Improve the effectiveness of public reception work

(Baonghean) - The establishment of citizen reception committees has promptly resolved people's problems and recommendations, increasing people's trust in state agencies. Thereby contributing to maintaining stability in political security and social order and safety.

On November 25, 2013, the Law on Citizen Reception was promulgated by the National Assembly and took effect from July 1, 2014. The Law on Citizen Reception has been issued with stricter regulations on the responsibility for receiving citizens; the rights and obligations of those who come to make complaints, denunciations (KNTC), recommendations, and reflections. The organization of citizen reception activities at citizen reception offices, citizen reception locations of agencies, organizations, and units and conditions to ensure citizen reception activities. Thanks to that, up to now, most of the KNTC cases in the province have been resolved promptly and thoroughly, creating people's trust in State agencies.

Officers of Vinh City People's Reception Committee listen to people's opinions.

In line with the contents of the Law on Citizen Reception, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee have issued many documents guiding and directing the work of receiving citizens, resolving citizens' complaints and denunciations; and organizing training conferences on the Law on Citizen Reception for key officials at all levels. In addition to establishing and putting into use the Provincial Citizen Reception Headquarters, the Provincial People's Committee has issued a plan to direct the establishment of regular Citizen Reception Committees at all levels and sectors. Currently, in many localities, regular Citizen Reception Committees have been established and are initially operating effectively.

Nghi Loc District is the first locality to establish a regular Citizen Reception Committee. On October 29, the District People's Committee issued a decision to establish a Citizen Reception Committee, consisting of 3 officials, including the Deputy Chief of Office and Head of the Citizen Reception Committee, a full-time Inspectorate officer and a part-time Internal Affairs officer. The headquarters and facilities are fully equipped, the citizen reception office is conveniently located, creating favorable conditions for people as well as officials to receive citizens. Mr. Tran Van Hai, Head of the Nghi Loc District Citizen Reception Committee, said: Previously, the citizen reception work was carried out periodically twice a month and was mainly assigned to the Inspectorate to directly handle the contents of citizens' recommendations, reflections and petitions, so the processing time was not fast. But now, everything is centralized and the Committee is responsible for connecting with functional departments and offices to speed up the processing time. Therefore, it has created favorable conditions for people as well as enhanced responsibility for functional departments and offices. Thanks to that, the number of citizens coming is spread out and not concentrated on 2 regular citizen reception days.

In terms of the number of petitions, Vinh City is the locality with the largest number, accounting for more than 1/3 of the total number of petitions and complaints in the province. On average, Vinh City receives 300 petitions and the number of citizen receptions per month, but since the establishment of the Citizen Reception Committee, the number has decreased to about 150. Mr. Chu Van Mai, Deputy Chief of Office, Head of the City Citizen Reception Committee, said: Previously, people often brought petitions to many departments and offices, making it difficult for specialized agencies and taking a long time to process. But with the Citizen Reception Committee, people can come at any time and the committee will quickly receive them, then transfer them to relevant units for processing. The Committee also regularly urges and supervises the processing, thus shortening the time and increasing the responsibility of relevant departments and offices. In addition, after receiving petitions and complaints, the Citizen Reception Committee staff will guide and explain enthusiastically to help people understand the provisions of the law, thereby limiting frustration and reducing prolonged complaints.

A typical example is the denunciation of Mr. VT (residing in Mau Don hamlet, Hung Loc commune, Vinh city). On October 30, Mr. T. went to the headquarters of the Vinh City Citizens' Reception Committee to submit a denunciation. In the petition, Mr. T. accused his son of appropriating a 500m2 plot of land in Nghi Phu commune by tricking him into making a land transfer document and forging his signature. After receiving the petition, the Vinh City Citizens' Reception Committee transferred the file to the Vinh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment. It found that Mr. T.'s denunciation was unfounded because Mr. T. voluntarily donated the land to his son in 2011. On December 18, the Citizens' Reception Committee invited Mr. T. to work. During the meeting, the representative of the Citizens' Reception Committee guided and explained to Mr. T. the legal regulations as well as analyzed that the denunciation would damage the father-son relationship.

After being informed and explained, Mr. T. agreed to withdraw the petition. Or in the case of the land dispute between Mr. P. D. T., Hamlet 6, Hung Chinh Commune, Vinh City, and his younger brother, Mr. P. D. H., regarding the land used to build a church. After receiving the petition and studying the relevant documents, the Citizen Reception Committee explained to Mr. T. that the land had been used by Mr. H. for many years and was recognized by the State. Mr. T. suing his younger brother would affect their blood relationship and be ridiculed by the neighbors. The Committee also instructed Mr. T. to discuss and discuss specifically with his family on the basis of reconciliation to find a common voice. Just a few days later, Mr. T. went to the Citizen Reception Committee to withdraw the petition and said that everything had been satisfactorily resolved.

Up to now, in the province, there have been more than 10 localities implementing the establishment of Citizen Reception Committees. Although there have been initial results, there are still difficulties that need to be resolved during the implementation process. Some localities are in the process of establishing Citizen Reception Committees that are not in accordance with regulations. According to regulations, the structure of the Citizen Reception Committee at the district level does not have a deputy head but only a head. This has invisibly caused many difficulties for the operation of the Citizen Reception Committees. Moreover, the number of staff of the Committee is still small compared to the actual needs. Mr. Chu Van Mai, Head of the Citizen Reception Committee of Vinh City, said: The regulation of not having a deputy head is unreasonable because when the head is absent, the documents are not approved in time, leading to delays in processing and resolving.

Furthermore, Vinh City is a unit with a large number of petitions, so having only 4 full-time officers is a small number, and the nature of citizen reception work is stressful, so if only one officer is absent, it will affect the overall operation of the Board. Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Tran Van Hai, Head of the Citizen Reception Board of Nghi Loc District, said: The Board only has one full-time officer, while the other 2 officers are holding concurrent positions; there are no specific instructions on policies for those working in citizen reception, the operating budget has not been approved and is waiting for instructions from superiors, causing difficulties in the operation process. Therefore, to improve the effectiveness of citizen reception work, it is necessary to adjust human resources to suit the actual situation.

Nguyen Hung