Removing bottlenecks in the operation of the two-tiered local government system in Nghe An.

Lesson 1:
Decentralization must be linked to the conditions for implementation.

Many tasks have been transferred to the commune level, but funding, specialized personnel, and data for implementation are not yet synchronized. A recent monitoring visit by the Nghe An Provincial People's Council on the organization and operation of the two-tiered local government; management of public assets after restructuring; and the arrangement and settlement of benefits for retired officials, civil servants, and employees showed that it is necessary to compare authority with the conditions for ensuring it, clarify inadequacies, and identify responsibilities for resolving them so that decentralization can be effective.

Matching tasks with available resources

According to the report by the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Hanh commune, Nguyen Xuan Nam, at the working session of the Supervisory Delegation, after the reorganization, the commune has received and implemented more than 1,000 tasks and responsibilities transferred from the district level. Along with that, there are files and outstanding tasks from the former administrative units that need to be processed.

The gradual decentralization and delegation of authority has helped reduce intermediaries and enhance the proactive role of local governments. The rate of cases resolved correctly and on time reached 99.63%. However, the monitoring team still noted a shortage of specialized personnel and inadequate infrastructure.

Ensuring the conditions for task implementation is a key focus of the Nghe An Provincial People's Council's oversight activities. At Van Hien, the oversight team requested clarification on the appropriateness of the organizational structure and workload, the process of receiving documents from the former district level, and the difficulties and overlaps in performing functions and tasks. The effectiveness of decentralization in healthcare, culture, education , and construction was also examined, along with the guidance and direction from the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments and agencies.

Following the same approach, in Muong Ham, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Duong Dinh Chinh, requested the commune to conduct a comprehensive review of the implementation of assigned tasks and delegated powers, comparing them with human resources, funding, facilities, equipment, data, and technical infrastructure. Tasks that have been assigned but cannot yet be implemented must have their causes and responsibilities clearly identified, and proposals should be proactively submitted to the competent authorities for resolution.

Feedback from local authorities was further clarified during the monitoring team's meeting with departments and agencies on September 29th. According to monitoring reports, difficulties are concentrated in highly specialized areas such as land management, planning, construction, irrigation, livestock, veterinary medicine, and disaster prevention and control. Some newly decentralized tasks lack specific budget allocations; human resources, data, and implementation tools are not yet fully adequate.

Problems also arise when receiving projects and works from the district level. Some projects have been handed over, but the funding has not been fully transferred. Local authorities also argue that the budget allocation norms do not fully reflect the population size, area, specific characteristics of the locality, and the volume of tasks after the reorganization.

Based on these shortcomings, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Duong Dinh Chinh, requested that departments and agencies continue to review the tasks that have been decentralized and delegated, and promptly advise on adjusting overlapping content, unclear authority, or inappropriate content. The Department of Finance was requested to review and ensure resources according to the scale and specific characteristics of each locality, prioritizing mountainous and disadvantaged areas.

Measure effectiveness by the quality of service.

Along with the conditions for carrying out the tasks, the Supervisory Team delved into the results of work resolution. According to reports from the supervision sessions in September, the level of satisfaction of people in Yen Trung reached 98%; in Muong Ham, the rate of dossiers resolved correctly and on time reached 99.38%, and the rate of online dossiers reached 97.77%... These rates show that the results of resolving administrative procedures have been maintained during the process of stabilizing the administrative apparatus.

However, the exploitation of digital data remains limited. According to reports from meetings with departments and agencies, the rate of exploiting and reusing digitized data to replace paper records in Yen Trung district is only 32%, and in Muong Quang district it is about 10%. The reports also noted that records transferred from old administrative units have not been standardized and synchronized. Information technology infrastructure, software, and databases are not synchronized; internet connections are unstable in some areas, and some software is not interconnected, forcing officials to work on multiple systems.

These limitations necessitate improvements in both processing procedures and data utilization capabilities; in Muong Ham, the provincial People's Council leaders requested addressing delays in processing applications and the need for multiple requests for additional information and processing; and promoting digitalization, data sharing, and data reuse to improve the quality of administrative procedures.

Improving processes needs to go hand in hand with supporting service users. Deputy Chief of the Office of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation and People's Council, Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, suggested that Muong Ham should promote the role of community digital technology groups and enhance the digital capacity of its people. In the monitoring conclusion, the provincial People's Council leaders also noted the importance of providing digital skills training to gradually reduce the pressure of direct support for officials and civil servants.

Along with supporting the implementation of procedures, local authorities need to proactively identify emerging difficulties; in Yen Trung, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Duong Dinh Chinh, emphasized that providing good service to the people and businesses is a measure of the capacity of the administrative apparatus; he requested the locality to regularly listen, promptly resolve issues, and not allow work to accumulate.

From assigned tasks to resolved results, the effectiveness of decentralization depends on resources, professional guidance, data, and coordination among agencies... Ensuring these conditions is the basis for transforming the proactive role of the commune level into quality work resolution and practical convenience for citizens and businesses.