Deputy Minister of Home Affairs: 'It is difficult to expand the project of 600 commune vice chairmen while implementing staff reduction'

(Baonghean.vn)-That was the opinion of Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Trong Thua at the Conference to evaluate the implementation results of the Project of 600 Vice Chairmen of Communes in the North Central provinces held in Nghe An on the morning of June 27.

Overview of the Conference. Photo: Hoai Thu

The Pilot Project to select 600 outstanding young intellectuals with university degrees to become Vice Chairmen of People's Committees of 64 poor districts (referred to as the 600 Vice Chairmen of Communes Project) was implemented in 15 districts of the provinces in the North Central region, including 4 provinces: Thanh Hoa (7 districts), Nghe An (3 districts), Quang Binh (1 district) and Quang Tri (1 district).

Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Comrade Nguyen Trong Thua - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Head of the Steering Committee of the 600 Commune Vice Chairmen Project said that strengthening and improving the quality of activities of commune-level civil servants is extremely necessary to build a strong locality.

The implementation of Project 600 to strengthen the young intellectual team at the grassroots level is one of the measures to help strengthen the activities of the commune-level government. At the same time, it creates a challenging environment for the young cadres and intellectuals, creating a source of cadres for the locality. The conference will focus on evaluating the leadership and implementation of the Project after 5 years at the grassroots level; objectively evaluating the performance of the team members; and drawing lessons learned.

The comrades chaired the conference. Photo: Hoai Thu

Evaluation of the results after 5 years of implementing the Project of 600 Vice Chairmen of Communes in the provinces of the North Central region shows that the 104 selected young intellectuals are all local people, trained in the fields of agriculture - forestry, land, environment, economics, finance and accounting, accounting for more than 40% (42 people); pedagogy, engineering, IT accounting for more than 43% (45 people); culture, law, social work and administrative studies accounting for more than 16% (17 people).

In implementing the Project's objectives, the team members have participated in building the political system and directly advised on socio-economic development at the grassroots level. Accordingly, this team has advised the Commune People's Committee to promulgate working regulations, administrative reforms, IT applications and coordinated with organizations to implement the policies and guidelines of the Party and the State.

Together with the departments and branches, we propagate and implement the transformation of crop and livestock structure, apply science and technology in production, etc. In addition, the project members have contributed to creating a source of young cadres to supplement leadership and management positions in Party and State agencies and contribute to the development of the Party at the grassroots level.

The conference also appreciated Nghe An and Quang Binh for their good guidance, inspection, and support for members and reporting regime so that the Ministry of Home Affairs can grasp the project implementation situation in the locality.

Comrade Nguyen Trong Thua - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Head of the Steering Committee of the 600 Commune PCT Project delivered the opening speech at the Conference. Photo: Hoai Thu

In 4 provinces, 46 team members were assigned to be in charge of the economic sector, 58 team members were assigned to be in charge of the cultural and social sector. In 2016, 45 team members completed their tasks excellently, 52 team members completed their tasks well and 5 team members were not evaluated (because 3 members transferred jobs, 1 member did not continue to participate in the project and 1 member passed away).

Up to now, 19/101 team members have been temporarily assigned to work. For Nghe An, 16/25 team members (64%) have been elected as Vice Chairmen of the People's Committee for the 2016-2021 term, while 9 people have not been assigned to work. Quang Tri province has assigned 2/7 team members; Thanh Hoa has assigned 1/58 team members; Quang Binh has assigned 10/10 team members.

In addition to the positive aspects, the implementation of the 600 PCT Project in the North Central provinces was also pointed out by the conference as having shortcomings and limitations that need to be overcome, such as: Some localities have not yet promoted and understood the objectives and significance of the Project; have not paid attention to helping young intellectuals to be strengthened; the arrangement and use of team members is not linked to the planning; some team members are still afraid of conflicts and are not proactive in their work...

Young intellectuals from Nghe An go to the fields with the people. Photo archive.

The conference also heard presentations from provinces implementing the project, in which localities wished to continue to expand the project; requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to consider adding staff to arrange for team members who have not been assigned work after the pilot project ended... Listening to some young intellectuals of the Project express their opinions on the advantages and difficulties when participating in local work.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Dau Van Thanh - Director of Nghe An Department of Home Affairs reported on the implementation of the 600 Commune Vice Chairmen Project in 3 districts of the province and evaluated the capacity and effectiveness of the young intellectual team working as commune vice chairmen in the locality, including Ky Son (8 team members), Tuong Duong (13 team members) and Que Phong (5 team members). The team members all actively followed the grassroots, were responsible, and devoted themselves to performing the assigned tasks. In 2016, 12/25 team members completed their tasks excellently, 13/25 team members completed their tasks well. However, there were also some shortcomings and limitations affecting the quality of the team members' work, including difficulties in facilities, and policies and mechanisms that local officials have not yet arranged to create peace of mind for the team members to work with peace of mind.

Comrade Le Xuan Dai delivered a welcome speech at the Conference; reported on some socio-economic development situations of Nghe An in recent times and the care and support for young intellectuals under the 600 Commune PCT Project in localities of Nghe An province. Photo: Hoai Thu

The representative of the Ministry of Home Affairs also suggested that after summarizing the project, the provinces need to have a plan to report to the Ministry of Home Affairs, pay attention to arranging work and implementing policies for the remaining team members, especially arranging human resources for commune-level leaders for the 2021-2026 term.

In the coming time, from the practical implementation of the Project 600 Commune PCTs, Project 500 Young Intellectuals, the Ministry of Home Affairs will also submit to the Government and the Prime Minister for consideration the draft on "Issuing policies to attract and create a source of cadres from young intellectuals who volunteer to work in communes in areas with especially difficult socio-economic conditions, ethnic minority and mountainous areas" to train and foster, creating a long-term source of cadres for localities.

Concluding the Conference, Comrade Nguyen Trong Thua acknowledged the efforts, attempts, effectiveness and contributions of the young intellectuals of the 600 Commune PCT Project deployed in the North Central provinces over the past 5 years. He requested that localities and young intellectuals of the Project have a view, assessment and experience in the implementation process and work; thereby also to propose solutions associated with the grassroots practice so that the project steering committee can have an accurate and effective summary.

Regarding the proposal to expand the project, according to Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Thua, it is quite difficult because it not only requires a large source of funding but also has to arrange staff resources and establish staffing levels for localities while implementing staff reduction./.

Hoai Thu