Public satisfaction - a measure of reform success.

The satisfaction of the people and businesses must be the true measure and the ultimate criterion for evaluating the success of the two-tiered local government model. General Secretary To Lam emphasized this at the closing of the 2nd Plenum of the 14th Central Committee.

Nine months after the official launch of the two-tiered local government system in 34 provinces and cities nationwide, the new governance model has brought about many positive changes. The administrative apparatus has been significantly streamlined, reducing the number of specialized agencies and intermediate points, saving budget resources, and shortening the processing time; administrative procedure reform and digital transformation have made significant progress, contributing to improved service efficiency for citizens and businesses. Operating the two-tiered local government model allows grassroots officials more opportunities to directly interact with, listen to, and empathize with the concerns and difficulties of the people. This enables them to develop more appropriate and effective solutions or recommendations.

Besides the achievements, the operation of the two-tiered local government system also faces some obstacles. Although the reduction of administrative layers and intermediate levels has been implemented relatively quickly, the reform of operating mechanisms and work processes in some areas has not yet met the requirements of streamlining the apparatus. Officials and civil servants at the commune level, in many places, do not yet meet the new requirements. Resource allocation is not commensurate with the assigned tasks. There is still a shortage of personnel at the commune level – where people directly interact with and resolve issues. The surplus and shortage of officials still occur, especially in highly specialized fields such as information technology and healthcare .

Furthermore, the data systems and digital platforms are not yet standardized or synchronously connected, leading to administrative procedures still heavily reliant on paper documents, causing delays and increased costs for citizens and businesses. This prevents the goal of resolving issues at the local level from being achieved as expected.

The reorganization of the administrative apparatus aims to improve its efficiency and the quality of its staff. Therefore, a fundamental change in governance thinking is necessary. The government should not only be an administrative body but also become a service provider for the people and a partner with businesses. The functions and responsibilities of each level must be clearly defined, ensuring the principle that the provincial level is strong in strategy and the commune level is strong in implementation. The commune level should focus on directly addressing the issues of the people and businesses.

The commune level is the closest to the grassroots, where officials and civil servants have daily direct contact with the people and businesses. Many issues and stories arising from practical situations are directly reflected to officials, civil servants, and local authorities. Therefore, the team of officials and civil servants is a decisive factor in the effectiveness of the new governance model. Local officials must truly be problem solvers. To achieve this, the situation of "too many people familiar with old jobs but too few people capable of new ones" must be overcome. A competency framework for job positions at the local level needs to be developed soon to address this competency gap. Based on this, a plan should be developed to train local officials in professional skills, management skills, and digital skills to better meet the new development requirements of the country.

The effectiveness of local government cannot be affirmed if citizens still have to make multiple trips due to administrative procedures, experience delays in processing documents, and do not receive timely responses from competent authorities. A modern administrative system cannot be considered to be operating smoothly when citizens and businesses access paperless public services but still face bottlenecks due to inadequate digital infrastructure. Therefore, the requirement is to genuinely accelerate digital transformation and build a synchronized and unified data system. Data should be identified as the "soft infrastructure" of governance, the foundation for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of operations. Information systems must be interconnected and integrated, allowing for the rapid and transparent processing of administrative procedures, thereby reducing time and costs, and increasing the satisfaction of citizens and businesses.

When every official and every agency acts with a spirit of service, the effectiveness of reform will be measured by the satisfaction of the people and businesses. The two-tiered local government model is only truly successful when the people are genuinely satisfied with the changes in each public service, each administrative procedure, and each interaction with the government. As General Secretary To Lam emphasized: “The effectiveness of reform is not only measured by the number of reorganized agencies, but must be tested by very concrete results in social life: people are not inconvenienced; administrative documents and procedures must be resolved quickly through science , technology, digital transformation, the spirit of serving the people by officials, and most importantly, the commune level must be able to solve problems on the spot, in accordance with local realities.”

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/dan-hai-long-thuoc-do-thanh-cong-cai-cach-10411608.html