A decade of innovation in government's mass mobilization work.

Over the past decade (2015-2026), Son La province has implemented numerous solutions to improve government-led public relations work, ensuring that public relations is not just about "talking," but about "doing," "serving," and "listening," creating a fundamental shift from a management mindset to a service-oriented one, from formal dialogue to genuine understanding. This forms the foundation for Son La to build an administration that is close to the people, responsive to their needs, and truly for the people.

From "command" to "serve"

Recognizing that mass mobilization work plays a crucial role in building a strong government, the Provincial Party Standing Committee has thoroughly implemented Conclusion No. 114-KL/TW dated July 14, 2015, of the Central Party Secretariat (11th term) on "Improving the effectiveness of mass mobilization work of state agencies at all levels"; organized a conference to disseminate several new documents from the Central and Provincial Party Committees on mass mobilization work to departments, agencies, and localities in the province. At the same time, it issued Plan No. 02-KH/TU dated November 17, 2015, on implementing Conclusion No. 114-KL/TW with specific tasks and assigned agency leaders to be in charge of each aspect of the work.

Provincial People's Committee leaders worked with departments, agencies, and the People's Committees of communes and wards on solutions to improve the set of indicators for serving citizens and businesses in carrying out administrative procedures. Photo: PV

Administrative reform is a key task in the government's public relations work. Son La province has implemented many comprehensive solutions to simplify procedures and improve citizen satisfaction. The most important highlight is the streamlining of the administrative apparatus and modernization of work processes. Through decisive administrative unit restructuring, before July 1, 2025, the province will have 12 districts, towns, and cities; 200 commune-level administrative units, including 177 communes, 15 wards, and 8 townships. After July 1, 2025, the restructuring at the district level will be completed, leaving 75 units, including 67 communes and 8 wards, a reduction of 12 district-level units and 125 commune-level units, including 110 communes, 7 wards, and 8 townships, achieving a reduction rate of 62.5%. This streamlining helps the administrative apparatus operate smoothly, reducing intermediate steps that cause difficulties for citizens and businesses.

In the process of receiving and handling applications, over the past 10 years, the entire province has processed a huge volume of work with 4,511,327 applications. Of these, the commune level, being the closest to the people, received more than 3.6 million applications. Notably, the high rate of online public services at levels 3 and 4 has contributed to reducing costs and travel time for people in remote areas.

With a strong breakthrough in implementing 8 key tasks and 27 specific targets, Song Ma commune has excellently secured the top position in the 2025 administrative reform index ranking at the commune level. This result is proof of the local government's efforts to use people's satisfaction as a measure of service quality.

After implementing a two-tiered local government system, Song Ma commune has tightened public service discipline, built a team of responsible and professional officials, and created motivation for task execution. In implementing the administrative reform program, the locality has focused on institutional reform, administrative procedure reform, reform of the state administrative apparatus, public service and public finance reform, and the development of e-government and digital government. Mr. Nguyen Tien Hai, Secretary of the Party Committee of Song Ma commune, said: Last year, Song Ma commune received 5,951 applications, with a 100% rate of timely and accurate resolution. In particular, the completion of 100% digitization of applications and resolution results has created a digital database, propelling Song Ma forward on the path to building a digital government.

The Song Ma Commune Public Administrative Service Center serves the people. Photo: PV

Beyond mere statistics, the "effective public relations" of Son La province's government is also reflected in its working style. To date, the province has published and standardized nearly 300 administrative procedures in accordance with the regulations of central ministries and agencies. Departments and agencies fully and transparently publish these procedures, ensuring that citizens and businesses can easily access and monitor them. In particular, the province has decentralized some tasks of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee in controlling administrative procedures to the Provincial Public Administration Service Center, helping to shorten the process and make resolution more seamless; the "Friendly Government" model in communes and wards has built an open system where officials strictly adhere to the motto: "Respect the people, be close to the people, understand the people, learn from the people, and be responsible to the people." This shift towards service has helped to strengthen the people's trust in the public administration system.

Directly address the "bottleneck" at the grassroots level.

One of Son La's outstanding successes over the past 10 years has been the improvement in the effectiveness of citizen reception and direct dialogue. Instead of letting petitions become long-standing grievances, the heads of Party committees and government have proactively gone to the grassroots level to listen to and resolve difficulties for the people.

During the period from 2016 to 2025, the provincial administrative agencies received 21,969 complaints, denunciations, and petitions from over 34,000 people. Notably, the level of responsibility in handling these petitions was very high; out of 8,563 petitions within their jurisdiction, the province resolved 8,171 completely, achieving a resolution rate of over 95%. This timely resolution at the grassroots level minimized mass complaints and petitions escalated to higher levels.

For many years, during the rainy season, the road in front of the Phua Con village cultural center has been frequently flooded, causing difficulties for transportation and daily life. At a dialogue meeting between the Chairman of the Ward People's Committee and the people of Phua Con village in October 2025, this request was raised. Following this, ward leaders conducted a site inspection and included the project to renovate and upgrade the village's internal road network in the medium-term public investment plan for the 2026-2030 period, with a total estimated investment of over 2.8 billion VND. Mr. Tong Van Dien, Party Secretary and Head of Phua Con village, shared: "Besides requesting the renovation of the frequently flooded road, the villagers also proposed upgrading the drainage system, street lighting, and support for crop conversion. When ward officials and leaders directly inspected the site and listened to the people's opinions, we saw that the people had great trust and hope that their requests would be resolved."

A direct dialogue meeting between the Chairman of the People's Committee of the ward and the people of Phứa Cón village. Photo: PV

Mr. Tran Cong Chinh, Secretary of the Party Committee of Chieng An Ward, said: Since implementing the two-tiered local government model, Chieng An Ward has resolved six outstanding petitions transferred from the former City People's Committee, and directed specialized departments to advise on and handle 70 opinions and suggestions from voters. Many issues within the ward's jurisdiction have been handled promptly, and some long-standing issues have been resolved definitively, contributing to positive changes in grassroots management. Suggestions and feedback from citizens during dialogue sessions are categorized according to urgency and the authority to resolve them. Currently, the ward leaders are committed to strengthening dialogue, being closer to the people, and promptly resolving difficulties at the grassroots level, contributing to building a civilized and modern ward.

Over the past 10 years, the entire province has held more than 2,903 dialogue conferences at all three levels: 160 conferences at the provincial level with 783 opinions; 626 conferences at the (former) district level with over 13,000 opinions; and 2,117 conferences at the commune level with over 18,000 opinions. Through these dialogues, tens of thousands of voters' opinions on land, compensation and resettlement, and social welfare have been directly addressed, creating high levels of social consensus. This is a crucial information channel for the government to adjust policies to be more practical and in line with the people's will.

The ripple effect from practical models

The "Effective Mass Mobilization" emulation movement in Son La has ceased to be mere slogans and has become a series of effective socio-economic models. To date, the province has 952 "Effective Mass Mobilization" models currently being implemented. Of these, 759 are collective models and 193 are individual models; according to the registration level, there are 97 provincial-level models and 855 grassroots-level models; according to the field of implementation, there are 127 models in the field of Party building and the political system, 302 models in the economic field, 425 models in the cultural and social field, 93 models in the national defense and security field, and 5 models in a group of fields.

The transformation of the rural landscape in Ngoc Chien commune is a prime example of the power of effective "people mobilization." Comrade Bui Tien Sy, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Ngoc Chien commune, stated: Over the past 10 years, the commune has mobilized more than 103 billion VND to build and renovate over 70 km of roads; completed 30 classrooms and staff quarters; 400 septic toilets; and 5 schoolyards and community activity areas. The commune has also developed many unique tourist attractions, such as Don Ho House, the thousand-year-old Sa Mu tree church, Coc No Xi Tu church, and Lau Xa cultural space, contributing to building Ngoc Chien's unique tourism identity and attracting tourists to experience it. By 2025, Ngoc Chien is expected to welcome 22,000 tourists, with total tourism revenue reaching 5.5 billion VND.

The people of Luot village, Ngoc Chien commune, contributed their labor to build a stone archway to attract tourists.

Not only in Ngoc Chien, but models such as "High-tech agricultural production," "Fruit tree cultivation on sloping land," and "Mobilizing people to establish organic agricultural cooperatives" have helped to strongly shift the economic structure. As a result, by mid-2025, before the implementation of the two-tiered local government model, the entire province will have 74 communes meeting the new rural standards.

Furthermore, the promotion of grassroots democracy has also yielded impressive results. The entire province has established 3,507 community investment monitoring committees and conducted over 10,000 monitoring activities; ensuring that every penny of the budget or resources contributed by the people are used transparently and effectively, in accordance with the motto "The people know, the people discuss, the people do, the people inspect, the people supervise, and the people benefit."

Looking back over the past 10 years, it can be affirmed that mass mobilization work has brought about profound changes, mobilizing high levels of consensus among the people regarding the Party's guidelines and the State's policies. The results in administrative reform, democratic dialogue, and effective economic models have contributed to changing the face of this mountainous border province, fostering trust and creating momentum for Son La's sustainable development in the new phase.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/phong-su/mot-thap-ky-doi-moi-cong-tac-dan-van-chinh-quyen-HM3B540vg.html