Overcoming bureaucracy and distance from the people

Scene of the dialogue between the Party Committee and the government of Nam Dan district with the people. Photo: Mai Hoa

Overcoming bureaucracy

In recent years, the dialogue activities between the heads of grassroots authorities (Chairmen of People's Councils and People's Committees at the commune level) and the people have been chaired and implemented by the Fatherland Front Committees at all levels throughout the province, becoming an annual activity. In 2018 alone, the whole province organized 826 dialogues. Accordingly, many issues related to the management and operation responsibilities of grassroots authorities in land management, such as selling land without authority, illegal construction of houses on agricultural land, forestry land, dike corridors, traffic safety corridors, slow issuance and change of land use right certificates; responsibilities in managing and directing economic development as well as implementing local political tasks, implementing policies and regulations and public ethics of grassroots officials and civil servants, etc., were frankly raised by the people.

And importantly, according to comrade Vo Van Tien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee, the government cannot avoid the issues raised by the people but must respond and resolve them publicly under the supervision of the people; thereby limiting prolonged frustrations, while at the same time meeting the aspirations and wishes of the people more promptly. In particular, the leadership, direction and management capacity of the grassroots government is also improved; overcoming the subjective, voluntaristic, imposing, administrative orders in direction and management and the bureaucracy and distance from the people of cadres and civil servants - two of the manifestations of degradation that the Resolution of the Central Committee 4 (term XII) pointed out.

In addition to grassroots dialogue activities, at the district level, many localities have also paid attention to dialogue work to resolve specific issues and cases. For example, in Anh Son district, in 2018, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee conducted two dialogues with key grassroots officials, including Party Committee Secretaries, People's Council Chairmen, People's Committees at the commune level and Party cell secretaries, block and hamlet chiefs in the entire district. Thereby, many issues related to the Party and State's policies and guidelines associated with the implementation of tasks at the grassroots level were informed, clarified and oriented by district leaders to the grassroots level in terms of direction and leadership focus.

That is the implementation of the Central Resolution 6 (term XII), associated with the arrangement, assignment as well as the personnel policy; investment policies for economic development, new rural construction; investment in building socio-economic infrastructure; coordination between district-level departments and offices in promoting the conversion of crop structure, building new economic models, the progress of granting land use right certificates and slow settlement of construction works...

In addition to the large-scale dialogue, the leaders of Anh Son district also organized 4 more thematic dialogues in specific areas. Accordingly, the chosen topic for dialogue was the granting of land use right certificates to households in the district - an issue that many voters were interested in and expressed their concerns about, and the remaining 3 dialogues were organized in 3 communes of Thach Son, Khai Son and Hoi Son - where there are many issues that need to be focused on and resolved.

Officials of Quynh Dien commune (Quynh Luu) directly dialogue with people about the policy of opening rural traffic roads. Photo: Mai Hoa

Comrade Nguyen Khac Xuan - Chairman of the Inspection Committee of Anh Son District Party Committee, said: “In the dialogues, the existing problems, limitations and shortcomings were clearly identified with specific causes and responsibilities of each organization and individual to urge for resolution after the dialogue. For example, after the dialogue on work at the level (organized in early 2018), the District Party Committee established working groups headed by members of the Standing Committee to directly go to each facility with a low rate of granting certificates to direct and remove difficulties and obstacles; especially increasing the responsibility of the Party Committee and local authorities in this issue, avoiding the situation of leaving it to land officials or relying on consulting units. Thanks to that, the results of granting land use right certificates to households in the last 6 months of 2018 were equal to the results of the previous 2 years combined.

Similarly, through dialogue in Hoi Son commune, many pressing issues of the people related to the backlog of policies; land management, basic construction investment and implementation of cadre procedures that are not strictly ensured were clarified and resolved afterwards, creating trust for the people.

In addition to resolving pressing issues, according to the Chairman of the Inspection Committee of Anh Son District Party Committee, through the dialogue, a number of violations were also discovered, associated with handling the responsibilities of a number of related organizations and individuals, contributing to preventing violations and raising the sense of responsibility of cadres and civil servants at all levels and strengthening people's trust in the Party Committee and government.

Expanding dialogue activities

Dialogue is one of the measures in the leadership, direction and administration process of Party committees and authorities at all levels to enhance understanding, sharing and consensus for common development goals, ensuring harmony of interests between the State and the people; at the same time promoting positive aspects, adjusting, supplementing and overcoming limitations and shortcomings in leadership, direction and administration, and even preventing violations among cadres and civil servants.

Dialogue activities in the province have been specified by the Provincial Party Standing Committee through Decision No. 2924/QD-TU, dated August 30, 2012, promulgating the "Regulations on contact and dialogue with the people", along with many subsequent Official Dispatches, and most recently Official Dispatch No. 4063-CV/TU, dated January 7, 2019, on Directing dialogue with the people. Accordingly, this Official Dispatch requires the district, city, and town Party Committees directly under the Provincial Party Committee, in addition to continuing to direct the implementation of dialogue conferences between the heads of grassroots authorities and the people, to organize dialogues between the heads of district-level Party Committees and authorities and the people.

It is necessary to expand dialogue activities by field and sector to thoroughly resolve issues in a public manner.

Dialogue between the Standing Committee of Do Luong District Party Committee and the grassroots core team. Photo: Mai Hoa

Along with expanding dialogue activities at the district level, in the process of approaching the grassroots, we have noted opinions that there are shortcomings, concerns, and inadequacies that arise at the sectoral level, and it is necessary to set forth dialogue requirements to thoroughly resolve the issues in a public manner "three sides, one word", avoiding the situation where one level changes to another, one sector blames another sector without anyone taking responsibility to resolve the issues.

For example, for the Industry and Trade sector, it is necessary to organize dialogues to find solutions to the problem of returning the rural low-voltage grid or dialogues to solve the problem of coordination between the government and investors of hydropower projects and between hydropower projects, ensuring the safe operation and regulation of reservoirs during the rainy and flood season. Or for the Natural Resources and Environment sector, it is necessary to organize dialogues between the parties to remove difficulties and obstacles, speed up the process of granting certificates of land use rights and house ownership rights in apartment projects and urban areas. It is also a dialogue to promote the completion of procedural documents of approved investment projects and speed up the implementation of projects after completing the procedures...

All levels and sectors need to pay attention to improving the quality of dialogues and avoiding formalities in organization.

Along with strengthening and expanding dialogue activities, according to Vice Chairman of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee Vo Van Tien, all levels and sectors need to pay attention to the quality of dialogues and avoid formalities in organization. In particular, there must be a spirit of receptiveness, serious acceptance and drastic handling of issues raised in dialogues that are deemed to be within the authority and responsibility of one's level, "avoid beating the drum and abandoning the stick"; for issues beyond one's authority, recommendations should be made and resolved together with superiors.

Officials of Son Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district learn about the difficulties in production of local people to promptly resolve them. Photo: Minh Chi