On June 10, the Government issued a decree regulating commune-level cadres, civil servants and part-time workers at commune, village and residential group levels; effective from August 1, 2023.

According to the decree, wards and communes are allowed to increase the number of civil servants and non-professional workers according to population size and area, in addition to the prescribed number.

For wards in districts, increasing the population by 1/3 of the prescribed level will have one more civil servant and one more part-time worker. For the remaining commune-level administrative units, increasing the population by 1/2 of the prescribed level will have one more civil servant.

In addition, each commune and ward with an area double the prescribed size will be given one more civil servant and one non-professional worker.

According to regulations of the National Assembly Standing Committee, wards have an area of ​​5.5 km2 or more; wards in districts have a population of 15,000 or more; wards in cities or provinces have a population of 7,000 or more; wards in towns have a population of 5,000 or more.

Mountainous and highland communes have an area of ​​50 km2 or more; population of 5,000; other communes have an area of ​​30 km2 or more; population of 8,000 or more.

According to current regulations, wards (from type 1 to 3) have a maximum of 23 officials and civil servants, a minimum of 19 people; communes and towns have a maximum of 22 officials and civil servants, a minimum of 18 people.

The provincial People's Committee will submit to the People's Council of the same level for specific decisions on the number of cadres, civil servants, and part-time workers at the commune level. However, the total number of cadres and civil servants at the commune level must not exceed the prescribed number assigned to each district.

The government also abolished the position of commune police chief , because regular police were already deployed at the commune level.

The Decree still maintains the regulation of three titles of non-professional activists at the village and residential group level, including Party cell secretary, village or residential group chief, and head of the Fatherland Front working committee. The Provincial People's Council shall specify the titles and number of people participating in activities at the village and residential group level to ensure suitability with reality.

Recently, many wards in big cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang have large populations, while the number of civil servants according to regulations is only 15 people per ward, leading to overload when handling administrative procedures.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the average population per ward is nearly 28,400, 1.89 times higher than the regulation (15,000 people per ward). The population density in districts 3, 4, 5, 10, and 11 is up to more than 37,000 people per square kilometer, higher than the city's average of more than 14,300 people.

On average, each ward official in Ho Chi Minh City serves more than 1,340 people. In the city's most populous ward, Binh Hung Hoa A (Binh Tan District), with more than 123,000 people, each official handles an average of 270 cases per month.

Therefore, from mid-2022, Ho Chi Minh City has proposed to increase the number of civil servants for wards in turn: under 30,000 people - 17 civil servants; over 45,000 people - 18; over 75,000 people - 20; over 90,000 people - 21; over 105,000 people - 22 and over 120,000 people - 23.

In Hanoi, the least populated ward is over 5,000 (Phan Chu Trinh ward, Hoan Kiem district), the highest is nearly 83,000 (Hoang Liet ward, Hoang Mai district).

In Da Nang city, the ward with the lowest population is over 7,500 (Nam Duong ward, Hai Chau district) and the highest is over 65,000 (Hoa Minh ward, Lien Chieu district).

In the draft Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles related to the organization of urban government in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed that each ward would have one more staff for every 20,000 more people.

Viet Tuan