Decentralization, delegation of power and determination of authority in the field of state management of science and technology

The conference was organized in both in-person and online formats, connecting to the Departments of Science and Technology, communes, wards, and special zones of 34 provinces and cities across the country.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui The Duy. (Source: Ministry of Science and Technology)

In his opening speech, Deputy Minister Bui The Duy emphasized that the training course aims to implement the Party, Government and Prime Minister's policy on maximum decentralization and delegation of power, bringing public services closer to the people, contributing to streamlining the apparatus and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of state management.

The Deputy Minister stated: The consistent guiding spirit is that what is under the Prime Minister's authority will be decentralized to the Ministries; the Ministry's authority will be decentralized to the People's Committees and Departments; there are even contents that are directly assigned to the commune level for implementation.

According to the Deputy Minister, the process of restructuring the apparatus and merging management agencies in some localities has significantly expanded the scope of work of the Departments. Many directors, deputy directors and professional staff have to take on new fields, requiring time to adapt and improve their skills.

Ms. Nguyen Nhu Quynh - Director of the Legal Department presented an overview report on decentralization and delegation of authority in the fields under the State management authority of the Ministry of Science and Technology. (Source: Ministry of Science and Technology)

Expanding the scope of decentralization also poses a great challenge to staff capacity, especially at the commune level, when many new tasks are assigned while practical experience is limited.

Faced with that reality, the Ministry of Science and Technology has compiled a set of nearly 300 pages of guidance documents, in which each administrative procedure, each content of decentralization and delegation of authority has concise, easy-to-reference instructions, which are considered a "professional handbook" for grassroots cadres.

The Ministry has also organized intensive training conferences lasting many days for leaders of Departments of Science and Technology across the country, and sent officers from Departments and Divisions directly to localities to guide practice and handle actual case files.

The Deputy Minister affirmed: The Ministry of Science and Technology is determined to ensure by all means that by 2025, officials at the Department and commune levels can fully implement the decentralized and delegated contents.

The sending of officials from the Departments and Divisions to localities has two main objectives. The first is to assess the capacity and working conditions at the Departments and communes, to examine whether the data system, tools, and professional documents meet the requirements for handling records like at the Ministry. The second is to directly guide local officials to "try it out, "learn for real" to quickly master the business process.

Deputy Minister Bui The Duy said that the Ministry of Science and Technology will maintain a regular support mechanism and assign Departments and Divisions to organize monthly and quarterly online conferences to address difficulties and problems in the process of implementing decentralization and delegation of power.

“Comrades, department heads and division heads need to treat local cadres who are being trained as new employees – they need to be guided until they are proficient in their work. We must work closely with the locality, only discuss how to do things, not discuss backtracking,” the Deputy Minister emphasized.

Through the synthesis, some localities are still concerned about the ability to implement, even wanting to "return" the power to the Ministry. However, the spirit of the Ministry of Science and Technology is to accompany and support to the end, so that localities can perform well the assigned tasks, aiming at the highest goal of serving the people better, reducing time and costs of administrative procedures.

The training conference took place all day on November 13. Delegates heard an overview report on decentralization and delegation of authority in areas under the management authority of the Ministry of Science and Technology, including: quality measurement standards, intellectual property, nuclear radiation safety, radio frequencies, post and telecommunications.

In addition, the conference also spent time exchanging, discussing and answering specific issues arising at the grassroots level, helping officials at all levels grasp the process and be ready to implement it in practice.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/phan-cap-phan-quyen-va-phan-dinh-tham-quyen-trong-linh-vuc-quan-ly-nha-nuoc-ve-khoa-hoc-cong-nghe.html