"The most difficult thing when merging districts and communes is arranging personnel"

In addition to 16 district-level administrative units and 631 commune-level administrative units that must be merged in the 2019-2021 period, localities are encouraged to merge if favorable - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Tran Anh Tuan shared with the press about the implementation of Resolution No. 37-NQ/TW of the Politburo and Resolution No. 653/2019/UBTVQH14 of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

PV:Is the number of 631 commune-level administrative units and 16 district-level administrative units subject to merger according to Resolution 37 of the Politburo and Resolution 653 of the National Assembly Standing Committee the final number, Deputy Minister?

Deputy Minister Tran Anh Tuan: When developing the Project on reorganizing district and commune-level administrative units, the Ministry of Home Affairs identified 16 district-level administrative units and 631 commune-level administrative units that did not meet both standards, all below 50% of the prescribed standards on population and area. This number has now been finalized. However, based on Resolution 37 of the Politburo and Resolution 653 of the National Assembly Standing Committee, in addition to the number of district and commune-level administrative units that did not meet 50% of both standards on population and area, localities are still encouraged to merge if favorable and stable conditions are ensured and supported by the people.

It must also be emphasized that this arrangement is not carried out in an arbitrary manner but takes into account local characteristics in terms of history, culture, geography, customs and practices and must ensure the consensus of the people.

PV:Many people are concerned that merging districts and communes and arranging civil servants in a mechanical manner will not meet the requirements of the Politburo's direction. What does the Deputy Minister think?

Deputy Minister Tran Anh Tuan: Merging districts and communes, the most difficult part is the personnel arrangement, because it involves people, even if they are old enough and working, they cannot be gathered mechanically.

In the process of arrangement, if we do not combine streamlining the payroll and creating conditions to resolve the surplus number of civil servants, the goal of arranging administrative units at district and commune levels will not be achieved.

Therefore, localities must closely follow the guiding viewpoints in Resolution 37 of the Politburo as well as the principles stipulated in Resolution 653 of the National Assembly, which is to arrange administrative units at district and commune levels in conjunction with streamlining the apparatus, reducing staff, and improving the quality of civil servants.

To effectively implement this issue, the responsibility of Party committees and localities is very large, especially the responsibility of leaders is very important in evaluating and classifying civil servants to effectively implement the goal of this administrative unit arrangement at district and commune levels.

In addition to arranging staff and civil servants into new administrative units according to the project, it is also necessary to effectively implement the policy of streamlining the payroll for redundant staff. For example, for staff who are not re-elected due to not meeting the conditions, it is possible to follow Decree 26/ND-CP of the Government on resolving policies for those waiting to receive retirement benefits due to not meeting the conditions for re-election.

If the guiding principle of combining the arrangement of district and commune-level administrative units with streamlining the payroll and improving the quality of civil servants through review and arrangement is well implemented, the mechanical consolidation of civil servants during the merger will be avoided. However, the process of arranging district and commune-level administrative units must also ensure stability and policies for those who continue to work as well as those who are redundant so that the cadres and civil servants can feel secure in their work as well as in implementing other policies.

The Ministry of Home Affairs will coordinate with the Central Organizing Committee and the Delegation Work Committee to issue guidelines to resolve the arrangement of leadership and positions such as Chairman of the People's Council or People's Committee selected through elections.

PV:In the past, there were times when we had provinces like Ha Nam Ninh, Hoang Lien Son, Ha Son Binh, Binh Tri Thien, Song Be, etc. that the apparatus could not manage and had to be split into many provinces. Now, the story of merging districts and communes is raised again. Will the story of causing difficulties for state management and ensuring social order and security be repeated, Mr. Deputy Minister?

Deputy Minister Tran Anh Tuan:The arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels is a correct policy of the Party.

The goal of this arrangement is to build a more streamlined and reasonable local government apparatus at the district and commune levels for places that do not meet the prescribed standards, ensuring effective and efficient operations, serving the people better and better, especially contributing to promoting socio-economic development in localities subject to the arrangement.

PV:So, according to the Deputy Minister, is the new local apparatus after the merger capable of shouldering and undertaking new responsibilities?

Deputy Minister Tran Anh Tuan: In the current conditions, when we are implementing the 4.0 revolution to build e-Government, e-Government, strongly applying information technology in the operations of State agencies, the arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels is also a solution to ensure compatibility in the operations of State agencies. This arrangement also contributes to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of operations as well as improving the quality of civil servants and public employees, serving the people better.

If we do not reorganize but leave administrative units that do not meet the prescribed standards, it will waste budget resources and not reduce the number of employees. The merger will contribute to streamlining the number of employees and reduce the budget burden. Especially after the merger, with an appropriate number of civil servants, the operational efficiency of the civil service at the district and commune levels will be improved. This will also help to effectively implement Resolution 18 of the 6th Central Conference, Session XII, on streamlining the apparatus and reducing the number of employees.

With the arrangement and merger in this period, I believe that the new apparatus can ensure to shoulder the task of serving the people, providing public services to the people as well as performing the functions and tasks of the local government. The local government apparatus after this merger will perform its functions well, operate effectively, efficiently and serve the people better.

PV:Thank you very much, Deputy Minister!