Confusion in the operation of commune-level People's Council committees.

(Baonghean) - According to the Law on Organization of Local Government in 2015, for the first time in the 2016-2021 term, the People's Council at the commune level established a Legal Affairs Committee and an Economic and Social Affairs Committee. However, in addition to initial achievements, the activities of these committees currently reveal some limitations.

Work and study at the same time.

After their establishment, the Legal Affairs Committee and the Economic and Social Affairs Committee of the People's Council of Nam Loc Commune, Nam Dan District, term III, 2016-2021, conducted reviews of reports, proposals, and resolutions submitted at the second session of the People's Council, term III. In November 2016, the Legal Affairs Committee of the People's Council of the commune, consisting of 5 members, including 2 with professional degrees in Law, also supervised the operation of the commune's one-stop service center regarding the one-stop service center's duty roster, citizen feedback on the attitude and service style of officials and civil servants, and the time taken to process administrative procedures for organizations and individuals.

Through monitoring, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Commune People's Council has concluded and evaluated the achievements and limitations of the commune's one-stop service center in order to rectify its operations. However, according to Mr. Pham Quoc Tuan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Head of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Commune People's Council, the committee's activities are still somewhat disorganized, requiring a learning-by-doing approach. In particular, the review of legal documents is very difficult because the committee members lack expertise, experience, and the methods for conducting oversight.

Members of the Legal Affairs Committee and the Socio-Economic Committee of the People's Council of Hung Dao commune (Hung Nguyen district) supervise the implementation of the new rural development program.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Council of Nam Thai commune, stated: "We encountered difficulties right from the drafting of the operational regulations, the development of plans, and the annual monitoring outlines for the committees. The law lacks specific guidance, making implementation very difficult for local authorities. Some regulations regarding monitoring procedures are unclear, vague, and inconsistent. We propose that specific guidance be provided on the operation of the People's Council committees at the commune level."

Similarly, in Hung Nguyen district, the establishment of the Legal and Socio-Economic Committees under the Law on Organization of Local Government has been carried out in accordance with regulations. However, the activities of these committees have not been extensive and their effectiveness has not been high. Besides reasons such as: committee members lacking experience and capacity in verification and supervision, the fact that most members hold multiple positions makes it difficult for them to carry out the work of the People's Council in a specialized manner. For example, the Legal Committee of the People's Council of Hung Dao commune has 5 members, with the head being the Standing Committee of the Party Committee, the deputy head being the Vice Chairman of the Fatherland Front of the commune; and of the 3 members, 2 hold other positions, and only 1 is a retired soldier.

The Supervisory Delegation of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council inspected the handling of petitions from voters in Dang Son commune.

Recently, the Legal Affairs Committee of the People's Council of Hung Dao commune has conducted supervision on two issues related to the implementation of criteria for building new rural areas and the activities of the commune's police and military committees. However, according to Ms. Luu Thi Dung – Standing Member of the Commune Party Committee and Head of the Legal Affairs Committee of Hung Dao commune, “I have just taken on the roles of Standing Member of the Commune Party Committee, Head of the Legal Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Inspection Committee, and Head of the Mass Mobilization Block, so I face many difficulties. Besides my limited experience, due to holding multiple positions, the time I can dedicate to the committee's activities is not truly adequate. I have to make a real effort to arrange my time and work for the committee's activities.”

Just hold it in your hand, and guide it.

The quality of operation of the Legal and Socio-Economic Committees is a real concern and worry for those working in these elected bodies. In Nam Dan district, Ms. Tran Thi Hien - Vice Chairman of the District People's Council - assessed: The current state of operation of the committees of the commune-level People's Councils is still limited, and their effectiveness is not yet clear. Therefore, although People's Councils at all levels operate independently, the Nam Dan District People's Council organizes year-end rankings of grassroots units to evaluate performance and create motivation for them to strive for improvement. In early December 2016, the District People's Council will hold a meeting with the People's Councils of the communes in the district.

“This time, we will invite the chairpersons of the commune People's Councils (previously only the vice-chairpersons were invited) to gather information from the grassroots level, listen to the difficulties and obstacles encountered in implementing the Law on Local Government at the grassroots level, especially regarding the activities of the commune People's Council committees, in order to provide support and help the grassroots overcome difficulties; to bring the activities of the commune-level People's Council committees into a more orderly system, especially to improve the quality of their verification and supervision activities, gradually making them more systematic and effective. At the same time, through this, the district People's Council will select high-quality, focused, and key topics for questioning at the year-end session,” Ms. Hien said.

The Legal Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Council conducts on-site work.

In Hung Nguyen district, faced with the perceived "unfamiliarity" in the activities of the committees after their establishment, the locality organized training for all People's Councils of communes and towns; in addition, they invited the Provincial People's Council to train the heads and deputy heads of the commune-level People's Council committees; and sent out guidelines on verification and supervision procedures for practical application. "We will strengthen the organization of training for members of these committees, focusing on specific thematic training. Besides that, the district also requests the Provincial People's Council to continue implementing training programs to equip them with more knowledge and improve the quality of their activities at the commune-level People's Councils," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam, Vice Chairman of the Hung Nguyen District People's Council.

Reporters' Team