Improve the efficiency of public service units

By the end of 2021, the whole province had 1,187 public service units. Illustrative photo

Recently, the Central Economic Committee held a conference to review 5 years of implementing Resolution No. 19-NQ/TW dated October 25, 2017 of the 12th Party Central Committee on continuing to innovate the organization and management system, improving the quality and efficiency of public service units. Looking back after 5 years, the implementation of Resolution No. 19 in Hai Duong has brought many positive results, but there are also difficulties and obstacles.

To implement Resolution No. 19, the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council and People's Committee promptly issued decisions, resolutions and plans and resolutely led and directed the implementation. Party committees at all levels, authorities, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees, unions and public service units in the province have strengthened the dissemination and propaganda of Resolution No. 19 and the directive documents of the Central and the province to cadres, party members and the general public, contributing to raising awareness and consensus in the implementation.

The organization of public service units at provincial and district levels is carried out in the direction of: merging and consolidating specialized departments and service units with similar tasks to reduce focal points and overlap in operations; increasing decentralization, delegation of authority or granting autonomy and self-responsibility to units in performing tasks. Strictly implementing the compliance with the quota of civil servants and the number of employees according to regulations.

By the end of 2021, the whole province had 1,187 public service units, down 12.27% (166 units) compared to 2015. The 12.27% decrease is higher than the target set by the province (minimum reduction of 10%) but still lower than the average rate of the Central Government (13.4%). The number of public service employees receiving salaries from the state budget assigned in 2021 of the whole province is 33,418 people, down 11.24% (3,907 people) compared to the number assigned in 2015. The 11.24% decrease in the number of public service employees receiving salaries from the state budget is higher than the set target (minimum reduction of 10%) and also higher than the average rate of the whole country (10.51%). Hai Duong has also done a good job of reducing the leadership of public service units. By the end of 2021, the number of heads of public service units had decreased by 30 people, the number of deputies had decreased by 46 people, and no unit had excess deputies according to regulations.

The above figures show the determination and efforts of the entire political system of the province in implementing Resolution No. 19.

In addition to the achieved results, after 5 years of implementing Resolution No. 19, many problems, difficulties and limitations have also arisen. Regarding the organizational structure, district-level (multi-functional) medical centers were established on the basis of merging general hospitals with district-level medical centers and population and family planning centers. However, up to now, the Ministry of Health has not issued a circular guiding the ranking, so the implementation of policies for civil servants is still problematic.

For public service units in the field of education and training, the number of students and classes has increased significantly but staffing has not been supplemented in a timely manner. The development of a project to adjust job positions for service units in the field of education and training when implementing the consolidation of vocational education centers and continuing education centers at the district level is still difficult because the Ministry of Education and Training has not issued relevant regulations.

In addition, the number of people who have been downsized in public service units is not large. Determining positions, competency frameworks, and arranging the correct and sufficient staff according to the number of employees in the job position project of public service units is difficult because the job position project was established and approved before the implementation of Resolution No. 19 and the staff must be downsized by at least 10% from 2016-2021. Some central ministries and branches have not promptly planned the network of public service units, and prescribed economic and technical norms for public service activities...

The above limitations and difficulties need to be promptly resolved by Party committees, authorities, relevant agencies and units. It is necessary to identify the implementation of Resolution No. 19 and Plan No. 74-KH/TU dated January 16, 2018 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee to implement Resolution No. 19 as a key task, both urgent and long-term, to innovate the organization and management, ensure streamlining and improve the operational efficiency of public service units.

MINH ANH