Inadequacies in commune-level "one-stop" transaction centers

(Baonghean) - The image of the one-stop transaction department at the commune level in rural areas being deserted, only opening when there are people, or the one-stop department being arranged together with the professional office, so people have to wait, stand and sit in a mess are the shortcomings that we recorded during the recent inspection and supervision by the provincial interdisciplinary delegation on the implementation of Directive 17-CT/TU...

People wait for transactions at the one-stop shop of Chau Quang commune (Quy Hop). (Photo taken on July 25, 2014).

Present in Tam Thai commune, Tuong Duong district, because the headquarters is temporary, the office of the commune's judicial officers and the office are arranged together with the one-stop department. The room is only about 10 square meters wide but has 3 people, plus the document cabinet, so the space is very cramped, only enough for 2 rows of small chairs, people coming to do transactions have to stand and sit crowdedly. Mr. Vang Van Hung - Secretary of the Party Committee of Tam Thai commune said: Preparing for the new school year, the number of people coming to request confirmation of records for their children to go to school is high. Because there is no separate area for the one-stop transaction department, people have to wait and jostle. Although we know it is very inconvenient, due to objective conditions, we have to endure it.

It can be said that the working conditions at the one-stop shop in Tam Thai commune (Tuong Duong) are also a common image of the one-stop shops in poor communes in Ky Son, Tuong Duong or communes that do not have the conditions to build new headquarters... The common characteristics of these communes are that due to the temporary headquarters and cramped offices, the one-stop shop is also the workplace of judicial or land and construction professionals. Through discussions with leaders of some communes as well as staff on duty at the one-stop shop, it is known that the common arrangement also has the advantage of being able to handle the problem whenever people come. However, this arrangement also gives rise to shortcomings such as: it is difficult for staff to concentrate on their professional work, leading to low work efficiency; many staff on duty at the one-stop shop do not wear civil servant badges when working, so it is difficult to distinguish between citizens and civil servants, leading to difficulties in monitoring and evaluating. Communes with better conditions have arranged their own one-stop transaction department, but it is not certain that the effectiveness has been maximized. In reality, rural communes, especially some purely agricultural communes, have very few daily transactions, so it feels like building a one-stop department is a waste. Typically: Quynh Hau, Quynh Doi (Quynh Luu) communes or Thanh Ngoc (Thanh Chuong), Kim Thanh (Yen Thanh) communes... each month have only a few transactions mainly related to the land and construction sectors, so when there are only people on duty to process land records on the right day, there are people, but in other sectors there are no one-stop staff, it is not good, but if there are, it is... redundant.

In addition, the inspection showed that the service quality at the one-stop shop still has limitations that need to be overcome. According to the publicly posted work schedule, some communes arrange 2 sessions/week on Tuesday and Thursday, some communes arrange them in the afternoon every day and some communes arrange staff on duty all working days of the week. Through surprise inspections, it was found that most of the one-stop shop transaction departments at the commune level in rural areas are closed, do not serve in the morning, only serve in the afternoon and only open when there are people. In addition, the arrangement of staff on duty at the one-stop shop is not reasonable. According to regulations, provincial and district departments and one-stop shop transaction centers are arranged with 2-3 full-time staff and civil servants. However, at the commune level, there are usually only 2 people on duty concurrently, mainly judicial and land and construction staff. However, through inspections of some communes, when one of the two concurrent officers went on a business trip, some commune leaders were indifferent and did not assign a replacement, causing people who needed to transact to have to wait unreasonably. This is the reality that happened in Chau Quang commune (Quy Hop) or Quynh Van (Quynh Luu). Mr. Sam Ngoc Du - Secretary of Chau Quang commune Party Committee admitted: "The fact that the commune did not arrange for officers to replace the one-stop shop when an officer was absent (for training) was due to subjectivity, causing people to have to wait". Mr. Cao Cu Tan - Chief Inspector of the Department of Home Affairs, a member of the interdisciplinary inspection team, said: Immediately after discovering the above situation, the team asked the commune leaders and the People's Committees of Quy Hop and Quynh Luu districts to rectify it, at the same time draw lessons and give general reminders.

Mr. Pham Van Luong - Deputy Head of Administrative Reform Department, Department of Home Affairs added: Implementing the administrative reform roadmap and aiming to serve the people according to the Government's regulations, Nghe An is one of the provinces that has established a one-stop transaction system from the province to the commune level quite seriously and completely. At the provincial level, in addition to the one-stop center at the Provincial People's Committee Office, departments, district-level People's Committees, even large district-level focal points such as the Tax Department or District Police... all have their own one-stop transaction department, each department has 2-3 specialized staff on duty. Preliminary statistics show that 21 districts, cities and towns have 100 one-stop staff, of which 25 are assigned full-time; for commune, ward and town levels, each People's Committee has a one-stop department, usually assigning 2-3 people to hold concurrent positions, of which 1 leader of the People's Committee is in charge. In the context of the province's budget difficulties, this is a great effort of the province. Therefore, with the above shortcomings, after checking the operational efficiency of the one-stop transaction department, the Department of Home Affairs should promptly evaluate and summarize to have general instructions on the schedule of serving the people; on-duty time, arranging the one-stop transaction department to be most convenient for the people; in areas with high demand, more time and more people should be arranged; when the one-stop officer is absent, another officer must be arranged to replace him to handle the problem for the people. In addition, the service attitude and service quality at the "one-stop" also need to be improved so that people do not have to go through the "back door" or have to endure "one door with many locks" as people and businesses have reported...

Article and photos:Phuong Ha