Local authorities in mountainous areas get closer to the people and serve them.

There was a time when, for many people in the remote Thang Mo commune, going to get administrative paperwork done meant crossing mountains. From villages far from the center, people had to leave early in the morning, traversing winding roads to reach the former district to complete civil registration procedures, verify documents, or resolve social welfare issues. Some tasks that should have only taken a few minutes to process ended up taking people an entire day. Now, many of those procedures can be handled right in the commune.

People carrying out administrative procedures at the Thang Mo Commune Public Administrative Service Center. Photo: baotuyenquang.com.vn

Bridging the gap between villages and government

In the Thang Mo Commune Public Administrative Service Center, residents receive attentive guidance from staff, from obtaining a queue number and filling out forms to submitting applications online. Gone are the days of overcrowding, multiple trips, and confusion with technological procedures. This change is creating a new impetus in this remote and challenging border region.

Thang Mo commune currently has over 2,600 households with more than 15,800 inhabitants, and the poverty rate remains above 50%. The large geographical area, fragmented transportation, and uneven levels of education among the population create numerous obstacles to the implementation of administrative reforms and digital transformation at the grassroots level. However, it is precisely from this reality that the need to bring the government closer to the people becomes urgent.

According to local reports, since its operation began, the Commune Public Administrative Service Center has received nearly 1,600 applications, of which over 99% were submitted online; the on-time resolution rate reached nearly 99%. Administrative documents are being gradually digitized, contributing to reducing travel time and costs for citizens.

According to Nguyen Van Sang, Deputy Director of the Thang Mo Commune Public Administrative Service Center, the biggest challenge in this mountainous area is not only infrastructure but also changing people's habits in accessing online public services. Therefore, staff at the Center not only receive applications but also directly guide people through each small step on their phones and tablets.

"Some people are using online public services for the first time, so they are unfamiliar with them. Officials have to provide very specific guidance, repeating the process many times so that people gradually get used to it. Once they understand and can use it, people are very happy because it saves them time and effort," Mr. Sang shared.

What is readily apparent at the Center is the changing working style, moving towards being closer to the people and serving them more effectively. Procedures for handling paperwork are publicly displayed; staff adhere to the "four requests, four always" principle (Hello, sorry, thank you, and permission; always smiling, always gentle, always listening, and always helpful) in their interactions with citizens; and incomplete documents are addressed from the outset to avoid multiple trips for residents. For people in mountainous areas, this change sometimes comes from very small things.

Ms. Hau Thi Giang, a resident of Sung Lang village, said that in the past, every time she needed to get a birth certificate or have documents verified, she had to travel far, sometimes taking a whole day to complete. Now, many procedures are handled right at the commune, and officials provide specific guidance, so people feel more at ease. "I don't know how to use a smartphone much, but the officials guided me attentively, so now I know how to look up information and submit applications easily," Ms. Giang said.

Digital transformation is entering the "trough" of the wave.

Beyond simply reforming administrative procedures, Thang Mo aims to gradually establish a modern administrative system starting from the grassroots level.

At the Party Congress of the commune for the 2025-2030 term, the locality identified the development of science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation as one of the breakthroughs for the term. The commune strives to achieve over 95% of online processing of applications by 2030; 100% of electronic documents to be digitally signed using specialized tools; and to continue expanding telecommunications infrastructure, gradually eliminating signal blind spots in remote villages.

To achieve that goal, along with upgrading the Public Administrative Service Center, the commune is maintaining the operation of community digital technology groups in villages; supporting people in accessing digital platforms, using online public services and cashless payments.

Given the infrastructure challenges faced by many villages, digital transformation in Thang Mo is not a "one-step success" story, but rather a persistent process of change from awareness to methods. Many local officials have had to learn and adapt to new software and management platforms to meet job requirements.

Based on local experience, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Trieu, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Council of Thang Mo commune, believes that the most important thing in administrative reform in mountainous areas is not modern machinery or software, but the spirit of serving the people among grassroots officials. When officials change their working style, become closer to the people, and are more responsible, the people will trust and cooperate with them.

Along with digital transformation, Thang Mo commune also prioritizes investment in rural transportation infrastructure, clean water supply, vocational training linked to job creation, and sustainable poverty reduction. According to the goals for the 2025-2030 term, the commune strives to reduce the average poverty rate by over 4% annually; increase the percentage of people using clean water to 90%; and gradually improve the income and living standards of people in the highlands.

Those goals certainly cannot be achieved overnight. But from the changes taking place at the Commune Public Administrative Service Center today, one thing is clear: the gap between the government and the people in the highlands is gradually narrowing.

And in that remote and challenging area, every procedure is resolved faster, every file is digitized more conveniently. Sometimes, it's not just a story of administrative reform, but also about how trust is built from the most familiar things in everyday life.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/chinh-quyen-xa-vung-cao-den-gan-dan-phuc-vu-nhan-dan-20260601144953384.htm