On May 5, the People's Committee of Nam Dinh province issued a document requesting to rectify and increase responsibility in handling the work of agencies, units and localities.
The reason for the People's Committee of Nam Dinh province to issue this document is "through the media and public opinion, it shows that there are some units and localities with negligent thinking, avoiding responsibility, loosening management, and especially showing indifference and insensitivity to the people".
Although the document of the Nam Dinh Provincial People's Committee did not mention a specific name, it is impossible not to mention a hot fever case that has been of public interest nationwide in recent days.
These are endless scandals that are being verified and clarified by the authorities between doctors, nurses and emergency pediatric patients at Nam Dinh General Hospital.
Back to the document of Nam Dinh Provincial People's Committee. This document reflects the reality of negligence is a task, showing indifference to people in some units and some fields, although not new, it is still very painful.
Although we have talked a lot about building a serving government and reforming administration in many aspects, the phenomenon of shirking responsibility, avoiding difficult work, and superficial behavior towards the people still exists in many agencies in many localities across the country.
More worryingly, it is no longer an isolated manifestation, but shows signs of becoming an obvious behavior, when cadres work not for efficiency, but for "compliance with the process", and people have to "grate" to be "served".
The indifferent and insensitive attitude towards the people not only causes frustration and reduces confidence in the government apparatus, but also causes the entire system to stagnate.
A civil servant who avoids or pushes work can delay a whole chain of processing procedures; a doctor lacking in ethics can affect the patient's life; a local cadre who is lax in management can have long-term consequences for land, environment, resources, etc.
Therefore, Nam Dinh's rectification document is a necessary move. But to completely end the idea of negligence as a task, evading responsibility, lax management or showing indifference and insensitivity to the people, no matter how individual, it is not enough to just write.
To make corrections truly effective, Nam Dinh and localities need to link the assessment of cadres with work efficiency, people's feedback, and especially the ability to handle real-life situations.
There needs to be a mechanism to strictly and strongly eliminate those who work just to keep a chair, while nurturing and encouraging the spirit of those who dare to do, dare to take responsibility and are truly dedicated to their work.
In particular, along with the "ards" are the "carrots" to light up in the spirit of public authority to serve the people - not only as a duty, but as a core value.
Administrative reform, no matter how much modernization is achieved, will only be a cover if the conscience and responsibility of civil servants are demonstrated in performing public duties with the people in a resilient manner.
