Prime Minister: Prioritize surplus facilities for public purposes

On the afternoon of April 14, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Head of the Government's Steering Committee on summarizing the implementation of Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW dated October 25, 2017 of the 6th Central Conference, Session XII "Some issues on continuing to innovate and reorganize the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined and operate effectively and efficiently" (Steering Committee) chaired a meeting of the Steering Committee to deploy the Central Steering Committee's Plan on implementing the arrangement and merger of provincial and communal administrative units and building a 2-level political system at the local level.

Photo caption — Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired the meeting. *Photo: Van Diep/VNA*

Attending the meeting were Deputy Prime Ministers; Deputy Secretaries of the Government Party Committee; Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies and Government agencies; leaders of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and Government agencies who are members of the Steering Committee.

According to the Steering Committee, at the 11th Conference from April 10-12, the 13th Party Central Committee decided to reorganize and merge provincial and communal administrative units and build a two-level political system at the local level, in which it was agreed that after the reorganization, the whole country would have 34 provinces and centrally-run cities and reduce 60-70% of communal administrative units.

On the morning of April 14, the Central Steering Committee held its third meeting to implement this content. Also on April 14, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 758/QD-TTg promulgating the Government's Plan to implement the arrangement and merger of provincial and communal administrative units and the construction of a two-level political system at the local level.

At the meeting, the Government Steering Committee once again grasped the policies, tasks and solutions of the Central Committee, the Politburo and the main content of Decision No. 758/QD-TTg of the Government on the arrangement and merger of provincial and communal administrative units and the construction of a two-level political system at the local level.

After the members of the Steering Committee had a heated discussion on the organization of the two-level local government apparatus, especially the issue of decentralization and delegation of power; regulations on functions, tasks and powers of local governments at commune and provincial levels; the arrangement of cadres, civil servants and public employees; handling of assets and facilities in the arrangement and merger of administrative units..., concluding the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested the members of the Steering Committee, ministries and branches to continue reviewing tasks and solutions to avoid overlap, but not to miss tasks in the arrangement and merger of provincial and communal administrative units and the construction of a two-level political system at the local level.

Ministries and branches, based on their functions, tasks and powers, shall carry out tasks, closely follow progress to direct the arrangement and merger of local administrative units; at the same time, advise and propose to competent authorities on arising issues that are beyond their authority to resolve. Ministers and heads of branches, with high determination, great efforts, drastic actions, focus, key points, complete each task; assign "clear people, clear work, clear time, clear responsibility, clear authority, clear products".

Requesting ministries and branches to guide the tasks assigned to the provincial and communal levels to ensure that the work must be carried out synchronously from top to bottom and coordinated synchronously between ministries and branches, the Prime Minister assigned the Government Office, ministries and branches to have units to monitor localities and the Government's Working Groups, Government members assigned to monitor localities to guide, monitor, inspect, and urge localities in implementing the arrangement and merger of provincial and communal administrative units and building a 2-level political system at the local level.

Note that each commune-level administrative unit must have a Public Administration Service Center; each province must have a One-Stop Investment Portal to promptly and smoothly handle administrative and investment procedures of people and businesses, avoiding congestion. The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and branches to design tools and instructions so that from July 1, 2025, when the new local government operates, it will ensure smooth, efficient operations.

The Head of Government urgently requested a program to amend the Law on Organization of Local Government 2025; promote the implementation of Resolution 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and digital transformation; remove obstacles in the implementation of Project 06 on developing applications of population data, identification and electronic authentication to serve national digital transformation.

Emphasizing the need to carry out the arrangement and merger of local administrative units to ensure progress and regulations; in the process of implementation, if there are any problems, they must be reported to the competent authority for immediate resolution. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directed ministries to guide, arrange, and reorganize the internal units according to vertical sectors; decentralize and delegate authority in handling administrative procedures at commune and provincial levels.

Regarding the handling of assets and facilities in the process of arranging and merging local administrative units, the Prime Minister requested to prioritize surplus facilities for healthcare, education, culture, and public purposes./.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/thu-tuong-uu-tien-co-so-vat-chat-doi-du-phuc-vu-muc-dich-cong-ich-cong-cong-698897.html