One of the most concerning issues of the draft Law on Capital City (amended) put into discussion at the November 10 session was the wage regime and income of cadres, civil servants and public employees, as well as the mechanism to attract and develop high-quality human resources.

Cuong said the capital city is a special urban area, therefore civil servants of the city’s People’s Council have to satisfy higher requirements than officials in other localities. Hanoi’s civil servants have to solve national issues, not just issues of a city. And if Hanoi’s civil servants have to take higher responsibility, they must be paid better.

He also emphasized that power needs to be given to the city’s People’s Council and People’s Committee. 

He said that the proposal on raising civil servant’s salary by no more than 0.8 times the basic wage fund, which is equal to other localities, is unreasonable. The wage fund for Hanoi’s civil servants needs to be higher and the Law on Capital City should not set limits on the wages for civil servants. 

Deputy Head of the Delegates Affairs Committee Ta Thi Yen reiterated the provision of the draft law that the capital city can use the wage fund with total expenses suitable to the city’s conditions and local budget capacity, and the expenses must not be higher than 0.8 times the basic wage fund for civil servants under the city’s management.

However, Yen said the law needs to be designed in a way so that it can keep up with the pace of the new wage regime implementation, commencing July 1, 2024.

Nguyen Thi Phu Ha, deputy chair of the National Assembly’s Finance and Budget Committee, reminded that the National Assembly has approved the draft resolution on the 2024 state budget estimates, which included implementation of regulations on wage reform in accordance Resolution 27.

Therefore, when implementing wage reform, there won’t be specific income and reward mechanism. However, Article 18 of the draft law stipulates a specific income regime, which is not in line with Resolution 27. Therefore, Ha asked to reconsider the draft article.

Pham Van Hoa, a National Assembly deputy from Dong Thap, agreed that there should be a special mechanism for Hanoi to prevent a brain drain.

“I agree that there should be specific policies to help Hanoi attract talents. However, it is necessary to specify who are seen as ‘talents’,” Hoa said.

Thu Hang - Tran Thuong