Many commune officials have to "sit around doing nothing and drinking water"

Currently, in Tien Giang province, there is a situation where many commune-level officials have to “sit around doing nothing”. There is a situation where one field of work has many officials, civil servants, and employees in charge, which not only wastes resources but also increases the salary fund to “feed” these officials.

Decision of Cho Gao District People's Committee (Tien Giang) to transfer 1 vice chairman of the commune People's Committee to work as a cultural civil servant.

Implementing Official Dispatch No. 1044 dated March 18, 2016 of Tien Giang Provincial People's Committee on the number of Vice Chairmen of Commune People's Committees when implementing the Law on Organization of Local Government in 2015, from the middle of this year, all type II communes in the province must reduce 1 Vice Chairman of Commune People's Committee. Accordingly, if previously, these communes had 2 Vice Chairmen, now there is only 1 person.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Party Committee member, People's Council delegate of My Duc Dong commune, Cai Be district, was formerly Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee. Since the middle of this year, he has been transferred to work as an office worker in charge of the commune's New Rural Area. However, because he was not assigned a specific job, he had no work, just "sitting around and drinking water"; in the afternoon, he stayed at home or wandered down to the hamlet, meeting people to drink tea. Although he was very idle and received a normal salary, he seemed frustrated because he had no work to do.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh shared: “It has been a month since I was assigned by the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee to work in the Office in charge of new rural construction. In general, I go down there in the morning to sit for a bit and then have nothing to do. I have to go around or go to this or that department to talk, but there is nothing to do. It is a waste, but people do not assign me anything to do. I myself work in the morning and sometimes I do not go back in the afternoon because there is nothing to do.”

In Binh Ninh commune, Cho Gao district, there are currently 3 social and cultural officials. One of them is in charge of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; the other is in charge of building cultural life. Mr. Le Van Chat, former Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, has just been transferred to be in charge of managing the community education center, managing the martyrs' cemetery and vocational training. These are irregular activities, so this official is very leisurely.

Illustration photo.

Through discussions with the Party Committees and authorities of the second-class communes, the reduction of one Vice Chairman is directed and appointed by the superiors. The assignment of tasks is carried out by the Party Committee and People's Committee of the commune. The reason why most of the Vice Chairmen of the People's Committee of the commune have been transferred to become Cultural Civil Servants is to create conditions for them to have a fixed position (in the state payroll) to enjoy social insurance, health insurance, etc. Because after the Party Congress at the commune level, other key positions have been stabilized, only the deputy positions and the Chairmen of Associations and Unions are outside the fixed position or are part-time officials.

Mr. Phan Van Tam, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee - Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Ninh Commune, Cho Gao District, expressed: "A commune has 3 cultural and social officials, this is a general mechanism regulated by the district and Tien Giang province that we must comply with. Previously, there were 2 cultural and social officials. Because the district arranged it like this: any officials that cannot be arranged and the district's functional departments are vacant, the district will transfer them, and for those officials who are qualified and suitable for that function, the district will ask the province for permission to arrange them there."

In Quon Long commune, Cho Gao district, there are up to 4 civil servants and employees in charge of the social and cultural fields at the same time; including 3 cultural civil servants and 1 contract employee doing poverty reduction work. When asked about the specific tasks of each person, Mr. Nguyen Van Quan, Deputy Secretary and Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said he could not remember exactly what they were assigned to do. More redundantly, Mr. Dinh Quoc Khanh, former Vice Chairman of the Quon Long Commune People's Committee, who transferred to become a cultural civil servant, had the main task of "leading" the remaining 2 civil servants.

Mr. Le Van Dan, Deputy Secretary of the Quon Long Commune Party Committee, said that transferring Mr. Khanh here is only temporary, and that he will be appointed as Chairman of the Commune Veterans Association in 2017.

“The above generally arranges things like that, so I here arrange and assign tasks to this guy, but I don’t know. The other day, the Executive Committee meeting agreed to assign this guy to be in charge of the cultural sector to lead the other two. Now he is in charge of the cultural sector to go on campaigns, because the work here is a bit free.”

The implementation of Official Letter 1044 of the People's Committee of Tien Giang province, to implement the Law on Organization of Local Government, reducing the number of Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee by 1 is correct. However, it is important to consider, arrange and rotate these officials appropriately, according to their professional qualifications and strengths. The fact that many commune-level officials and civil servants in Tien Giang are currently redundant, leading to the situation of "sitting around doing nothing" needs to be paid attention to and overcome by Party committees and local authorities at all levels. From there, build a truly streamlined, clean and strong grassroots government.

According to VOV