Avoid being mechanical when rearranging administrative units

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy - Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Fatherland Front Committee spoke at the conference. Photo: Q. Dinh.

Job increase but no salary increase

Reporting on the implementation of the arrangement of administrative units (AUD) in the period of 2023 - 2030 of Ho Chi Minh City, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Tham - Deputy Director of the Department of Home Affairs said that the city currently has 273 administrative units at the commune level, including 210 wards, 5 towns and 58 communes. After the arrangement, the AUD at the commune level will reduce by 39 units.

The policy of rearranging to reduce the apparatus is correct, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy - Vice Chairwoman of the City Fatherland Front Committee assessed that the rearrangement of administrative units contributes to increasing the scale of administrative units, streamlining the apparatus, reducing staff, improving the efficiency of socio-economic investment; ensuring the consensus of the people, closely linked with ensuring national defense, security and social order and safety in the city.

However, on the contrary, Ms. Thuy said that due to the large number of arrangements, it will have a significant impact on state management work, with the characteristics of districts, wards and communes in Ho Chi Minh City having small areas but large populations, much higher than the standards. If two or three units are merged into a new unit, it will not meet the prescribed area standards. "After the arrangement, the administrative units will have larger areas and populations, more work volume, but the regime and policies for cadres and civil servants will not increase, so the goal of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of state management will not be high" - Ms. Thuy emphasized.

Considering the difficulties in restructuring as a reality, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Tham informed that the number of redundant cadres, civil servants and public employees after implementing the arrangement plan is about more than 1,000 people, this arrangement will encounter many obstacles because the majority have been standardized according to regulations, especially the number of young cadres, this number needs a roadmap and time to be streamlined. In addition, people's lives will be disrupted in the initial stage due to certain changes in cultural structure as well as changes in transaction locations, changes in administrative procedures, changes in related documents, etc.

Enhancing the role of the grassroots front

Mr. Nguyen Minh Hung - Secretary of the Party Cell of Quarter 2, Ward 12, Binh Thanh District, said that the wards after the merger should not be named by numbers but by letters, which both have cultural elements and avoid being boring. For example, naming them after old places that are deeply imprinted in people's subconscious such as Ba Chieu, Gia Dinh or naming them after great people, historical figures such as Le Van Duyet, Vo Nguyen Giap...

According to Mr. Hung, the city is implementing urban government, no longer organizing People's Councils at district and commune levels, so understanding the thoughts and aspirations of voters and people is extremely important. Therefore, the position of the Fatherland Front has practical significance in understanding the thoughts and aspirations of the people. The functions of the Fatherland Front need to be enhanced in the cooperative relationship between the people and the government.

Meanwhile, Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Xuan (Ward 7, District 5) expressed her concern for the concerns of the staff after the reorganization. Ms. Xuan acknowledged that most of the staff and civil servants lived on their salaries, and now they have become redundant staff, and they themselves are very concerned about where they will go, and whether they will be assigned to new positions. Ms. Xuan suggested that the arrangement and assignment of staff must be reasonable and appropriate, and that it is necessary to select people with virtue and talent, impartiality and objectivity.

Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau - member of the Advisory Council for Democracy and Law, Ho Chi Minh City Fatherland Front Committee, suggested that the City People's Committee soon issue guidelines according to simplified procedures and based on specific and detailed surveys and assessments on the basis of respecting local opinions, avoiding mechanically to clearly identify "groups of tasks to be performed later", avoiding the situation of "working horizontally" in a limited time period leading to stagnation, not on schedule. "Balance and arrange budget sources to invest in repairing, renovating, and upgrading working offices that continue to be used to serve the activities of administrative units formed after the arrangement in accordance with the planning and actual conditions of the locality" - Mr. Hau wished.

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According to statistics in 2022, Ho Chi Minh City currently has over 2,095km2 of natural area; population of nearly 12.3 million people, of which: permanent residents are nearly 10.3 million, temporary residents are nearly 2 million. The city currently has 22 district-level administrative units, including: 16 districts, 1 city (Thu Duc) and 5 districts. There are 273 commune-level administrative units, including: 210 wards, 5 towns and 58 communes.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/tranh-may-moc-khi-sap-xep-lai-don-vi-hanh-chinh-10284373.html