If you are afraid of responsibility, don't be a civil servant!

The disease of "fear of responsibility" has never been mentioned as much as recently. Because officials are afraid of responsibility, many projects and even "things that need to be done immediately" are pushed aside and avoided. The most obvious consequence is that after the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a serious shortage of medicine and medical equipment, but many hospitals did not dare to organize bidding; many works and projects were left idle even though there was no shortage of money but they could not be disbursed;... Explaining the cause of this situation, many people believe that due to the fierce fight against corruption, many officials were punished, so a number of officials did not dare to do or decide, even things under their authority,...

Recently, the Government issued Decree No. 73/2023/ND8-CP, dated September 29, 2023, regulating the encouragement and protection of dynamic, creative, daring, and responsible civil servants for the common good. The Decree creates a legal basis to encourage and motivate civil servants to dare to think and dare to do, but there are still many issues to be able to promote it into a trend.

The Decree was issued in the context of existing "bottlenecks" in state management, production and business activities. The situation of "lying still and listening", being afraid of doing, afraid of responsibility, afraid of being implicated, so avoiding, pushing, not consulting, proposing or doing perfunctorily, framing,... is spreading to many agencies, units and localities. Some opinions seek to blame the "furnace campaign", saying that because we arrest and handle many officials and party members, it causes anxiety, confusion, not daring to do, and fear of responsibility in some officials. From there, these opinions believe that, in order for officials to dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility, and get rid of anxiety, it is necessary to limit the handling of "dry wood, fresh wood".

This is to show that fear of responsibility is a chronic disease in civil servants due to poor expertise, lack of responsibility in work, working half-heartedly, being conservative because of fear of making mistakes, relying on the collective because of fear of personal involvement; in Party activities, avoiding criticism because of fear of offending each other,... The symptoms of that disease are becoming more and more obvious, in fact it is the ego of civil servants, only caring about themselves. The above awareness and attitude are not in line with the spirit of preventing and fighting corruption that we are determined to implement. Affirming that the results achieved in preventing and combating corruption and Party rectification in recent times are very important, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong once noted the need to rectify and fight against the idea of retreat, worrying that if the fight against corruption and negativity is too strong, it will hinder development, discourage, slow down, "defend, cover up", keep safe, avoid, and push responsibility in a certain group of cadres, party members, and civil servants, especially leaders and managers at all levels. "I have said it many times, now I would like to repeat: Those who have that idea should stand aside and let others do it! All of us, especially those who directly do the work of organizing cadres, must have strong will and determination, have a pure heart and mind, have a discerning eye, do not "see chickens as hoeing"; "do not see red as ripe" - the General Secretary clearly stated.

In fact, in recent times, with the determination and determination to fight corruption and strictly handle erring officials, it has had a warning, deterrent and preventive effect. Therefore, along with clarifying and strictly handling corrupt and negative behaviors, it is very important to encourage officials to dare to think and act for the common good, creating a basis to remove the current "bottlenecks" and hesitant thinking.

The innovation process does not allow civil servants to falter in the face of any difficulties. Because if the country wants to develop, especially when implementing strategic breakthroughs, it is necessary to face challenges. In order to encourage and protect dynamic and creative civil servants, and remove "bottlenecks and knots" in mechanisms and policies, on September 22, 2023, the Politburo issued Conclusion No. 14, to create high unity within the entire Party and consensus in society. The Government also issued Decree No. 73 stipulating that creative proposals that bring about efficiency will be rewarded; used as a basis for evaluation when classifying appointments, reappointments, planning, transfers, rotations;... For dynamic and creative civil servants who do not complete or only partially complete the set goals but properly implement the policy and have pure motives, their responsibilities may not be handled, their responsibilities may be excluded, exempted or reduced. On the other hand, strictly handle officials who take advantage of this policy to carry out or cover up acts of corruption, negativity, profiteering, violations of Party discipline and State laws, etc.

There is no shortage of policies and guidelines from the Party and the State, but in order to quickly eliminate the fear of responsibility, it is necessary to have specific sanctions. For each program and key task, it is necessary to assign a person in charge, a specific progress schedule for completing each task, and a time limit for "finishing" each task. In case of improper implementation, responsibility must be taken, and depending on the severity, other work can be arranged. If there is an obstacle or negative impact on the quality and progress of work, administrative or criminal sanctions can be imposed if serious consequences are caused. Any officer who fails to complete his/her tasks for two consecutive years must be transferred to another job, and a leading officer must be assigned a lower position.

Looking back at the revolutionary stages, especially in the renovation process, there are many dedicated cadres and party members who are pioneers, dare to think, dare to do, steadfast in innovation and creativity to achieve the goal for the common good. General Secretary Truong Chinh, with his economic innovation mindset, initiated the national renovation. Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet boldly overcame old thinking with many proposed ideas that were included in the congress documents, contributing to the formation of the Party's comprehensive renovation policy. General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh advocated mobilizing and encouraging all workers, all production capacities, and economic sectors to promote production, circulation, and distribution with "things that need to be done immediately". Secretary of Vinh Phuc Provincial Party Committee - Kim Ngoc, who proposed many policies and strategies for innovation, creativity, and "breaking barriers" in agricultural production so that his name would always be mentioned later,... Those typical examples have been honored, and are the motivation that today's Party members look to in order to overcome barriers and know how to devote themselves for the common interests of the collective, community, and society.

A civil servant is a servant of the people, a person who “takes the lead”, must have the courage to take responsibility for what he does. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has said many times, if anyone feels discouraged, they should stand aside and let others do the work, we do not lack civil servants. The people always want that. If you are afraid of responsibility, do not be a civil servant!

Huyen Linh

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