Debating in the hall on the afternoon of November 4 regarding the issue of streamlining the apparatus, National Assembly delegate Vu Trong Kim (Nam Dinh delegation) gave some startling information.
"I would like to reflect 100% accurately that a minister told me that if my ministry reduced 30-40% of its staff, it would not be a problem" - the delegate affirmed.
Startled, because if what delegate Vu Trong Kim said is true, for example "my department" - department A has 100 employees, there will be about 30 - 40 people working ineffectively or having nothing to do, only showing up to receive salary every month, so having them is fine, not having them is also fine.
Streamlining the apparatus means immediately laying off 30-40 employees of department A, whether they have Vietnamese sausage or not, and then using the money to increase salaries for the remaining 60 people who are actually working.
The question is, among our current 18 ministries, branches and 4 ministerial-level agencies, how many ministries, if reduced by 30-40% of their staff, would not have any effect like Ministry A?
Then below the ministry, the ministerial-level agencies are the provinces and cities. If they reduce 30-40% of the staff like ministry A, will there be any problems?
It is necessary to continue streamlining the apparatus - as directed by General Secretary To Lam, starting with ministries and branches, then provinces and cities, not just focusing on the administrative apparatus at district and commune levels as before.
This is the reason why delegate Vu Trong Kim “felt it was not enough” when listening to the Government’s Report 205 on staff reduction. And the delegate said that “it is necessary to revolutionize the central and local apparatus and sectors”.
Another problem, which is hindering the country's development, is that the apparatus is too cumbersome, "consuming" nearly 70% of the State budget to pay salaries but operating ineffectively and inefficiently. However, we cannot fail to mention another cause, which is that there are too many unnecessary procedures, "torturing" the people, which are born from that cumbersome apparatus.
For example, for a birth certificate, 5-6 agencies must participate, causing people to spend a week to 10 days to complete. Or the recent focus on solving the problem of sand, rock, and gravel, and 5-6 ministries focused on researching it but no one knew who was in charge, as General Secretary To Lam gave an example at the National Assembly recently.
Corruption, negativity, and asking and giving are partly born from these complicated and unnecessary procedures.
The apparatus should be streamlined, in parallel with "covering" all levels from wards, districts, provinces to central ministries and branches with "nothing to worry about" payrolls, and administrative procedures must be eliminated and shortened.
This is a solution that helps the system operate effectively and efficiently, and meets the expectations and delights the people if successful!
