Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong: No decentralization, half-hearted decentralization

Discussing at Group 12 (including the National Assembly delegations of Dong Thap and Quang Ngai provinces), Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, Senior Lieutenant General Tran Quang Phuong proposed that the principle of allocating capital should be given to localities. Ministries should only monitor, inspect and supervise. If we still follow the old thinking, assigning central ministries and branches before allocating capital to localities, it is a half-hearted decentralization and delegation of power.

Local do, local responsibility

According to Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong, regarding the investment policy of the National Target Program on new rural areas, sustainable poverty reduction, and socio -economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas by 2035, the general goal is very large, but the specific goals have contents that do not reflect the general goal.

“If the specific goals between the two stages are not clearly defined, implementation will be confusing,” the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly noted.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong speaks

According to the investment policy, the Central Government has a Steering Committee, but in principle, the capital allocation is allocated by the Central Government to the Central ministries and branches. So the Central ministries and branches are included in the Steering Committee. Why not say that the Central Government allocates to the localities according to the total capital of the Program, because everything is done locally.

Another problem is that "central and local ministries and branches decide to take responsibility for allocating details to specific project content and tasks". The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly frankly said that this is the biggest obstacle when the National Assembly conducts supreme supervision of the implementation of the National Target Programs on new rural construction in the 2021-2025 period, sustainable poverty reduction in the 2021-2025 period, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the 2021-2030 period, while central ministries and branches keep "holding" it, allocating it slowly, and not allowing the transfer of resources.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly pointed out that if we integrate the three National Target Programs into one Program, we can completely transfer resources. Why doesn't the Central Steering Committee clearly allocate to the localities? If the regulation is to assign to the central ministries and branches, then it will be another allocation - are we half-heartedly delegating, half-heartedly allocating, half-heartedly decentralizing?

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly proposed that, in principle, the budget allocation should not be given to central ministries and branches, but should be given entirely to localities. Central ministries and branches should only monitor, inspect and supervise, in line with the spirit of decentralization and delegation of authority, where localities do and localities are responsible.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly emphasized that "the investment policy of the Program is to focus on supporting poor communes, poor regions, ethnic minority regions, and mountainous areas, leaving it to localities to self-adjust, without requiring central ministries and branches to take responsibility for specific projects and works."

Remove social protection objects from multidimensional poverty criteria

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong also said that the integration of state capital with local capital and other socialized capital sources should also be left to the local authorities. Of course, once the state capital is allocated, the local authorities will self-regulate.

Discussion scene at Group 12

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly frankly said that in reality, there are poor provinces where it is very difficult to balance capital, so the central budget must ensure it. This is also the content that the National Assembly's Supervisory Delegation pointed out. Budget balancing should only be in localities with revenue and contributions to the central government. In localities where regular expenditures are not enough and the central budget still supports, how can it be balanced?

Regarding the multidimensional poverty criteria, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly proposed to remove social protection beneficiaries from the multidimensional poverty criteria because these are beneficiaries who have no money, no labor, are too poor, and do not have means of production or capital to escape poverty.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly highly appreciated a number of specific mechanisms and policies to implement the National Target Programs under Resolution No. 111/2024/QH15 of the National Assembly that have been included in the National Target Program on new rural areas, sustainable poverty reduction, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas until 2035. However, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly also suggested that the Government review and, if a specific mechanism is needed, include it immediately. In case it has not been determined, the Government is responsible for synthesizing and reporting to the National Assembly during the implementation process. Specific mechanisms are the authority of the National Assembly and cannot be assigned to the Government.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly emphasized that the policy of integrating the current three National Target Programs into one Program is correct, but if we continue to follow the old way of doing things and the old way of thinking, there will be overlaps and problems, so it is necessary to completely resolve the issues raised.

Agreeing with the view of the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, National Assembly Delegate Dang Ngoc Huy (Quang Ngai) also said that if the elderly are living alone and have no income, but still require all poor households to be eliminated, it will never be eliminated.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/vice-chairman-of-the-national-assembly-tran-quang-phuong-khong-phan-quyen-phan-cap-nua-voi-10398083.html