthen inspection and rectify localities to overcome some shortcomings related to the settlement of some overlapping cases; inaccurate classification of petitions and assignment of authority to handle petitions...