Nghe An: Creating a challenging environment to train officials.

Clearly define the mindset for rotation.

In September 2022, Comrade Lo Van Giap, Secretary of the Tuong Duong District Youth Union, was transferred to become Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Huu Khuong Commune. This is the most difficult area in the district, with difficult transportation and no road leading to the commune center. The commune's terrain is divided into three separate areas, accessible only by motorboat or on foot. Among these, Huoi Pung village lacks electricity and telephone signal, is isolated, and is at high risk of landslides.

With the mindset of "going to the grassroots to provide additional support to local officials and help people have a more prosperous life, while also gaining more knowledge and practical experience to grow," Comrade Lo Van Giap and the commune's officials and civil servants have implemented many specific solutions to promote socio-economic development in Huu Khuong.

Comrade Giap connected and attracted external resources to support the people in developing 170 fish cages on the lake; he also connected businesses to introduce cassava cultivation in Huu Khuong, providing seeds, guaranteeing product purchase, and opening access roads to the production area, creating new income sources for the people. Many models yield an average income of 60-80 million VND/household/year, with some households earning over 280 million VND/year. The goat farming model has also been recognized by the people as effective and has been replicated, with dozens of households participating. In addition, many households have participated in expanding the model of protecting and developing bitter bamboo shoots to approximately 17 hectares…

Many tasks were also effectively implemented by Comrade Lo Van Giap and the commune's Party committee and government. These included completing the concrete road connecting the commune center to National Highway 16; upgrading and strengthening infrastructure with 14 classrooms and a boarding house for primary and kindergarten students; and coordinating with forces to prevent illegal gold mining in the area. Administrative reform, from a disadvantaged unit, has risen to 7th place out of 17 communes and towns in Tuong Duong district.

Comrade Ho Sy Tung, formerly the Chief of the Office of the People's Council and People's Committee of Hoang Mai town, was transferred to become the Party Secretary and later elected to concurrently hold the position of Chairman of the People's Council of Quynh Thien ward from March 2020. Comrade Ho Sy Tung believes that "we must strive our utmost, doing everything we can for the people." After more than four years in the position of head of the Party committee, Comrade Ho Sy Tung, together with the leadership team, has successfully resolved many pressing issues in the area.

Notably, the work included clearing the polluting coal storage area in Thinh My ward; resolving long-standing obstacles to the construction of drainage ditches and street lighting along National Highway 1A; and addressing the weak electricity supply in the five northern wards of the ward by directly working with Nghe An Power Company to build and install transformer stations and upgrade the power lines.

The Party Committee also decisively directed the work of issuing land use right certificates to the people, rising from the bottom to the top two in the town. Comrade Tung also focused on directing and creating a comprehensive transformation of the urban landscape, including covering all roads with streetlights, building sidewalks, planting trees, and implementing a synchronized drainage system to ensure environmental hygiene…

Comrade Ho Sy Tung directed efforts to improve the capacity and effectiveness of organizations within the political system; especially to enhance the sense of responsibility of cadres and civil servants through clear assignment of tasks, serious and objective evaluation and ranking; and resolutely handle cadres and civil servants with low responsibility. For two consecutive years, 2020-2021, Quynh Thien ward had two civil servants rated as failing to complete their duties and two civil servants rated as completing their duties; including one civil servant who failed to complete their duties for two consecutive years and was removed from the system.

Thanks to that decisive action, the sense of responsibility of officials and civil servants in Quynh Thien ward has been enhanced; administrative reform work, which was ranked 10th among wards and communes, has now risen to the top 2. The Party Committee has been rated as having successfully completed its tasks for four consecutive years, including two years of outstanding performance.

Appointing key officials who are not from the local area.

One of the tasks set for the 2020-2025 term of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee's personnel work is to build a team of key leading officials with innovative thinking, a desire for development, the courage to think, act, and confront difficulties and challenges.

Party committees at all levels in the province focus on training and developing cadres in both theory and practice; with particular emphasis on practical skills and abilities, creating an environment to challenge and "temper" cadres through promoting the rotation and transfer of cadres to grassroots levels.

The Standing Committee issued Regulation No. 21, dated May 12, 2023, on cadre rotation and Plan No. 235, dated March 28, 2024, on cadre rotation for the period 2024-2025. Accordingly, Party committees at all levels have intensified cadre rotation, linking it with the placement of key cadres who are not from the local area, in order to both meet immediate political tasks and train and cultivate a long-term cadre pool for each level.

Tuong Duong District, a unit recognized for its effective implementation of this work, has demonstrated diversity in personnel rotation, ranging from the district level to the grassroots, from the grassroots level to the district level, and horizontal rotation between district-level units and between communes. Specifically, over the past four years (2021-2024), the district has rotated and transferred four district-level officials to grassroots levels; three officials from grassroots levels to the district level; and six officials from one commune to another.

Notably, in Tuong Duong province, 100% of the communes and towns (17 units) have Party committee secretaries who are not from the local area; 16 out of 17 communes have chairmen, vice-chairmen of the People's Committee, and permanent deputy secretaries of the Party committee who are not from the local area, totaling 19 people.

Comrade Mac Van Nguyen, Standing Committee member and Head of the Organization Department of Tuong Duong District Party Committee, stated: The placement of key officials who are not from the local area will avoid being influenced or bound by kinship and friendship relationships within the locality. Therefore, in resolving issues, they will be more democratic, objective, and fair, overcoming parochialism, closed-mindedness, personal feelings, and favoritism. On the other hand, the psychology of transferred officials also seeks to affirm their role, leading to more decisive and focused implementation of political tasks, resulting in clearer achievements. The working style of some transferred officials has contributed to a positive change in the working style and methods of grassroots officials, helping to strengthen the political system from the district to the grassroots level.

In Hoang Mai town, since the beginning of the term, 5 officials have been transferred from the town level to the grassroots level (currently, 5 out of 10 wards and communes have leaders who are not from the local area); 6 officials have been transferred from the grassroots level to the town level; and 24 officials have been transferred and appointed horizontally between town-level units. In addition to transferring officials within its jurisdiction, the town has also received 2 officials transferred from the province to assume leading positions in the Party committee and government.

According to Ho Van Cay, Head of the City Party Committee's Organization Department: The two officials transferred from the province to the city have made a significant impact with their sense of responsibility and creativity in leadership and guidance: being close to the grassroots, being close to the people, listening to the people, and caring for the people's lives and legitimate needs; in resolving issues: clearly defining responsibilities and pursuing them until completion. Thanks to this, the city has undergone many transformations in its urban landscape and in attracting investment with dozens of projects. Hoang Mai 1 Industrial Park is now fully occupied, and Hoang Mai 2 Industrial Park, although only having an investment plan for infrastructure, has already attracted two investors with a total investment of over 500 million USD.

At the provincial level, from the beginning of the term to July 2024, the Provincial Party Standing Committee rotated 22 cadres; including 14 from the province to the district level; 3 from the district to the province level; 3 from one sector to another; and 1 from one district to another. Notably, at the district level, key cadres were appointed who were not from the local area, including the Party Secretary, the Standing Deputy Party Secretary, and the Chairman of the People's Committee; in 15 out of 21 units, the Party Secretary was not from the local area.

Although the accompanying policies for rotated officials remain inadequate, especially for those rotated to remote areas with difficult living and commuting conditions, this area has seen positive changes. Based on Regulation No. 21, dated May 12, 2023, of the Standing Committee of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee on the rotation of officials, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Department of Internal Affairs to advise on the development of a resolution to be submitted to the Provincial People's Council for promulgation, stipulating policies to support rotated leading and managerial officials and civil servants in the province.