Continue to improve capacity for commune and ward level officials

Staff of Vinh Loc Commune Administrative Service Center guide people when coming to do administrative procedures.

High demands on staff capacity

The two-level local government system has been officially in operation for one month. According to the initial assessment of the Department of Home Affairs, the grassroots government system is basically operating smoothly, ensuring good service to the people and business operations. However, many difficulties and problems have also been revealed, requiring timely solutions to overcome.

Mr. Le Duc Loc, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Vang Commune, informed: Some departments still lack human resources with deep expertise, especially in the field of information technology (IT). Previously, IT officers were mainly at the district level and had not been fully transferred to the commune level. Meanwhile, administrative procedures and work management are increasingly digitized, requiring specialized officers to be able to operate modern technology systems well. New positions in areas such as finance and land also place high demands on expertise and professionalism, causing many officers to have difficulty in approaching the job due to not being in the right field of previous training.

Not only cadres and civil servants, many cadres taking on new management positions such as Head of the Party Building Committee in communes and wards also faced difficulties in the beginning. This is a large amount of work, including many new contents on Party organization, cadre work, propaganda, and mass mobilization, which had not been assigned to the grassroots level before, while the human resources were not large.

Mr. Nguyen Van Manh, Director of the Department of Home Affairs, said: Due to increasingly clear decentralization and delegation of power, the workload at the commune level is now much larger than before. Some cadres and civil servants transferred to new positions have not yet adapted, leading to coordination in handling work that is not really smooth and synchronous. The merger of administrative boundaries, changes in organizational structure, leadership positions, etc. have also caused many localities to not have time to stabilize their organizational apparatus and personnel.

At the 19th City Party Committee Conference (expanded), Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Van Phuong frankly assessed: The City Party Committee has complete confidence in the standing committees of the Party Committees at the commune and ward levels, because these are officials who have held important positions and are capable. However, regarding lower-level officials and civil servants, through actual inspection, there are still many cases that do not meet the job requirements. If only the superior leaders are qualified, but the implementation department below does not meet the requirements, the whole system cannot operate effectively.

Training and continuing to organize

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Son, Director of the Department of Science and Technology, said: The application of digital technology in management and operation at the grassroots level is especially important. This not only helps to connect and synchronize data between agencies, but also contributes to improving transparency, shortening work processing time, and reducing cumbersome administrative procedures. To do that, it is necessary to have synchronous coordination between the city and commune levels.

Recently, the Department of Science and Technology organized a training course to improve digital skills and apply technology in practice for many groups of people in Dan Dien commune. For commune-level officials, the training course aimed at proficient use of digital systems, online public services, electronic document processing and ensuring information security is an urgent requirement. The application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual assistants, etc. was also trained to improve work efficiency and administrative reform.

According to Mr. Pham Cong Phuoc, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dan Dien Commune, digital transformation is not only a trend but has become a mandatory requirement. Commune-level cadres need to quickly access knowledge about digital transformation and information security. "Through training programs, cadres and civil servants can reduce work pressure, improve their advisory skills and capacity to perform professional tasks. Hopefully, after each training session, cadres will proactively and effectively apply technology to their work, serving people better and better," Mr. Phuoc shared.

In addition to strengthening training and education, Mr. Phan Xuan Toan, member of the Standing Committee and Head of the Organization Committee of the City Party Committee, also noted that after the initial period of operating the new apparatus, it is necessary to continue to review and re-evaluate the entire team of cadres and civil servants at the grassroots level. The arrangement and assignment of tasks must be carried out scientifically, reasonably, and in accordance with the professional qualifications and practical capacity of each individual.

“The rotation and transfer of cadres must be flexible, in order to create good adaptation to the new working environment, while creating conditions for cadres to be trained and develop their capacity in different working positions. It is necessary to pay attention to training the next generation, especially young cadres, thereby building a cadre force that is both dedicated and capable, ready to meet the development requirements of the city in the new period,” Mr. Phan Xuan Toan emphasized.