Merging departments and branches: How to solve leadership redundancy?

Mr. Bui Si Loi: Merging departments is a job that affects people, organizations, apparatus and interests of civil servants.

Agreeing with the policy of merging a number of departments with similar functions and tasks according to the draft Decree of the Government that is being surveyed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, most opinions are concerned about the rearrangement of redundant labor.

There is a policy to support surplus labor.

The policy of merging departments is highly appreciated because it helps streamline focal points, strengthen the State management function in many sectors and fields to avoid overlap and reduce the cumbersome apparatus.

Mr. Minh Thai in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City commented: “This is a very positive policy of our Party and State. The Government needs to soon issue a decision to stabilize the operating apparatus of agencies as well as the ideology of civil servants.”

Clever arrangement of surplus labor after merger will avoid instability.

Affirming that this is a correct policy, Mr. Bui Si Loi - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Social Affairs stated his opinion: Merging departments is a job that affects people, organizations, apparatus and the interests of civil servants, so we must do it carefully, openly and transparently, ensuring high consensus among organizations, cadres, civil servants and state employees. When merging, we must base on the functions, tasks and organizational structure of the departments according to the provisions of the Law on Organization of Local Government to arrange and assign work to the right people and the right job.

Regarding the issue of resolving the surplus labor situation after the merger of departments, Mr. Bui Si Loi said that with the surplus personnel, we must handle them according to the plan of streamlining the payroll according to the provisions of the law. The State also needs to have policies to resolve these outstanding issues, such as early retirement, returning to one department, or other support policies to help workers find new jobs.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Le Nhu Tien - former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture, Education, Youth, Adolescents and Children said that previous experiences in organizing the merger of provinces and merging many ministries into multi-sector ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade... initially encountered many difficulties, but with high political determination, it was all okay in the end.

Surplus labor is inevitable, but we must skillfully arrange each person for the right job, and not let a series of surplus laborers without jobs cause chaos in society. This problem is posed to organizers and managers.

Commenting on this issue, Mr. Nguyen Si Dung - former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Office Committee said that this merger policy is correct on the condition that the reform must be more extensive in the whole system, not just in a few places. At the same time, we must also take into account the support of the people and the National Assembly; and how to set it up so that it operates well.

Mr. Dung affirmed that the amount of surplus labor will not be too much because even after the merger, there will still be such jobs so there will still be people to take on. And the problem actually lies in streamlining the focal points, not just streamlining the payroll.

Reserve position allowance for leaders

“The biggest reduction is the reduction of leadership,” said Mr. Nguyen Si Dung. “Of course, this inevitably has some conflicts. But if we look at it from the perspective that whoever is in that position is a party member, doing what the Party assigns, not necessarily the achievements of the person holding that position, then the burden will be less heavy.”

Affirming that when merging departments, there will certainly be a surplus of leaders, Mr. Le Nhu Tien said: "We must base on the actual situation, the nature of the work and the capacity of each person to arrange positions and jobs appropriately."

Mr. Bui Si Loi also said that when merging departments, leadership work must be well resolved. It is not only personal interests, but sometimes also the interests of a group or a unit. If not resolved skillfully and satisfactorily, conflicts of interest will lead to disunity within the agency or unit. And in the direction of resolution, the interests of the country, the people, and the collective must be the focus.

In order for each individual to have consensus, share, unify, and set an example, we need to do a good job of political and ideological education, changing awareness to create high consensus in agencies and units.
In addition, this problem can be solved according to the principle: Reserving the position allowance during the time of reorganization and rearrangement of work to ensure that the income of civil servants does not decrease, negatively affecting the family life of that individual, so that they can work with peace of mind.

“Although the State “sacrifice” and suffer a little in terms of salary and allowance benefits, it ensures consensus and unity, and solves the problems of life and ideology for cadres and party members. Of course, after a certain period of time, the work has been arranged and assigned stably, then the salary for that work will be paid, according to that principle,” said Mr. Bui Si Loi./.

According to VOV