Limiting “double loss” due to waste

On the morning of September 22, the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) discussed the draft Law on Thrift and Waste Prevention. Opinions emphasized the need to improve the effectiveness of preventing, stopping and handling waste in the management and use of the budget, resources and public assets.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai chaired the meeting.

Presenting the audit report, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai said that it is necessary to shift from the mindset of “saving costs” to the mindset of “effective use of budget and resources”. He suggested adding the principle of evaluating savings and preventing waste based on standards combined with overall evaluation of efficiency, task quality, and social impact; avoiding formal and mechanical evaluation.

The draft law identifies nine groups of wasteful behaviors and nine groups of violations in implementing thrift and combating wastefulness; and prescribes sanctions from explanation, compensation, discipline, administrative sanctions to criminal prosecution.

Deputy Minister of Finance Ho Sy Hung reports at the meeting

Expressing concern about handling violations, Mr. Phan Van Mai proposed clarifying the responsibilities of organizations and individuals, the joint responsibilities of leaders, and stipulating that cases of waste must be compensated at the same level.

“It is recommended to study and supplement regulations on applying remedial measures towards recovery, restructuring, and conversion of use purposes, in order to maximize the remaining value of public assets, projects, infrastructure, etc. Such regulations will ensure compliance with the principles of sustainable governance, contributing to limiting double losses to the budget and society, while increasing the responsibility for effectively reusing public finance and assets. This is also a positive remedial measure to avoid waste on waste, in addition to disciplinary and compensation measures,” Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai stated.

Notably, the draft also stipulates the consideration of exemption or reduction of legal liability for officials and civil servants in certain cases when there are acts of waste or violations; the application is referred to relevant laws to avoid overlap.

The audit agency proposed to add a principle to clearly distinguish wasteful behavior due to lack of responsibility from objective risks in the process of policy innovation and piloting, in order to create a legal corridor for officials to "dare to think, dare to do", and not equate experimental failures with violations.

To ensure a solid foundation for this regulation, the review agency recommends adding a risk control and reasonable assessment mechanism; at the same time, it requires agencies to build an internal control system to prevent waste and clearly define the boundary between subjective errors and objective risks.

Opinions at the meeting basically agreed with the draft, while noting that it is necessary to review to ensure consistency and uniformity with the Law on Anti-Corruption, which is also in the process of being amended.

MR. PHUONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/han-che-ton-that-kep-do-lang-phi-post814127.html