A unified process
Conclusion No. 160-KL/TW of the Politburo established a list of 1,060 tasks and authorities proposed to be transferred to the commune and ward levels, covering many areas such as civil status, land, finance, education, health, construction, social security, mediation, urban, culture, justice-civil status... The unprecedented large volume of work requires the Commune-level Public Administration Service Center to operate professionally and methodically. After more than 2 weeks of operation, there have been initial changes not only in the speed of processing records, but also in the service attitude and the ability to handle work right at the local level.
In the border commune of Minh Tan, the one-stop shop model has initially created clear changes. Every day, from very early in the morning, dozens of people from remote villages have been present at the Center to carry out administrative procedures. Mr. Thao Chan Duong, Tan Son village, was very surprised when he first approached the new model: I came to apply for a new birth certificate for my child. Because he does not use a smartphone and does not know how to log in to the public service portal to submit the application, Mr. Duong was quite confused.
 |
| Provincial Party Secretary Hau A Lenh visited and encouraged union members to support people in performing administrative procedures in the digital environment in Chiem Hoa commune. Photo: Van Nghi |
But the staff of Minh Tan Commune Public Administration Service Center enthusiastically supported Mr. Duong to complete the procedures quickly. Mr. Duong shared: "Previously, many procedures had to be done at the district level, the long distance took all day to travel, now the commune has a new way of doing things, it is more convenient for the people, the appointment paper for the results clearly states the date, no longer have to go back and forth many times to ask anymore".
The atmosphere of handling administrative procedures for people at the Binh Xa Commune Public Administration Service Center also took place very urgently. To operate the government smoothly, the Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee and Director of the Center, Nong Van Viet, regularly directly inspected and urged the implementation of tasks at the center, talked and had dialogue with people to help them better understand the new government model.
Mr. Nong Van Viet shared: “With many new tasks transferred from the previous district level to the commune level, it has created many conveniences for the people, shortened the distance, time, and saved costs. We directed the commune staff to make efforts to overcome difficulties, complete and return results to the people on time and ahead of schedule.”
In Minh Xuan ward - where the population after the merger exceeded 70,000 people, the workload was huge. In just the first 10 days of operation, the Center received about 3,000 citizens, sometimes up to 400 people per day. Deputy Director of the Center Nguyen Manh Cuong said: "14 officers and civil servants were arranged according to their expertise, 2 guidance desks were set up right at the entrance to support people in classifying procedures and checking documents early, thereby significantly reducing processing time".
Work and queue at the same time
Despite initial favorable conditions, the implementation of the “one-stop shop” model at the commune level still faces many difficulties. The new system must operate in conditions of unsynchronized facilities, weak technological infrastructure, and untrained human resources. As many grassroots cadres say: “Working while queuing, solving any problems”.
Clearly identifying the initial difficulties, the Provincial Party Standing Committee established 22 inspection teams to inspect the leadership, direction, and organization of political tasks after the merger in communes and wards, including inspection of the activities of the Commune-level Public Administration Service Center.
According to the inspection team of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee in Yen Nguyen commune, many offices at the Center are still cramped, the electricity and network systems are often overloaded. Equipment such as printers, scanners, and serial number display screens are still lacking or broken. Many cadres have to hold concurrent positions and have not received in-depth training in new fields such as land, justice, and civil status, so they are still confused when approaching new tasks.
 |
| Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Van Son inspected the operation of the Son Vi Commune Public Administration Service Center. Photo: Ma Hung |
In Hong Thai commune, some specialized software is not yet connected; old and outdated information technology equipment affects the progress of processing records. This is also the reality in Chiem Hoa commune when the connection of information and data with national common data or the software has not updated the commune name and data; leaders, cadres and civil servants have not been granted identification accounts and digital signatures to perform their tasks; the digital skills of some cadres and civil servants are still limited; low-configuration equipment does not meet the requirements of work in the network environment...
Speaking more about the above difficulties, Mr. Nguyen Son Tung, a specialist at the Minh Xuan Ward Public Administration Service Center, affirmed: There are many cases where people come to do land procedures, but the original documents have not been handed over, or the information does not match between systems, so it cannot be processed immediately. The national interconnected system is not stable, sometimes paralyzed.
Another difficulty that exists in mountainous and border communes is that people's understanding of public services and digital technology is still very limited. Many people do not know Mandarin, are illiterate, and cannot carry out procedures themselves through the online public service portal.
Ms. Giang Thi Lia (Phin Lo village, Son Vi commune) was confused: "I cannot speak Mandarin, I do not understand the documents, so I have to ask the commune officials to help me." This situation causes the commune officials to have to both guide and do the work for the people, leading to work overload. Some places have not yet completed the community digital technology team - the core force to help people access online public services - making it even more difficult.
Synchronize from policy to action
Difficulties arising in the process of operating the new model were quickly recognized and resolved by the political system from the province to the grassroots.
Right in the first week of implementing the two-level government model, the People's Committee of Tuyen Quang province has set up a hotline to receive feedback and support in answering administrative procedures. Specifically, all feedback and questions related to administrative procedures and public services are received through the Tuyen Quang Provincial Public Service Information Center 1022 at: 0219.1022 and via Zalo Official Account: 1022 Tuyen Quang Provincial Public Administration Service Center.
The provincial police have arranged 36 points for issuing ID cards and electronic identification in communes and wards for people to easily access and minimize travel. Tuyen Quang Provincial Youth Union has also deployed more than 140 volunteer youth teams, with 2,000 members to support people in using online public services, exploiting the VNeID application, providing on-site technology consultation, and training digital skills for commune-level officials - especially in remote communes.
Particularly in the field of land - a difficult and sensitive field - the Department of Agriculture and Environment has established 4 special working groups to support communes in operating land databases and handling administrative procedures. Deputy Director of the Department, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy said: "The working groups will be maintained regularly, ready to go to the communes at any time to provide professional support, and at the same time retrain the procedures for land officers. The Department has officially deployed virtual assistant software (AI) with the domain name https://trolyaocanbocongchuc.dx.gov.vn/ to serve questions and answers, supporting officers and people in carrying out administrative procedures related to the field of Agriculture and Environment when implementing 2-level local government".
In particular, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has just issued the “Land Management Handbook in Two-Level Government” - a specialized document with specific guidance for local officials. Accordingly, the People's Committee at the commune level has up to 45 tasks, the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level has 44 separate tasks related to the land sector. This is an important basis for communes to properly exercise their authority, avoiding overlap and errors in handling procedures.
At the Ha Giang 2 Ward Public Administration Service Center, a computer connected to the internet is placed near the door, people can log in and submit documents online, and if necessary, staff will assist. In addition, 2 tables are placed right in the waiting area for people to conveniently fill out procedures.
Ms. Pham Thi Nguyet, a specialist at the Public Administration Service Center of Ha Giang Ward 2, shared: “To overcome the initial difficulties, we must constantly study, improve our qualifications, capacity, and political qualities, consider each citizen as a “special customer” and take the satisfaction of the “special” customers as a measure of our task completion.”
In addition, to raise people's awareness of digital transformation, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and its member organizations have stepped up propaganda and raised awareness among people. Mr. Phan Van Dui, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Minh Tan commune, said: "Most of the people in the commune are ethnic minorities, cannot speak the common language, have difficult lives, do not use smartphones, and have little knowledge of online public services. To overcome these difficulties, we also go to each house to support, moving forward so that people can perform public services themselves."
With timely and synchronous solutions, we believe that the difficulties in the operation of the Public Administration Service Center at the commune level will soon be overcome. As directed by Senior Lieutenant General Trinh Van Quyet, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army at the Ceremony to announce the Resolution and Decision on merging provincial-level administrative units and rearranging commune-level administrative units of Tuyen Quang province, on June 30, 2025: All work under the authority of the two levels (province and commune) must be carried out smoothly, without delay or omission, in the spirit of serving the people and businesses better; maintaining the image and style of officials "from serving the administration to serving the people".
For communes lacking specialized staff, the province must promptly and fully arrange, strengthen, support and help to ensure smooth and effective work. For border and mountainous communes, the distance to the provincial center is very far, in some places more than 300 km; therefore, it is necessary to drastically promote the application of science and technology, digital transformation to change thinking and management methods, and not to create a gap between the provincial government and the commune and the people.
Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/xa-hoi/202507/mot-cua-nhieu-niem-tin-cf955dc/
Comment (0)