How will the general departments be reorganized and streamlined?

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is expected to end the organizational model of the General Department of Market Management and transfer the local Market Management Departments to the People's Committees of provinces and cities for management; and the market management sub-departments to the provincial departments.

One of the notable aspects of the government 's plan to streamline its apparatus is the reorganization and reduction of the number of general departments.

According to the plan, the Government Steering Committee requests that ministries and ministerial-level agencies develop plans for restructuring and reorganization, ensuring a streamlined structure and essentially eliminating the model of general departments under ministries.

If it is necessary to maintain the general department model, ministries and agencies shall report to the Government Steering Committee to seek the opinion of the Central Steering Committee for consideration and feedback.

According to Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra, the Government has so far agreed to "basically abolish general departments and equivalent agencies." Specifically, the Government has proposed a plan to reduce 12 out of 13 general departments and equivalent agencies.

"Today I'm the director-general, but tomorrow I'll be the director-general, and that would be great too."

Looking back at the implementation of the policy to streamline the apparatus according to Resolution 18/2017 of the 12th Central Committee on "Some issues on continuing to innovate and reorganize the organizational structure of the political system to be streamlined, effective and efficient," this is not the first time the Government has reorganized and streamlined general departments.

Previously, the government had undergone two rounds of restructuring and streamlining of general departments, resulting in a reduction of 25 general departments.

The Ministry of Public Security was a pioneer in the revolution to abolish the general department level. In August 2018, under the decisive direction of Minister of Public Security To Lam, the Ministry of Public Security announced the abolition of six general departments: the General Department of Security (General Department 1), the General Department of Police (General Department 2), the General Department of Politics (General Department 3), the General Department of Logistics and Technology (General Department 4), the General Department of Intelligence (General Department 5), and the General Department of Criminal Enforcement and Judicial Support (General Department 8).

Subsequently, the Ministry of Public Security reorganized the Guard Command and the Mobile Police Command, transforming them into units equivalent to a department. From then on, the Ministry of Public Security completely abolished the general department level, which previously consisted of 6 general departments and 2 units equivalent to general departments.

General Secretary To Lam (when he was Minister of Public Security) said: "There are comrades who are directors-general today, but because of changes in the system, the organization assigns them to be directors, or even deputy directors, and they are very happy about it."

Because at that time, the Ministry of Public Security organized "Dien Hong conferences" to solicit opinions, contributions, and analyses, while also explaining and clarifying viewpoints and policies to gain consensus. The Ministry of Public Security also proposed maintaining policies and benefits for officers and soldiers who dared to "sacrifice" for the greater cause.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh once remarked that the Ministry of Public Security, despite having general departments that had been in existence for 35 years, had boldly abolished eight general departments and equivalent agencies at once. After the reduction, everything remained smooth, and political tasks were still fulfilled.

The sleepless nights spent cutting 17 general departments.

After the Ministry of Public Security abolished the general department level, except for the Ministry of National Defense which has its own regulations, other ministries and agencies still have 30 general departments that need further restructuring. However, in the four years from 2018 to 2022, other ministries and agencies remained inactive. Until early 2022, under the decisive direction of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the Ministry of Interior began urging ministries and agencies to implement the "reduction of general departments and intermediate levels."

The reason for the prolonged reduction of the General Department, as Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra once shared, is that "there are still opinions and concerns about difficulties and obstacles." The head of the Ministry of Home Affairs also acknowledged that "this is a very difficult task, the most difficult of all, but it cannot be left undone."

During the second phase of restructuring the general departments, Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra shared: "Honestly, there were many nights when I and my colleagues in the ministry lost sleep over it. In reality, some general departments have a historical significance, having originated as ministries, and restructuring them into departments is a very complex issue."

After a year and a half of diligently working to reduce the number of general departments, by June 2023, the Government completed the restructuring of internal organizations within ministries and agencies, cutting an additional 17 out of 30 general departments, but 13 general departments and equivalents still remain to this day.

Of the 17 general departments that were streamlined, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment eliminated four: the General Department of Environment, the General Department of Geology and Minerals, the General Department of Land Management, and the General Department of Sea and Islands.

The Ministry of Interior has two agencies equivalent to general departments: the Government Religious Affairs Committee and the Central Emulation and Commendation Committee, which have been reorganized to be equivalent to departmental level.

The Ministry of Transport has also abolished the Vietnam Road Administration, separating it into the Vietnam Road Administration and the Vietnam Expressway Administration.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also restructured four General Departments: Forestry, Irrigation, Fisheries, and Disaster Prevention and Control, into departments.

The Ministry of Science and Technology also transformed the General Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality into the National Committee for Standards, Metrology and Quality, and abolished the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park Management Board (equivalent to a general department level).

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also transformed the two General Departments of Physical Education, Sports and Tourism into the National Department of Physical Education and Sports and the National Department of Tourism of Vietnam; the former Management Board of the Vietnamese Ethnic Groups' Cultural and Tourism Village, which was previously equivalent to a general department, has been reorganized and is no longer a general department.

The General Department of Population of the Ministry of Health was also reorganized into the Department of Population.

How are the 13 current general departments organized?

Of the 13 general departments and equivalents that remain to this day, the Ministry of Finance has 5 units: the General Department of Taxation, the General Department of Customs, the General Department of State Reserves, the State Treasury, and the State Securities Commission.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has two agencies equivalent to a general department: the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese and the National Border Committee.

Ministries and sectors each have one general department, including: the General Department of Vocational Education of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; the General Department of Market Management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; the General Department of Statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment; the Ministry of Justice has the General Department of Civil Judgment Enforcement; and the State Bank of Vietnam has the Banking Inspection and Supervision Agency, which is equivalent to a general department.

In addition, after cutting 4 general departments, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment now has only the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology remaining.

According to the Law on Government Organization, a general department is a level within the organizational structure of a ministry or agency, with no more than four deputy heads. However, the 13 general departments currently have as many as 396 bureaus, while ministries and agencies only have 141 bureaus.

In addition, the general departments also have 100 divisions and equivalents, and notably, there are currently 2,595 sub-departments under departments of general departments, and 2,328 offices under departments of general departments.

These figures show that, although the legal status of the general department level is not yet clearly defined, the number of subordinate units under the general department is enormous, and their organizational structure is no different from a "ministry within a ministry".

Therefore, the reduction and eventual elimination of the general department level is not just about eliminating intermediate levels, but is one of the very important aspects in streamlining the organizational structure of the political system, helping the apparatus to be "lighter to take off," as General Secretary To Lam said.

And according to the government's plan to streamline the organizational structure, in the future, only one specialized general department may be retained, and the general department level will essentially be eliminated.

VN (according to Vietnamnet)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/cap-tong-cuc-duoc-sap-xep-tinh-gon-nhu-the-nao-400861.html