Two-level local government: Close to the people, for the people - Final part: Innovation to better serve the people
The new reality requires the two-level government to truly innovate its thinking, have creative, practical and effective ways of working; raise the level of responsibility, each decision and each action must aim to serve the people better. Nghe An Newspaper, Radio and Television respectfully convey the guidance of the Party and State leaders, of the Nghe An provincial leaders, as well as the proposals and recommendations from the commune level on the above content.
Political Reporter Group - Party Building• August 17, 2025
The new reality requires the two-level government to truly innovate its thinking, have creative, practical and effective ways of working; raise the level of responsibility, each decision and each action must aim to serve the people better. Nghe An Newspaper, Radio and Television respectfully convey the guidance of the Party and State leaders, of the Nghe An provincial leaders, as well as the proposals and recommendations from the commune level on the above content.
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Speaking at the conference to review the first 6 months of the year and tasks for the last 6 months of 2025 of the Central Steering Committee on science, technology development, innovation and digital transformation, General Secretary To Lam emphasized: Digital transformation is the central nervous system, the "vital" bridge between the province and the commune; is the data brain to synthesize, analyze, and warn early about the situation, to prevent information gaps from occurring. "Without digital transformation, the 2-level administrative model will not be able to operate effectively," the General Secretary emphasized, saying that the heads of departments, ministries, branches, and localities must continue to enhance their sense of responsibility, high political determination, determination, perseverance, and determination to do whatever it takes to strengthen the trust of the whole society.
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Concluding the Conference on evaluating the results of the internal organizational arrangement of ministries and branches and summarizing 1 month of operation of the 2-level local government on the afternoon of July 28, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: The spirit is that everyone must participate, especially the leaders in leading and directing the agencies under their authority; the new apparatus requires new behavior, innovative thinking, decisive action; close and synchronous coordination, especially in digital transformation, building and connecting databases of the branches.
The Prime Minister requested ministries and branches to continue to monitor and urge localities according to their fields; assigned comrades continue to directly inspect the situation in localities, listen to opinions from the grassroots to promptly direct the removal of difficulties and obstacles.
The Prime Minister believes that with high political determination and close direction from the Central Executive Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat, and General Secretary To Lam, together with the solidarity and consensus of the entire political system and the support of the people, the two-level government apparatus will carry out its work more and more smoothly, effectively, and serve the people and businesses better and better.
Speaking at the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on July 10, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man assessed that after the merger and establishment of new provincial and commune-level administrative units, local governments have been operating well, especially in newly established communes in urban areas.
However, the National Assembly Chairman suggested that newly established communes in remote areas should pay attention to arranging working and resting places for officials and civil servants transferred to the new communes. In the coming time, it is necessary to continue training on administrative procedures, promote propaganda among the people about the meaning and requirements of streamlining the administrative apparatus, especially clarifying the ultimate goal of serving the people better, developing the socio-economy, and improving the spiritual and material life of the people.
At the working session with the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee on the afternoon of July 16, Comrade Nguyen Trong Nghia - Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission assessed: Nghe An is one of the localities that effectively implemented the merger of commune-level administrative units, established commune and ward party committees directly under the province; completed the historical responsibility of the district-level model according to the old structure. The province has unified awareness, organized and implemented methodically, creating high consensus in the entire political system and among the people. The organizational apparatus has been streamlined and reasonable; ideological work, organization, and arrangement of cadres have been deployed synchronously and scientifically; and cadre policies have been well resolved.
In particular, the province has promptly rearranged the staff at the grassroots level, ensuring the principle of "not leaving the battlefield empty, not causing stagnation, causing difficulties for the people"; ensuring good security and safety; ethnic minorities and religious people all trust, agree and actively respond to new policies.
He emphasized the spirit and pointed out the consistent ideology to operate the two-level local government smoothly and effectively: “The central government must focus on the province, communes and wards. The province must also focus on the communes and wards. Everything must be directed to the grassroots and resolved at the grassroots level. The top priority of the two-level local government is to take better care of the people. Anything directly related to the people must be done wholeheartedly and with all one's strength; no trouble or harassment; no complaints from the people.”
Overall, it can be seen that Nghe An has both difficulties and advantages. The difficulty is the large area and large population, but the advantage is that there is no major disruption due to the lack of arrangement of provincial-level administrative units, but mainly facing the pressure of rapid organization of the apparatus to meet the needs of 2-level local government.
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Through the actual work and initial survey, it can be affirmed that Nghe An is one of the localities that has implemented well the provision and settlement of administrative procedures and online public services. The province has clearly recognized many of the issues raised by the delegation and I believe that once awareness is established, there will be effective solutions.
However, in the spirit of the Central Government's thorough implementation of administrative procedures in a smooth, effective and uninterrupted manner when rearranging administrative units, the implementation progress has been urgent, so it must be more urgent and proactive.
Concluding the meeting of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee on August 7, Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee requested: Focus on resolving difficulties and obstacles in the process of operating the two-level local government to ensure the goal of smooth and effective operation. Continue to review and arrange staff to meet work requirements, especially those working in professional fields. In this process, both inspection and supervision must be carried out, but also guidance and support must be provided, with the task of "holding hands and showing work".
Concluding the regular meeting in July 2025, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh requested relevant departments and branches to continue to closely monitor activities, promptly guide and respond to recommendations from the grassroots; review and complete decentralization, delegation of authority and management authority.
The Department of Home Affairs coordinates with the Provincial Party Committee's Organizing Committee to overcome the surplus and shortage of civil servants; mobilize and second cadres to communes with shortages; increase support for disadvantaged communes; and advise on the establishment of an inter-sectoral working group to promptly handle problems.
The Department of Finance reviews and arranges headquarters and public assets, ensuring continuous operating expenses for communes, especially salary payments, regimes and social security implementation. The Department of Science and Technology ensures that information technology infrastructure, digital transformation, databases and e-government operate stably, meeting management and operational requirements.
After the reorganization of the local government at two levels, the commune level has encountered some difficulties in the specialized departments. Many officials have been assigned to new fields that they have never worked in before, with expertise that is completely different from their training qualifications. For example, officials who used to work in other fields are now in charge of education or health, so in addition to practicing skills and accumulating experience, they have to relearn specialized knowledge from the beginning.
To ensure smooth, effective and professional work, relevant departments and agencies need to promptly organize training and coaching for this team. In addition, the Party Committee and the People's Committee of the commune will also proactively organize self-training and coaching sessions, especially to practice skills in direct work and serving the people.
Thanh Vinh Ward has received the facilities from the City Party Committee and People's Committee of Vinh City (old), but to meet the requirements of the task, it still needs to continue investing in infrastructure and equipment. The biggest difficulty now is not in the facilities but in human resources, especially information technology staff. The small number is not enough to fully support officials and civil servants in applying science and technology and handling administrative procedures online, so it often has to ask for support from the province or VNPT.
We recommend that the Ministry of Science and Technology has a plan to train, foster and authorize the recruitment of information technology staff. Because no matter how modern the equipment is, if there is a lack of qualified personnel to operate it, the work will still face many difficulties.
In mountainous areas, people's connection infrastructure and access to technology are limited: the Internet is unstable, the power grid is often cut off, directly affecting online public administrative services. Most people do not have smartphones, and their IT skills are almost zero, so it is difficult to use digital utilities. Therefore, it is necessary to organize training courses at the "popular education" level to equip them with basic knowledge and skills, with a roadmap suitable to the conditions of each locality.
In addition, the infrastructure of commune and ward headquarters, especially in areas frequently affected by natural disasters, needs to be invested soon. For example, the headquarters of the People's Committee - Chau Tien Commune Public Administration Center is flooded every year during storms and rains, forcing the relocation of documents and machinery, disrupting work. Upgrading the facilities here is an urgent requirement.
Comrade Lo Van Thao - Party Secretary, Chairman of Chau Khe Commune People's Councilsaid: Promoting the spirit of mutual assistance, from July 26 to 29, Chau Khe commune mobilized 900 people to support Tien Thanh village (Con Cuong commune) to overcome the consequences of flooding. However, the local forces in each locality are still weak, making it difficult to meet the requirements of preventing, combating and overcoming natural disasters. The province needs to orient and direct the development of coordination regulations between neighboring communes to support each other not only in natural disasters but also in economic development and cultural preservation.
This problem,Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Quy - Deputy Political Commissar of Defense Command of Region 3 (Quy Chau)believes that the “4 on-site” principle must be thoroughly implemented, with prevention as the main focus. When an incident occurs, the Regional Defense Command can coordinate and mobilize forces in the area, but this is only a temporary solution. Therefore, early establishment of coordination regulations between adjacent communes and wards is a more long-term and effective solution.
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After more than 1 month of operating the 2-level local government model in Nghe An in particular and the whole country in general, it has proven that this is a step in the right direction: a more streamlined apparatus, more efficient operation, closer to the people and for the people. Not only stopping at organizational reform, this is also the beginning of a new era for the nation - an era in which the government is truly creative, honest, active and serving, putting the interests, rights and happiness of the people at the center. With high political determination, the wise leadership of the Party and the consensus of the entire people, the goal of building a modern, transparent administration serving the Fatherland and the People is becoming a reality.
