Arranging administrative units in Yen Mo Expanding space to create room for development

Build the optimal solution

Yen Mo district has a natural area of 146.1 km2 with over 134 thousand people; there are 17 commune-level administrative units (16 communes and 1 town). Through the results of reviewing the current status of commune-level administrative units under Yen Mo district, in the period of 2023-2025, there are 3 administrative units that have not met 70% of the standards on natural area and population size (Mai Son, Yen Hung, Khanh Thinh communes). The scale of administrative units is too small, the development space is fragmented, causing many difficulties and obstacles in planning, long-term planning, and socio-economic development orientation; local resources are dispersed; the organization and staffing of agencies and units in the local political system are large; the vast majority of commune-level administrative units collect local budgets that are not enough to balance regular expenditures.

Faced with the above reality, implementing the policy of rearranging administrative units, the district has researched, reviewed, and comprehensively evaluated the options, history of formation and development of administrative units, ensuring conformity and similarity in cultural identity, natural conditions, and territorial morphology, creating unity, consensus, and meeting the development requirements of the locality after rearrangement.

Accordingly, the entire natural area and population size of Mai Son commune will be merged and adjusted into Khanh Thuong commune to form a new administrative unit named Khanh Thuong commune. Along with that, the entire natural area and population size of Khanh Thinh commune and Yen Hung commune will be merged and adjusted into Yen Thinh town to form a new administrative unit named Yen Thinh town. After reviewing and developing the Plan and Project for arranging commune-level administrative units in Yen Mo district for the period 2023-2025, Yen Mo district has a new commune-level administrative unit after the merger that does not meet the standards on natural area and population size according to regulations (Khanh Thuong commune).

The above arrangement is expected to expand space and create development momentum because when the boundaries of commune-level administrative units are expanded, it will actively contribute to planning, long-term planning, and orientation of macro- economic development, avoiding development space being divided, fragmented, and resource dispersion.

Comrade Dang Viet Mong, Chairman of Yen Thinh Town People's Committee, said: This is the second time Yen Thinh Town has adjusted and rearranged administrative units . Previously, in 2017, the entire Yen Phu commune was merged into Yen Thinh Town. With this plan, after the rearrangement, the town will ensure that it meets the conditions to be a type V urban area. This is an important premise for the town to expand its development space, concentrate resources, promote the potential and available advantages of localities for sustainable development.

Ms. Vu Thi Nguyet, Bac Yen Street, Yen Thinh Town excitedly said: The arrangement of administrative units in the direction of increasing population size and natural area size is consistent with the current development trend. Therefore, when being propagandized and explained about this policy, I personally agree. I hope that after the arrangement, Yen Thinh Town will have more resources to develop quickly, sustainably, worthy of being the administrative, economic-political center of the district.

With the optimal plan, the arrangement of administrative units in Yen Mo district in the period of 2023-2025 is also expected to reduce the burden of paying salaries and allowances, other activities from the State budget for a number of cadres, civil servants, and non-professional workers, contributing to increasing the budget source to implement salary policy reform, improve the quality of cadres and civil servants or focus resources on investment and development.

Arranging administrative units in Yen Mo Expanding space to create room for development — *The arrangement of administrative units ensures that there is no disruption to people's lives. In the photo: Handling administrative procedures at the one-stop shop of Yen Thinh town (Yen Mo).*

Do not disrupt people's lives

With the motto that the arrangement of administrative units at the commune level must aim at multiple goals, not only streamlining the apparatus but also expanding space, creating room for development, the District Party Committee and People's Committee of Yen Mo district have focused on leading and directing the implementation of the Project on arranging administrative units at the commune level for the period 2023-2025 in the district to ensure publicity, democracy, in accordance with the correct order, procedures, legal regulations and in accordance with the actual situation of the locality; not causing disruption in people's lives.

Comrade Tran Quang Duan, Chairman of Mai Son Commune People's Committee, said: During the implementation process, besides the basic advantages, Mai Son Commune also encountered certain difficulties, especially the psychology of a part of the people who were still worried that the arrangement of administrative units would lead to changes in address information in all kinds of records and documents of citizens and organizations; there would be administrative cases that had not been completed and would have to be transferred from the old unit to the new unit; people coming to transact and resolve work related to the government had to go further, not as convenient for transportation as before the merger; the management and use of old headquarters after the arrangement. On the other hand, the rearrangement of administrative units also had a more or less big impact on the thinking of cadres, civil servants, and public employees...

Faced with the above reality, the Party Committee - People's Committee of the commune has focused on directing and promoting propaganda work in many forms such as: organizing meetings of key officials; including the content of implementing the Project on rearranging commune-level administrative units in Yen Mo district for the period of 2023-2025 in regular Party cell activities, thereby helping cadres and Party members grasp the Party's guidelines and State policies; promptly grasp the thoughts and aspirations of Party members and people. At the same time, promote the work of building the Party and government, maintain political security and social order and safety, ensure production and daily activities take place normally, and do not let the rearrangement of administrative units disrupt people's lives. Therefore, it has created a high consensus. This is demonstrated by the fact that when their opinions were asked, up to 99.35% of voters of Mai Son commune agreed with merging Mai Son commune into Khanh Thuong commune to form a new administrative unit named Khanh Thuong commune.

After the Project on the arrangement of administrative units was approved, Yen Mo district directed the localities subject to the arrangement to collect voters' opinions and pass them through the People's Councils at all levels. As a result, by April 5, 2024, the communes and towns had completed collecting voters' opinions and passed the Commune-level People's Councils on the Project with a rate of over 98.55% of voters agreeing. Based on the voters' opinions, on April 10, the People's Council of Yen Mo district met and passed the Project.

With the active participation of Party committees and authorities at all levels, and the flexibility in implementation, the arrangement of commune-level administrative units in Yen Mo district is carried out on schedule and according to the process. In the coming time, when the Project on arranging commune-level administrative units is approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee, the district will arrange and consolidate the organizational apparatus, arrange the staff, civil servants, public employees, and workers at agencies, organizations, and units in commune-level administrative units to implement the arrangement in the period of 2023 - 2025. Focus on resolving the regime and policies for redundant commune-level cadres and civil servants in commune-level administrative units to implement the arrangement in the period of 2023 - 2025, combined with implementing the policy of streamlining the payroll, mobilizing and rotating commune-level cadres and civil servants in communes not subject to arrangement in the district.

Along with that, the district focuses on directing the development of a plan to handle the headquarters and public assets of agencies, organizations, and units at the commune-level administrative units to be reorganized in the 2023-2025 period, avoiding waste. Implement the conversion of documents due to changes in boundaries and names of commune-level administrative units to be reorganized in the 2023-2025 period, creating maximum convenience for individuals, organizations, and businesses...

Article and photos: Mai Lan

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