Stemming from the nature of our State as a State of the people, by the people and for the people, the overall overarching goal of the administrative service is to serve the people, for the benefit of the people. To achieve this goal well, the administrative system must be built in a professional, responsible and modern manner. That is also the demand of the times, the demand of the People for the entire administrative apparatus as well as each cadre, civil servant and public employee in that apparatus!

Provincial police guide citizens to submit online application for ordinary passport. Photo: NQ

Treatment of fear of responsibility

As a bank employee, Mr. TA cited his work experience when going to administrative agencies: “According to legal regulations, the certification of documents can take several days, but in reality, it can be completed in just one day. However, in many cases, documents are submitted on Friday morning, even though they can be completed in the afternoon of the same day, the One-Stop Office staff still waits until the next week to return them, causing many unnecessary additional costs.”

He said that is why “bribes” are needed to make work smoother and more convenient. And that is also the “unofficial cost” that businesses often have to bear so that their business is not “made difficult”!

According to experts, the responsibility of officials and civil servants in performing public duties is demonstrated through many criteria, but most importantly through the way they behave and contribute to the most effective performance of public duties, in order to make society better and people's lives increasingly improved.

In other words, in a service-oriented administration, the “servants” of the people must truly live with the people, feel the pain of the people, worry about the worries of the people, find ways to solve the difficulties of the people, and do their best to share the difficulties with the people. And the “servants” here are not only the people at the grassroots level but also the enterprises, the objects that create wealth for society through production and business activities.

At the press conference to inform about the socio-economic situation of the province in March 2024, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee - Pham Van Thieu said that in the administrative apparatus of the province, there is a situation of "hot above, cold below". The Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee are very determined, but "in the long run, it becomes cold". Although this situation has improved with the high PAPI index, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also acknowledged that "the disease of fear of responsibility is spreading. I often tell my colleagues in the professional agencies that we just do it for the people, for the country, for the common good, don't be negative, then there is nothing to be afraid of". It is the disease of fear of responsibility that the leader of the Provincial People's Committee pointed out that has restrained the dynamism, creativity, and flexibility of the team of cadres and civil servants, causing the public administrative apparatus to operate rigidly, unprofessionally, and not serve well according to the assessment of businesses, shown through the scoring results in each component index of the PCI index.

Therefore, to improve the PCI index, or more broadly, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the public service apparatus, to build an administration that serves the recognition of the people, one of the first things to do is to improve the responsibility of the staff and civil servants.

In addition to macro regulations and policies, for local levels such as Bac Lieu, the necessary solutions are to restructure and rearrange the staff and civil servants at all levels and sectors according to job positions and competency frameworks, ensuring the right people for the right jobs. Innovate the content and methods of training and fostering to improve the capacity, skills and qualities of the staff and civil servants. Strengthen discipline and administrative discipline associated with creating motivation for reform among the staff and civil servants...

In fact, these solutions have been and are being implemented by Bac Lieu, but the results have not been as expected. Many solutions implemented are only formalities, and the changes are still not clear. Therefore, more determination, consistency and efforts are needed from all levels and sectors, especially the role of leaders.

Modernize the administration

While the 4.0 industrial revolution is creating rapid changes worldwide, gradually shifting real-life activities to the digital environment, a modern administration is also an inevitable trend. Promoting investment in technical infrastructure and applying information technology in the operations of state management agencies not only contributes to reducing operating costs and saving time, but also provides better services to people and businesses.

The component indicators measured in the PCI index such as administrative procedure reform, transparency, dynamism, etc. are also evaluated in the online environment in addition to direct activities. Importantly, the modernization of the administrative system will help change the working methods and styles of officials and civil servants, increasing the responsibility of this team with assigned tasks. The administrative system will also shift from management to service as desired by the people and businesses.

To modernize the administrative system, there is nothing better than promoting digital transformation. In the digital environment, state management agencies develop applications and services to serve people and businesses through the Public Service Portal; develop and connect information systems and databases of sectors and localities...

All are aimed at improving the service efficiency of the administrative apparatus from the province to the grassroots. However, to successfully transform digitally, the key factor is still people, as the Government and provincial leaders have repeatedly affirmed.

To build a modern administration, moving from a traditional environment to a digital environment, civil servants and public employees must change their mindset and realize their role in the digital transformation.

Converting the way of working on paper to working on computers, exchanging information and data online is not easy for the team of civil servants who have been trained in the old way. Therefore, in parallel with training and fostering to improve capacity to work in the digital environment, meeting the capacity of digital transformation, the province also needs to have policies to attract young intellectuals and talented people to work in the state apparatus, not just focusing on streamlining the payroll.

PAPI and PCI are measurement indicators, so the evaluation results are only relative and depend on the conditions under which the votes are taken, how the votes are taken, etc. However, the impacts from the results of these indicators are quite clear. When the province's PCI index continuously falls to the lowest group in the country, the image of a dynamic, open, and actively attracting investment Bac Lieu is blurred, replaced by the reluctance of investors and large enterprises when wanting to come here.

As a result, Bac Lieu lacks leading enterprises that can play a leading role in creating a dynamic and attractive business environment. As a result, PCI does not get high scores from large enterprises but only reflects the views of small and medium enterprises. This vicious circle will tie Bac Lieu down in its aspiration to become a well-off province if the problem is not solved at its root.

Meanwhile, the PAPI index is among the leading groups in the country, but we cannot be satisfied with the results we have achieved, but must always strive to maintain people's satisfaction. Because when localities make efforts together, just standing still means we have gone backwards. And also because people's satisfaction is the prerequisite for a perfect service-oriented administrative system to be built.

According to Thanh Lam (Bac Lieu Newspaper)