How to make the cold face of the "servant of the people" smile?

Nearly 30 years ago, I started working in a government agency. At that time, every time it was time to receive my salary, I was very shy, most afraid of the coldness of the people who held the "treasurer's keys" in the agency. I went to receive the fruits of my labor, but the feeling of "asking" for something that did not belong to me always haunted me.

Now, after 30 years, almost everything has changed a lot, even in my office there is no longer a trace of that old way of working. Especially in recent years, when the Government and Ministries have been actively directing the construction of a modern, public, transparent, effective and efficient administrative apparatus, the quality of administrative procedure implementation has been significantly improved.

But in reality, the implementation of the Government's policies and directions has not been as expected. At the National Assembly sessions, most recently at the conference of the Government's Steering Committee for Administrative Reform, the Prime Minister frankly pointed out a number of shortcomings and inadequacies in administrative reform.

It emphasized that the service attitude of some officials, especially those in contact with the people, is still inadequate, not dedicated and convincing. Some agencies have not implemented the citizen reception regime regularly, and have not had dialogue to resolve the concerns and difficulties of the people and businesses.

The situation of citizens and businesses asking questions but State agencies not responding, remaining silent for a long time still exists. Administrative procedures in some areas are cumbersome, there is still a situation of cutting off parent licenses but giving birth to child licenses, complicated administrative procedures, along with unofficial costs...

As the head of the Government commented, it is not difficult to see somewhere in agencies and offices the cold, indifferent faces and sharp, even curt words of the "servants of the people".Most visible are in ward/commune level administrative agencies, in hospitals, and in places where administrative procedures are handled in public agencies.

Recently, I took my child to a reputable public hospital in Hanoi for a health insurance check-up. At the check-in counters, it is rare for family members and patients to see smiles or cheerful faces from the reception staff.

As for me, I have been a journalist for more than 20 years, met all kinds of people, but when I meet the officials here, I still feel very… shy, then I feel sorry for the people from the countryside who come to Hanoi "strange in a strange land and strange in a strange place".

Indifferent faces, cold, blank answers… are used quite commonly to communicate with patients and their families.

At administrative procedure gates, especially at the ward/commune level, although the attitude towards receiving people has improved a lot compared to previous years, there are still many places where, when people come to do procedures, the "servants of the people" are chatting animatedly, but when they see someone coming to "beg", they suddenly change their attitude to a cold, serious one.

Looking at the way many people are shy and timid when presenting their problems, we can see how "afraid" people are to come here.

These are just a few of the typical places where people can easily see the coldness of the civil servants working with the people. Many cases of indifference and apathy towards the people have been reported by the press in recent times, making it even clearer that there are still many shortcomings in the civil service culture.

The case of people asking for death certificates for their relatives five or seven times went to the police, hospitals, etc. but still could not be resolved.Most recently, just a few days ago, when a doctor working at the Ho Chi Minh City Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital was chased and beaten by a patient's family right at the hospital, it was revealed that this doctor had extorted money from many patients, even children with cancer, they did not spare him...

As for many businesses, including foreign businesses, they welcome and appreciate the policies and guidelines of the Government and localities and wish to invest and do business, but the thing they are most afraid of is the paperwork. The procedures take a lot of time, and they even have to pay bribes, envelopes, etc. to get the job done.

According to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, policies and procedures for businesses are highly appreciated internationally, but up to 51% of Vietnamese businesses are not satisfied with the implementation of policies by civil servants.

If we only consider the "cold faces" from a narrow perspective of a citizen or a business, the damage and consequences may be insignificant, but on a general level, they are greatly affecting the overall development of the economy and the country, causing many people, especially international friends, to have an ugly view of our country's public administration.

In recent years, the Government and ministries and localities have given many strong instructions to implement a civilized, modern public administration system that serves the people, which has improved many shortcomings and significantly reduced the cold, indifferent faces in public offices.

Recently, the Prime Minister approved the Public Service Culture Project to enhance professionalism in building public service culture, contributing to forming a standard behavioral style and working manner of cadres, civil servants and public employees.

To effectively implement the Government's policy, there must be mandatory mechanisms and sanctions in agencies and offices, especially those that have to interact with people and businesses a lot...

To do this, first of all, it is necessary to have the participation of the people. Only when there is feedback from the people, the "servants of the people" will know how far they are carrying out their responsibility to serve the people, and from there, can they have effective solutions.

Second, in places where people are received, it is necessary to have a form of supervision, such as cameras, feedback boxes, hotlines, etc., so that "servants of the people" who want to harass, extort or be insensitive to people will also feel the need to correct themselves. Public agencies should use this as a criterion to evaluate cadres to streamline the payroll and apparatus every year.

Along with that, in places where there are phenomena of harassment, indifference, and apathy towards the people, it is necessary to assign responsibility to each individual and leader. Reality has proven that where the Party committee, government, and individual leader are exemplary, and give decisive, specific, and profound direction, there will be discipline and better results.

It is time to vigorously implement "public service culture", because it is not only the task and responsibility of civil servants but also for the development and integration of the country./.