Nghe An: Research on the mechanism of staffing and financial contracting at the commune level

Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation chaired the meeting. Comrades Nguyen Xuan Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Van Thong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; comrades in the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and leaders of a number of provincial departments, branches and organizations attended. Photo: Mai Hoa

According to the draft project reported by the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Board, for the task of restructuring the organizational apparatus, 100% of agencies and units are required to reorganize and streamline at least 1 affiliated specialized department or office. Thus, it is expected that the entire province will reduce at least 199 departments, offices and equivalent organizations under agencies and units.

The draft also proposes to merge a number of agencies and units with similar functions and tasks at the provincial level. Specifically: merging the Provincial Investment Promotion and Support Center, the Tourism Promotion Center (under the Department of Tourism) and the Enterprise Support and Development Center (under the Department of Planning and Investment) into one center; merging the Provincial Party Committee of the Provincial Agencies and the Enterprise Party Committee; management boards at the Departments and branches, etc.

The project also requires ensuring that the streamlining rate by 2021 reaches at least 10% of the assigned staff compared to 2015, including an increase in the reduction rate of the government sector; at the same time, suspending the promotion and appointment of officials during the review and reorganization of the apparatus, including not implementing the appointment process of officials of agencies and units that are expected to merge or consolidate.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council said that it is necessary to review and study the streamlining of the team with intermediate and elementary qualifications in a number of fields and positions. Photo: Mai Hoa

Streamlining intermediate and elementary level staff?

Based on the core contents of the draft project, at the meeting, comrades in the Provincial Party Standing Committee and leaders of a number of departments and branches gave their opinions, put forward a number of viewpoints, principles and directions for implementation.

Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Son said that reorganizing the apparatus, streamlining the payroll and restructuring the staff and civil servants is very difficult but must be done and requires determination and drastic measures to implement.

Citing the number of cadres, civil servants and public employees in the province, which is 12,700 with intermediate qualifications and 1,389 with elementary qualifications, the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee expressed whether this team can meet the current requirements of the task.

Therefore, according to comrade Nguyen Xuan Son, it is necessary to review which fields and positions this team is focusing on, from which to research and consider whether to focus on streamlining the staff in this team or not?!

The second issue, according to comrade Nguyen Xuan Son, is the need to pay attention to analyzing the professional training structure of the staff in the Party, mass organizations, and government and have a plan to shift the professional structure appropriately, meeting the requirements of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the apparatus.

Regarding the requirement to streamline the payroll, according to the draft project, it is implemented according to the principle of recruiting no more than 50% of the number of people being streamlined. However, according to the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, for the civil servant force, especially civil servants in the Education and Training sector, the rate of teaching is regulated, so is it appropriate and should we implement a separate principle for the civil servant force?

Comrade Cao Thi Hien - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council suggested that attention should be paid to streamlining the payroll for commune-level civil servants. Photo: Mai Hoa

Agreeing with the opinion of the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Cao Thi Hien - Member of the Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council suggested streamlining the staff in the Education and Training sector according to the plan of merging schools in a vertical system, meaning that 1 school has many levels of education in the same locality; at the same time, arranging concurrently some administrative positions in schools such as equipment staff, accountants, clerks, medical staff, etc.

Comrade Cao Thi Hien also said that although the spirit of Resolution 39/NQ-TW of the Politburo and Decree 108 of the Government did not mention much about streamlining the payroll at the commune level, in reality, the number of commune-level civil servants is currently large; especially there are positions and titles that are assigned to 2-3 people, which is a huge waste. Therefore, it is advisable to temporarily stop recruiting commune-level civil servants to review, coordinate, harmonize, and streamline this force.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Minh Thong pointed out the current reality in some sectors such as Agriculture - Rural Development and Transport - Communications, there are many management boards, such as the Agriculture sector currently has more than 10 management boards.... Therefore, it is required to reduce the number of focal points, ensuring that each sector only has 1 - 2 management boards.

Research on the mechanism of staffing and finance at the commune level

Concluding this content, comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, assessed that the project drafting team had been very meticulous in the construction process.

The Provincial Party Secretary also raised and agreed on a number of viewpoints, principles, orientations, and requirements for reorganizing the apparatus, streamlining the payroll, and restructuring the staff and civil servants in the province, both to meet the spirit of Resolution No. 18/NQ-TW, dated October 27, 2017 of the Party Central Committee, and to solve practical problems that are arising.

The head of the Provincial Party Committee stated that the contents and tasks that are clear should be implemented immediately, and those that are unclear should be studied and piloted. In the immediate future, it is necessary to deploy the arrangement and merger of the Office of the National Assembly Delegation and the Office of the Provincial People's Council; between the two agencies of the Provincial Party Committee of the Provincial Agencies and the Provincial Party Committee of the Provincial Enterprises.

Transaction at the one-stop shop of Hung Binh ward (Vinh city). Photo: Thanh Duy

The Provincial Party Secretary also emphasized: The reorganization of the apparatus and reduction of focal points must be implemented comprehensively in the Party, mass organizations, government, and internal affairs agencies. In each block, it is necessary to identify a pilot agency for synchronous implementation on a large scale. For example, the Party block starts from the Provincial Party Organization Committee; the government block starts from the Department of Home Affairs; the district level includes: Vinh City, Cua Lo Town, Dien Chau District, Con Cuong.

The Provincial Party Secretary also agreed to implement the order of provincial level first, then district and commune levels. Particularly for commune level, it is necessary to study to have a mechanism for staffing and financial contracting, in order to reduce staffing and improve the operational efficiency of the commune level apparatus.

"We should not be too mechanical and require a minimum 10% reduction mechanically for all agencies and units, but should base it on the reality of each field, agency, and unit," Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh emphasized when referring to the implementation of streamlining the payroll.