Son La creates breakthrough in administrative reform

At the one-stop-shop of the Public Administration Center of the People's Committee of Ngoc Chien Commune, Son La Province, Ms. Vang Thi Pang, from Pu Danh village, came to complete the birth registration procedure for her child. Unlike her initial worries, after just a few minutes of being guided by the staff and filling in information on the computer at the public service counter, her application was received and processed within the day. Immediately after holding her child's birth certificate in her hand, with an excited face, Ms. Pang said: "I find the procedure now much more convenient, the staff guides enthusiastically, no longer waiting for a long time like before."

The small story in Ngoc Chien commune shows the clear changes in the administrative reform work of the province in recent times, especially after operating a two-level local government. Son La is gradually realizing the goal of building a service-oriented administration, with people and businesses at the center.

2025 is a pivotal year when Son La province, together with other provinces and cities across the country, officially implements the two-level local government model. In the third quarter alone, the Provincial People's Committee issued many important documents, including the Son La Provincial Administrative Reform Plan 2025, clearly assigning responsibilities to each department, branch and locality. As a result, to date, the locality has completed 50/72 tasks, reaching nearly 70% of the plan. Propaganda, inspection and supervision work have been carried out synchronously, creating widespread dissemination.

With the goal of "Reforming administrative procedures, taking satisfaction as a measure", the province also clearly identified the need to promote administrative procedure reform. Accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 2160/QD-UBND announcing the list of procedures to be received and resolved regardless of administrative boundaries. This means that people anywhere in the province can carry out procedures, without being bound by commune and district boundaries. Comrade Nguyen Thanh Cong, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, said: The province has issued documents directing departments, branches and establishments to promote administrative procedure reform. In particular, the contents that businesses and individuals are most interested in are related to land and mineral procedures. The province has resolutely directed that they must be resolved in accordance with regulations, without causing inconvenience, prolonging time, and affecting organizations and individuals.

Since the beginning of the year, the province has received more than 88,300 applications, and resolved more than 83,800 applications, achieving an on-time rate of more than 99%. Notably, the province has received and processed 87 people's feedback and recommendations, and published the results on the electronic system. This is a step forward in transparency, contributing to strengthening people's trust in the government. However, the online payment rate has only reached about 30%, showing the need for more solutions to promote digital habits of people and businesses.

Therefore, in the process of implementing the Central's policy, Son La province has carried out a large-scale administrative arrangement from 200 commune-level units to 75 units now; 12 districts have been merged, switching to a two-level government model. Along with that, mass organizations and public service units have also been drastically streamlined, the number of service units has been reduced from 715 to 688 units. Regarding the assigned civil service payroll in 2025, it is 5,124 people, of which the commune level accounts for nearly 3,800. The province has streamlined more than 1,100 civil servants and 128 public employees in a short time. This is a drastic step, demonstrating the spirit of "reducing people, increasing efficiency", while ensuring social security policies for redundant cadres.

The People's Committee of Son La province has approved many job position projects, guided communes and wards in determining civil servant positions; organized training and fostering with 91 classes for nearly 7,000 students. The IT level of the staff basically meets the requirements, but due to the new characteristics of the two-level model, many commune-level staff are still confused and need more time to practice. This is also the reason why the province pays special attention to training digital skills and processing online records for the grassroots civil servants.

Considering digital transformation as a breakthrough driving force, up to now, the province has digitized more than 90% of administrative procedure records, more than 93% of record processing results; newly issued and renewed thousands of digital certificates for organizations and individuals. The province's smart operation center is operating, connecting data from departments, branches, People's Committees of communes and wards, ensuring the principle of "correct, sufficient, clean, alive".

Online public services have developed rapidly with more than 25,000 online applications, accounting for nearly 81%. This is a positive signal, affirming the effectiveness of e-government towards digital government.

QUOC TUAN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/son-la-tao-dot-pha-cai-cach-hanh-chinh-post912814.html