"Only by overcoming self-interest and pursuit of fame can we streamline the system."

Emphasize the spirit of voluntarily giving up your seat.

In implementing Resolution 39 of the Politburo and Resolution 18 of the Central Committee on reviewing and reorganizing agencies and units to reduce overlapping responsibilities and prevent multiple tasks from being performed by the same agency, Lao Cai province recently merged the Department of Transport and the Department of Construction into the Department of Transport and Construction of Lao Cai province.

On the morning of July 23rd, the Board of Directors of the Department of Transport and Construction of Lao Cai province was introduced in the presence of numerous officials and employees. Accordingly, the merged leadership structure of the Department consists of 1 Director and 5 Deputy Directors, with a term of appointment of 5 years. After the merger, the Board of Directors was reduced by 4 people, the number of heads of departments was reduced by 9, and the number of staff in the areas of clerical work, accounting, and other support services was reduced by 7.

Welcoming the merger of the two departments in Lao Cai, Mr. Nguyen Viet Chuc - former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and Children - emphasized that this is proof that, with determination, it is possible to streamline the apparatus, reduce the number of personnel, and at the same time improve the quality and efficiency of the activities of political and social organizations as well as state agencies.

“Only when we overcome the pursuit of personal gain can we streamline the system. Therefore, we need to uphold the spirit of Party members and officials, who are ready to sacrifice their personal interests to voluntarily and consciously relinquish their positions to their comrades, even willing to retire a few years early to create opportunities for the younger generation to strive for success. This requires a high sense of responsibility, a spirit of dedication and sacrifice, and a willingness to give up the most advantageous positions to their comrades and colleagues to fulfill the mission of reform,” Mr. Nguyen Viet Chuc emphasized.

The restructuring and streamlining of the workforce is a difficult, complex, and sensitive task, much like a major surgery to remove superfluous body parts. The removal itself may be painful, but delaying it can lead to serious health problems. Therefore, this "major surgery" has no turning back; it must be carried out resolutely. Failure to do so will affect a range of issues, including social welfare, the lives of civil servants, and the effectiveness of state management as well as socio-economic development.

According to the former Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and ChildrenAccording to the National Assembly's resolution, this issue needs careful consideration to ensure the legitimate material and spiritual rights of civil servants, public employees, and workers. If not handled carefully, separating the system after a few years when it proves ineffective would be very costly.

Streamlining the political system's organizational structure to ensure effective and efficient operation is an urgent need for development goals. The time is ripe; ministries, sectors, and localities need to act decisively and rigorously from top to bottom. Departments and agencies with similar functions and responsibilities should be merged. Along with this, strengthening state management, reducing specific tasks and points of contact, and avoiding replacing the market, citizens, and businesses are essential steps to successfully merge multiple units into one.

Take action against the head of the organization if they allow it to become bloated.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Chuc frankly acknowledged that, after many years of effort, the number of civil servants has decreased only slightly and has tended to expand. Specifically, according to the Government's report, in 2017, a surplus of more than 57,000 people was found in the public sector.

According to the results of two years of downsizing, not only was the number of people reduced, but it actually increased by 96,000, leading to a more than 16% increase in recurrent expenditures. This means the bureaucracy is both large and cumbersome, and redundant under the pressure of salary reform approved by the National Assembly. Therefore, with the current pace of personnel reduction, the target of reducing the workforce by 10% by 2021 will not be achieved.

According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Chuc, it is necessary to assign responsibility to the head of each agency for personnel and budget decisions to implement downsizing. Along with that, there should be clear regulations on the responsibilities and disciplinary sanctions for leading and managing officials who allow the bureaucracy to become bloated. "Because if we only stop at seriously learning from experience and conducting strict self-criticism, it will not be enough to deter future misconduct."

“Along with restructuring the apparatus and streamlining personnel, we must absolutely crack down on bureaucratic inefficiency. We must understand that civil servants are trusted by the people, and the people pay taxes to support their salaries. If the people hire two but we have four, it's clearly a waste of effort. As the Hong Duc Law (during the Le Dynasty) stipulated very strict penalties for officials who appointed or recruited staff in state agencies improperly, such as 60 strokes of the cane or dismissal. In the current context, we should also inherit this spirit; anyone who signs off on appointing excess staff must be punished, even dismissed from their position, to set an example,” Mr. Nguyen Viet Chuc emphasized.

Kim Anh