Addressing the issue of being close to the people but not respecting them.

(Baonghean) - Being close to the people, respecting the people, and being deeply involved with the grassroots are qualities that every cadre and Party member must possess. However, currently, due to bureaucratic work styles and mindsets, some cadres and Party members still do not value these qualities. To meet the requirements of leadership and guidance, the province is implementing strong measures to rectify this situation. The requirement is that every cadre and Party member must avoid the phenomenon of being distant from the people and the grassroots; being close to the people but not being truly connected to them.

Being close to the people must be a quality of officials.

Quang Trung Ward is one of the central areas of Vinh City, with extremely vibrant commercial, service, and construction activities. In particular, many large construction projects have been, are being, and will be taking place in the area, requiring the relocation of a portion of the population.

Recognizing its position as the grassroots unit closest to the people, the Quang Trung Ward Party Committee has implemented numerous solutions to improve the effectiveness of the political system. To meet these requirements, the core issue is that the cadre must be truly attentive and understand the situation at the grassroots level.

Immediately after the Party Congress of the ward for the 2015-2020 term, the Ward Party Committee assigned members of the Party Committee to be in charge of specific blocks. The ward has 15 blocks, and the members of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee were assigned to oversee 5 clusters, each cluster containing 3 blocks. Cadres, civil servants, and employees of the government and mass organizations were also assigned to oversee the block committees and branches.

The solution considered a breakthrough in grassroots engagement in Quang Trung ward is that, on a monthly basis, Party committee officials must regularly visit the Party branch they are in charge of to both understand the situation and provide guidance on leadership and direction for the month preceding the Party branch meeting of that block.

This is also an important information channel for the Ward Party Committee to accurately assess the situation and incorporate it into the key leadership program for the month, through the issuance of separate monthly resolutions by the Ward Party Committee. For example, in March 2017, the Ward Party Committee's resolution identified two key tasks: successfully completing the self-criticism and criticism review plan in accordance with the spirit of Resolution No. 4 of the Central Committee (12th Congress) and beginning the steps to clear the land in the Quang Trung C area.

Leaders of Quynh Luu district visit a dairy farming model in Quynh Thang commune. Photo: Thanh Nhan

According to Dinh Xuan Truong, Secretary of the Quang Trung Ward Party Committee: “We attach great importance to dialogue, especially on issues closely related to people's lives such as land clearance and resettlement.”

"The construction of Zone C in Quang Trung will soon begin in blocks 6, 7, 8, and 9. We will first work with the block officials, then the Fatherland Front and other organizations will hold meetings with the branches; the ward will also hold meetings with all Party members residing there. This activity aims to disseminate policies on compensation and support for land clearance, and to record the thoughts and aspirations of the people. From there, the ward will organize a dialogue with all residents of the blocks regarding land clearance and resettlement in Zone C of Quang Trung."

In Quynh Luu district, in order to strengthen grassroots engagement, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee has developed a plan to survey economic models in each region of the district. Recently, local leaders surveyed models in the western part of the district. Following this, Quynh Luu organized a working group to study agricultural economic models in Thanh Hoa, Ha Nam, Hai Duong, etc., for comparison and verification.

This locality requires each member who visits the model farm to report on their findings and evaluation, and to propose and advise on building a development model that suits the district's capabilities and potential, as well as the people's investment capacity. Based on this, the district organizes discussions, evaluations, and lessons learned to find ways to address challenges and encourage people to develop their economy.

This is just one of many solutions demonstrating the spirit of understanding and closely engaging with the grassroots and improving the effectiveness of the political system's operation in Quynh Luu district. According to Le Thanh Nhan, Secretary of the Quynh Luu District Party Committee, during the review meeting in accordance with the spirit of Central Resolution 4 (12th Congress) of the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, one of the identified issues was the insufficient time spent visiting the grassroots and the lack of close engagement with the community.

Therefore, in the coming period, Quynh Luu will organize dialogues with Party branch secretaries. In fact, since the end of 2016, Quynh Luu has organized meetings and dialogues between members of the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, according to their assigned areas of responsibility, and Party branch secretaries at the grassroots level. However, to make this activity an annual event, the District Party Committee is assigning the District Party Committee's Organization Department to develop regulations for meetings between Standing Committee members in charge of specific areas and Party branch secretaries, and to implement them immediately in 2017; with the aim of potentially expanding this to a dialogue format between the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee and Party branch secretaries in clusters.

“During these dialogues, members of the District Party Committee Standing Committee will preside over the dialogue, with the participation of relevant departments to answer and resolve each issue raised; only matters outside the scope of the District Party Committee will be reported to the district for handling. Dialogue also serves as a channel for the district to monitor the commune level. Through the team of Party branch secretaries, we can uncover issues that the communes haven't reported, or issues that the communes have done but reported inaccurately,” the Secretary of the Quynh Luu District Party Committee emphasized.

Commune-level authorities organize dialogues with the people.

Through interactions with constituents by National Assembly and Provincial People's Council representatives, it is evident that many issues of concern and recommendations from voters could be resolved or disseminated to the people at the commune level. However, in reality, implementation has not met the set requirements. Therefore, especially for officials at the commune level, which is closest to the people, it is crucial to avoid the situation of being close to the people but not truly understanding them.

This is a requirement set forth by Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh and repeatedly emphasized during working sessions at the grassroots level. Recently, attending and directing the review meeting of the collective and individual members of the Vinh City Party Standing Committee in accordance with Central Resolution 4 (12th Congress), the Provincial Party Secretary stated that the Provincial Party Committee has directed that, every six months, the Fatherland Front Committees at the commune level throughout the province should preside over dialogue meetings between commune leaders and the people. At these meetings, commune leaders must report to the people on the socio-economic situation and engage in frank dialogue about local issues with the people.

Citizens contribute their opinions at a voter consultation meeting organized by the Vietnam Fatherland Front of Vinh City. (Photo: Archival image)

Regarding this matter, recently, the leaders of the Provincial People's Committee and the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee signed a cooperation program for 2017. The main focus of this program is to coordinate the organization of dialogue conferences between the Chairpersons of the People's Councils and People's Committees of communes and the people before each session of the People's Councils at the same level, twice a year, starting in 2017. This aims to promptly address pressing issues arising at the grassroots level and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the government apparatus at all levels.

Speaking with reporters, Chairman of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee Nguyen Van Huy said: “In early June 2017, a pilot dialogue conference will be held. Each district will select three communes based on criteria of good, average, and weak communes to hold the dialogue. Currently, the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee is developing a detailed plan to conduct training for district-level Fatherland Front committees, after which the district-level Fatherland Front committees will organize training for the commune-level committees.”

“During the pilot dialogues, working groups will monitor and score the specific results. Based on that, an evaluation and summary will be made, and mass dialogues will be organized in 480 commune-level localities throughout the province by the end of 2017. Nghe An is the first locality in the country to organize mass dialogues at the commune level in this format,” said Nguyen Van Huy, Chairman of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee.

Thanh Duy