Nghe An Provincial People's Council: Improving the quality of decision-making on important issues

2019 is the year approaching the end of the term of Party Congresses at all levels and the implementation of the 5-year State plan (2016 - 2020). This is the time to accelerate the implementation of the set goals, targets and tasks; associated with many important policies and resolutions of the Central and the province requiring implementation. That reality poses many concerns for the Provincial People's Council to work together to solve urgent problems, while promoting the overall development of the province through deciding on important local issues according to functions and tasks.

11th session, 17th Provincial People's Council. Photo: Thanh Duy

The capacity to decide on important local issues is mainly exercised by the Provincial People's Council through annual meetings with resolutions and decisions.

In 2019, through 4 sessions, the Provincial People's Council reviewed and decided to pass more than 50 important resolutions. And each resolution, each important decision of the Provincial People's Council closely follows the practical life, operation and general development process of the province. The most obvious is the Resolution on socio-economic development of the province in the year as well as the last 6 months of 2019 and the resolution on socio-economic development tasks in 2020 with specific and practical tasks and solutions.

Along with that are resolutions on approving the land price list in the province, period 2020 - 2024; policies on housing development, rural industry development, conversion of land use purposes for implementing works and projects; resolutions on approving the total number of employees, contract workers in public service units and Association organizations in 2020... There is also a decision on the investment policy for the coastal road project from Nghi Son (Thanh Hoa) to Cua Lo (Nghe An), the section from the intersection of National Highway 46 to Provincial Road 535 (connecting Cua Hoi bridge).

With concern, sense of responsibility, accompanying the common tasks of the province, on the basis of monitoring and surveying the practical work of budget management and collection in the province, at the mid-year meeting of 2019, the Provincial People's Council discussed and issued a Resolution on the results of monitoring the state budget collection work in the province. Accordingly, the Provincial People's Council clarified 7 achieved results, 15 shortcomings and proposed and recommended 19 issues to the Provincial People's Committee and branches, districts, cities, towns and establishments. Director of the Department of Finance Nguyen Xuan Hai affirmed that with the focus on drastic and synchronous implementation of the tasks set out in the Resolution of the Provincial People's Council, the budget collection work in the last 6 months of 2019 had a good growth rate, contributing to increasing the revenue for the whole year. Specifically, the budget revenue in 2019 reached 15,500.3 billion VND, reaching 114.8% of the estimate assigned by the Provincial People's Council and increasing by 10.2% over the same period in 2018.

Bearing the responsibility of realizing the Central Resolution and the province's policy on the arrangement of commune-level administrative units and the merger of blocks, hamlets and villages across the province, in 2019, the Provincial People's Council issued 4 resolutions on the arrangement of commune-level administrative units and the merger and renaming of blocks, hamlets and villages. Up to this point, many localities have completed the merger of blocks, hamlets and villages and when completed, the whole province will reduce 2,083 blocks, hamlets and villages. Regarding commune-level administrative units, 20 units will be reduced, from 480 to 460 communes, wards and towns.

"The resolutions issued by the Provincial People's Council have created a high consensus on awareness and action among cadres, party members and people for the goal of streamlining and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the organizational apparatus after the arrangement and merger."

Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Dien Chau district Nguyen Van Loi

Voters of Dien Chau district requested attention to instructions on the use of facilities after the merger of communes and hamlets. Photo: Mai Hoa

Besides deciding on the arrangement and merger, the Provincial People's Council also pondered and considered deciding on "post" merger issues.

The concern is shown from the discussion stage to build policies to considering options for building policies and deciding on policies. Monitoring the process of building support policies for cadres, civil servants, part-time workers and other redundant subjects due to the arrangement of commune-level administrative units, merging hamlets, blocks and villages in the province, in the period of 2019 - 2021 before submitting to the Provincial People's Council for decision, shows the responsibility and intelligence of the Standing Committee, Committees and delegates of the Provincial People's Council. When the Provincial People's Committee submitted this policy for comments to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, it only proposed that the beneficiaries be cadres, civil servants, part-time workers at the commune level who are redundant due to the arrangement and at the hamlet level, only support is provided for 7 positions: Party cell secretary; Head of hamlet, block, village; Police officer (concurrently deputy hamlet); Village team leader; Head of the People's Protection Team (concurrently deputy hamlet); Member of the People's Protection Team; Health worker of hamlet, block, village.

However, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council and some delegates of the Provincial People's Council in the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee have proposed and agreed to add 6 more supported positions, including: Head of the Front Work Committee, Secretary of the Youth Union, Head of the Association: women, farmers, veterans, and the elderly who are redundant due to the merger of hamlets. The draft policy, after being completed by the Provincial People's Committee, continued to be examined and supplemented by the Standing Committee and the Committees of the Provincial People's Council, and right at the 11th session of the Provincial People's Council, there were 12 more opinions from the Provincial People's Council delegates on the principles of policy making and the level of support, as affirmed by Comrade Nguyen Xuan Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council at the session: "The opinions of the Provincial People's Council delegates all show concern, responsibility, and closeness to reality so that the Provincial People's Council has an overall view and makes the wisest decisions".

The Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council supervises the settlement of voters' petitions in Quy Chau district. Photo: Mai Hoa

The sense of responsibility, for the benefit of voters and people, was also demonstrated by the Provincial People's Council through the decision to issue a resolution on a number of measures to improve the effectiveness of the work of preventing and combating human trafficking in the province; a resolution on financial support for labor contracts to serve the cooking of meals at public kindergartens in extremely disadvantaged communes; a resolution on the number and titles of non-professional workers at the commune level; allowance levels, concurrent allowance levels for non-professional workers at the commune level, in hamlets, blocks, and villages; compensation levels for people directly participating in the work of hamlets, blocks, and villages; support regime for non-professional workers who do not continue to work in Nghe An province; a resolution on reducing tuition fees for students in 45 mountainous communes in 6 plain districts...

It can be affirmed that the issues decided and issued by the Provincial People's Council in the past have contributed to promoting socio-economic development as well as solving many urgent problems, ensuring safety and social security in the province. And in the face of the province's rapid and sustainable development requirements, combined with the complicated developments of weather, climate change, occupational safety and hygiene, food safety, environmental pollution, etc., the Provincial People's Council needs to continue to improve its decision-making capacity to solve these problems.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council also said: Regardless of the immediate or long-term issues, small or large issues that affect people's lives and the overall development of the province, the Provincial People's Council must be responsible for making decisions and accompanying the solution. The unity and consensus from deciding on important issues of the province through the issuance of resolutions to agreeing on solutions to solve pressing problems is the basis and premise for promoting the socio-economic development of the province and better ensuring social security. To do so, it requires each delegate of the Provincial People's Council to strive to study, practice, improve professional capacity, initiative, creativity, responsibility and courage to effectively perform the tasks and powers according to the provisions of law.