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 the Party Congress 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 resolve urgent issues, 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 exercised by the Provincial People's Council mainly through annual meetings by 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 to implement 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 of 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 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 revenue for the whole year. Specifically, the 2019 budget revenue 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 rearranging commune-level administrative units and merging blocks, hamlets and villages across the province, in 2019, the Provincial People's Council issued 4 resolutions on rearranging commune-level administrative units and merging and renaming blocks, hamlets and villages. Up to this point, many localities have completed the merging 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 and guidance 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 policy building options and making policy decisions. Monitoring the process of building support policies for cadres, civil servants, non-professional workers and other subjects redundant 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, non-professional workers at the commune level redundant due to the arrangement and at the hamlet level, only support is given to 7 positions: Party cell secretary; Head of hamlet, block, village; Police officer (concurrently deputy hamlet); Village team leader; Head of the civilian protection team (concurrently deputy hamlet); Member of the civilian protection team; Village and village health worker.

However, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council and a number of Provincial People's Council delegates 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 Provincial People's Council delegates on the principles of policy development and support levels, 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 can have a comprehensive view and make the most informed decisions".

The Provincial People's Council Standing Committee 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 particularly difficult 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, hamlet, block, and village levels; compensation levels for people directly participating in the work of hamlets, blocks, and villages; support regime for non-professional workers who no longer 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 requirements for rapid and sustainable development, combined with the complex 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 resolve them.

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 big 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 in deciding important issues of the province through the issuance of resolutions to agreeing on solutions to solve pressing problems is the basis and premise to promote the socio-economic development of the province and better ensure social security. To do so, it requires each delegate of the Provincial People's Council to make efforts to study, practice, improve professional capacity, initiative, creativity, responsibility and courage to effectively perform tasks and powers according to the provisions of law.