Currently, many communes, wards and towns in 20 districts, towns and cities of Hanoi are posting voter lists to collect opinions on the arrangement of commune-level administrative units (ADUs) in the 2023-2025 period in accordance with the direction of the Central Government and the City.

Faced with issues that the public and the people are very concerned about regarding the arrangement of administrative units at the commune level in Hanoi, this afternoon, March 4, a reporter from the Economic and Urban Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Tran Dinh Canh - Member of the City Party Committee, Director of the Hanoi Department of Home Affairs.

Take urgent, scientific steps

Sir, to implement Resolution No. 35/2023/UBTVQH15 dated July 12, 2023 on the arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels for the period 2023-2030 and Resolution No. 117/NQ-CP dated July 30, 2023 promulgating the plan to implement the arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels for the period 2023-2025, how has Hanoi developed a plan, roadmap and will carry out specific steps?

- After Resolution No. 35/2023/UBTVQH15 and Resolution No. 117/NQ-CP were issued, the Standing Committee of the Hanoi Party Committee quickly established a Steering Committee, developed a plan, deployed implementation and guided and directed the Standing Committees and People's Committees of districts, towns and cities to review plans and criteria to propose plans to arrange administrative units at district and commune levels. According to the criteria on area and population, Hanoi has 173 communes, wards and towns and 1 administrative unit at district level (Hoan Kiem district) that must be arranged in this phase. In particular, for Hanoi, it also relies on the criteria of urban government, historical factors, cultural traditions, economic development level, population, urban development speed..., so the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities must review and study carefully, from which 26/26 districts, towns and cities with administrative boundaries subject to rearrangement have developed specific plans and submitted them to the City People's Committee.

After the districts, towns and cities completed the plan and reported to the Steering Committee of the City People's Committee, the Hanoi Department of Home Affairs directly advised the City People's Committee's Personnel Committee to review the plan and consider the plan proposed by the units. Of which, 5 districts and towns did not ensure the criteria and standards when developing the plan and were not suitable for the practical situation, so the Steering Committee established a working group to work directly with the Standing Committees of the districts, towns and city Party Committees to agree on adjustments and changes to the arrangement plan.

On November 15, 2023, the City People's Committee signed and issued Plan No. 01/PA-UBND "Overall arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels in the period of 2023-2025 of Hanoi City", submitted to the Steering Committee and the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee for approval. This Plan is expected to affect 156 communes, wards and towns in 20 districts, towns and cities; reducing about 70 administrative units at communes, wards and towns.

On December 21, 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a document basically agreeing with the plan submitted by the Hanoi Steering Committee, with some adjustments and additions. The Ministry also requested that by May 31, 2024, Hanoi must complete the Project, report to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government for approval, and complete the implementation of the arrangement, consolidation and merger of these administrative units in the third quarter of 2024.

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of Local Government and Decree 66 of the Government regulating the consultation of voters on the arrangement of administrative units; Pursuant to the opinion of the Ministry of Home Affairs on the Plan for the arrangement of administrative units of Hanoi City, the Department of Home Affairs has instructed the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities to make lists and post lists of voters (for a minimum period of 30 days) to collect opinions on communes, wards and towns expected to be merged and arranged. At the same time, the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities direct the preparation of dossiers and plans for the arrangement of administrative units subject to arrangement. The Department of Home Affairs also presides over the organization of bidding, inviting units with legal status and capacity to prepare dossiers for the units and the City. The project and the consultation of voters must be completed before April 5, 2024.

In parallel, after localities have completed collecting voters' opinions, the Party Executive Committee at the commune level will meet to pass a Resolution approving the policy of establishing a new administrative unit, and submit it to the Party Executive Committee and the People's Council at the commune level for approval. After that, the People's Committee of the commune will submit it to the district level, with the completion date before April 10, 2024.

From February 25, 2024, communes, wards and towns that are expected to be reorganized will begin posting voter lists to get opinions on the arrangement. What is your assessment of this implementation in recent days?

- After receiving instructions from the Department of Home Affairs, districts, towns and cities have seriously implemented the review and posted the voter list at the headquarters of the People's Committee of communes, wards and towns, and community activity points in accordance with the provisions of Decree 66. Closely grasping the situation of voters and people in the area, communes, wards and towns have promptly reported, from there, if there are any issues of concern, districts, towns and cities have discussed so that the Department of Home Affairs can promptly provide instructions.

Notably, while previously the voter list was compiled to solicit opinions on the arrangement of administrative units only for residents, now according to Decree 66, opinions will be collected for those who have registered for temporary residence for 6 months or more. Through the voter list posted within 30 days, people will check the information and if they find any errors, they will immediately report them, from there the village and residential group officials will report to the People's Committee of the commune or ward to correct or supplement voter information accurately and promptly.

After 30 days of posting the list on March 25, it is expected that from March 27 to April 5, all communes, wards and towns subject to the arrangement of administrative units will complete collecting voters' opinions.

Maximum support for civil servants and people

One of the most important issues in the arrangement of administrative units is personnel work. Could you please share the orientation of Hanoi City for this work when arranging communal-level administrative units in the period of 2023-2025?

- Regarding the personnel work due to the arrangement of communal-level administrative units, Resolution No. 35/2023/UBTVQH15 clearly stated: When merging two apparatuses, in addition to civil servants who transfer jobs or request to retire according to personal wishes, they need to be arranged, the rest will be merged in the original number of civil servants of the two sides and will be resolved step by step according to the roadmap after 5 years (from the time the merger decision takes effect).

In particular, for the specialized positions of commune-level units that must be reorganized (Party Secretary, Chairman of the People's Committee, Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee, heads of 5 mass organizations, etc.), the City will have a plan and direct districts, towns, and cities to make appropriate arrangements. The deputy positions and civil servants of the 2 merged units will remain the same, so the positions they are holding will continue, without any changes. Therefore, it can be seen that Hanoi has nothing to worry about regarding the surplus of civil servants due to the reorganization of commune-level administrative units.

In performing its role, the Hanoi Department of Home Affairs has proactively guided districts, towns and cities to arrange the staff of commune-level civil servants, paying attention to recruiting and appointing commune-level civil servants to work at district-level agencies that are lacking; transferring civil servants from one unit to another unit that is not affected by the arrangement; resolving policies for redundant cadres who are close to retirement age and wish to retire early... The City People's Council has also issued a resolution on policies and support for redundant cadres after the arrangement.

Along with personnel work, an issue that people are concerned about is the settlement of administrative procedures (AP). Could you please tell us what plan Hanoi City has to support people in areas affected by the arrangement of commune-level administrative units?

- The City has directed the City Police to handle the conversion of administrative documents due to the arrangement of commune-level administrative units for the people according to the mechanism of full support from the City. People who make documents such as citizen identification cards, household registration books or related documents according to regulations that require fees will be completely exempted and the results will be returned as quickly as possible. The City's policy is to provide maximum support to citizens when changing personal documents, handling related administrative documents due to changes in administrative boundaries. The City will have specific instructions on this content in the near future...

In fact, in the previous phase 1 of the arrangement of administrative units at the commune level in Hanoi, in some districts, the City Police supported people in the direction of going to the villages and residential groups to do administrative procedures for people. From that experience, in this arrangement, for all administrative procedures to change the place name and name of the administrative unit, the City Steering Committee has directed the City Police and specialized agencies to establish working groups to go directly to the villages and residential groups to support people with the goal of being as fast as possible, without interruption, and avoiding trouble.