Big commune, good cadres

At the working session with the Standing Committee of Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee on March 8, as Head of the inspection delegation of the Politburo and the Secretariat regarding the reorganization of the apparatus, comrade Nguyen Hoa Binh, Politburo member and Permanent Deputy Prime Minister of the Government, said that the Politburo expected that the number of commune-level administrative units nationwide would be reduced from more than 10,500 to 2,500 after the merger.

The First Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that in addition to the merger, the quality of commune-level cadres will also be improved, equivalent to provincial-level cadres. After the merger, commune Party Committee Secretaries can become members of the Provincial Party Committee, and even participate in the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee.

The above information makes many people wonder about the qualifications and capacity of the current communal staff and how they will meet the new, higher, more difficult and more numerous requirements after the merger?

When the district level is abolished, a significant number of district-level cadres, civil servants and public employees will certainly work at the commune level after the merger. Just a few days ago, this was only a possibility, but now it is gradually becoming a feasible option that is difficult to replace. According to information at the recent meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the country will reduce the number of communes by about 60-70%.

The problem is who at the district level will be transferred to the commune level and who will have to retire to enjoy the policy regime, or find another way? Even when implementing the project of merging and consolidating some provincial administrative units, a number of redundant cadres in the province can also be transferred to the commune level.

In an interview with the press, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dinh, former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, said that not organizing the district level and merging the commune-level administrative units requires improving the qualifications of commune-level officials and civil servants. This is very important, because commune-level officials will directly handle more work because they will no longer receive support from the district level as before. ''When the administrative system has 3 levels, the quality of officials and civil servants must be the same, and it is possible to rotate commune-level civil servants with provincial and even central levels,'' Mr. Dinh suggested.

At the end of December last year, in the proposal to draft the revised Law on Cadres and Civil Servants, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed to choose the solution of researching and removing the regulations on commune-level cadres and civil servants due to many shortcomings in the recruitment mechanism, job positions, salary scales, etc. The current Law on Cadres and Civil Servants has a separate chapter regulating cadres and civil servants working in communes, wards and towns with some different contents in the management work between commune-level cadres and civil servants and district-level cadres and civil servants. In solution 1, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed to research, amend and supplement the principles of determining job positions in agencies and organizations of communes, wards and towns. Determining each job position, position, title of cadres or civil servants working at this level must be based on the list of job positions (attached to positions, titles)... Supplementing regulations in the transitional provisions for the current team of cadres and civil servants working at the commune level who have been recruited according to the provisions of law but still lack standards or standards that have not met the prescribed level.

Not only are standards raised, but leadership, management, and professional tasks at the commune level are also higher and more numerous. The commune level will be delegated authority to handle many tasks currently undertaken by the district level, and even the provincial level.

Currently, the standards and tasks of cadres, civil servants, and part-time workers at the commune level are stipulated in Decree No. 33/2023/ND-CP dated June 10, 2023 of the Government..Accordingly, commune-level cadres must have graduated from high school, have professional qualifications, and have graduated from university or higher, graduated from intermediate level political theory or equivalent or higher. The regulation also clearly states that in case the Party Charter, organization charter, or other laws have provisions different from those in Decree No. 33, those regulations and laws shall be implemented. In addition, for each position of commune-level cadre, there are a number of other standards according to the regulations of the Party and the competent authority managing cadres.

Decree No. 33 stipulates that commune-level civil servants must have graduated from high school, and have a professional qualification of university degree or higher in a field of training appropriate to the requirements of each position. In cases where the law has provisions different from those in Decree No. 33, the provisions of that law shall apply. In particular, civil servants in charge of military command at the commune level shall comply with the provisions of specialized military laws. Part-time commune-level workers must meet the standards of graduating from high school and graduating from intermediate school or higher.

In general, current regulations require commune-level officials and civil servants to have a university degree or higher. Commune-level officials must have an intermediate degree in political theory or equivalent.

In practice, about 15 years ago, the majority of commune-level cadres and civil servants had limited qualifications due to lack of formal training, old age, and working mainly based on experience and advantages in the locality. In the past 15 years, the training of commune-level cadres and civil servants has had positive changes, helping a large number of them to be standardized, have sufficient qualifications, capacity, and degrees to meet job requirements.

However, besides the commune-level cadres and civil servants with good capacity and moral qualities, there is also a large number of commune-level cadres and civil servants who have only received part-time university training, with limited quality and low work efficiency.

According to Hai Duong Newspaper reporters' investigation in many places, among the current commune-level cadres, there are many people holding the position of head of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and socio-political organizations who do not have a university or intermediate degree in political theory, but due to a lack of cadres, they are still assigned to do so. Decree No. 33 also clearly states that cadres, civil servants, and non-professional workers who do not meet the standards must meet the prescribed standards within 5 years from the effective date of this Decree. After this period, if they do not meet the standards, they will be subject to retirement (if eligible) or the staff reduction policy will be implemented according to the Government's regulations.

The competent authority has reviewed and may select from the current team of cadres, civil servants, and part-time workers at the commune level to restructure in the direction of retaining the best people in terms of qualifications, capacity, practical understanding, political courage, and moral qualities...

It is not excluded that after the merger of communes, villages and residential areas may also merge, or one commune may become one large village. Some cadres, civil servants and commune-level activists may transfer to work in villages and residential areas to replace incumbents who are unable to fulfill their duties.

In the current context, in the coming time, amending the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants and guiding documents for implementation in the direction of raising standards, or setting new standards for cadres, civil servants, and part-time workers at the commune level is only a matter of time.