Nguyen Duy Ngoc, head of the Central Organization Commission, said the number of existing staff positions should not be used to calculate staffing needs. The basis should be the functions and duties of each level and each sector.
On October 18, during a group discussion on the socio-economic situation, he spoke at length about improving the organizational structure, delegating authority, and removing intermediate levels of administration. Group 8 included National Assembly delegations from Son La province and Can Tho city.
Assessing recent administrative practice, he said Vietnam had responded effectively to unprecedented developments.
Preliminary assessments showed that Vietnam's response measures had produced very good results. He said the country's development indicators were at their highest levels in many decades.
At the same time, the head of the Central Organization Commission pointed to several problems in the current delegation of authority.
He said the delegation system now had three distinct states.
The first was delegation that worked. It covered tasks with clear documentary outcomes, in which procedures involving citizens and businesses were completed successfully.
The second was delegation that still required approval from a higher level. Work remained dependent on higher authorities because the capacity for implementation at the local level had not been assessed sufficiently or because of other obstacles.
The third was delegation that produced no work. This resulted from applying guidance too rigidly instead of adapting it to four types of areas: special urban areas, urban areas, plains, and mountainous regions. As a result, delegated powers did not match the actual duties of local governments.
In response, Nguyen Duy Ngoc proposed clearly dividing functions under a model in which the central government creates the framework, the provincial level reviews, assigns, links, and coordinates, and the commune level directly organizes implementation.
To continue streamlining the apparatus and organize local government more effectively, he proposed several measures.
The first was to complete the transfer of authority under the principle that local governments decide, act, and take responsibility. Once a task has been delegated, the authority should be transferred fully so the work can be completed.
Nguyen Duy Ngoc also proposed determining positions from functions and duties. Under a conclusion of the Party Central Committee, the entire system must urgently review and accurately determine positions for every level and sector.
He stressed that positions must not be calculated from the number of existing staff positions. They must be based directly on the functions and duties of each level and sector.
Ngoc also called for calculating workloads by area and strengthening the role of the private sector. Based on Politburo conclusions and guidance, local authorities should fully assign powers according to the four types of areas and remove unnecessary intermediate or overlapping steps.
Nguyen Duy Ngoc said the recent experience of reducing and consolidating units in the education sector provided a useful practical lesson.
He said consistently carrying out these measures would help stabilize the two-tier model of the political system and local government. It would give grassroots authorities the conditions and capacity to carry out socio-economic development tasks at the new stage.
Sources: Dân Trí
