On the afternoon of October 1, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a Government meeting to assess the implementation and challenges of the two-tier local government model.

He praised ministries, sectors, and localities for their efforts in ensuring smooth operations of the new governance model.

According to the Prime Minister, these bodies have strengthened the performance of local authorities, shifting from passive administration to proactive governance. Results are improving week by week, month by month, and quarter by quarter - ultimately benefiting both citizens and businesses.

Agreeing with participants on the need to resolve remaining limitations, Chinh made a strong statement: "As long as the people still complain, the government must continue to strive and find effective solutions. If localities are still underdeveloped, the central government must step in, reflect, and push for growth."

He assigned deputy prime ministers and ministers to urgently review and resolve issues in accordance with Conclusion No. 195-KL/TW of the Politburo and Secretariat. This must be carried out under the principle of the "six clarities": clear responsibility, clear personnel, clear tasks, clear timelines, clear authority, and clear outcomes.

Weekly reports and reviews are to be submitted to the Politburo.

Chinh emphasized the urgent need to remove administrative and operational obstacles in the two-tier local government model. He reiterated that each issue must be resolved by the agency or authority responsible for it, and called for innovative thinking and decisive implementation - without perfectionism, but also without haste.

The Prime Minister also directed the Minister of Science and Technology to build a real-time, interconnected monitoring system to evaluate the performance of the local government model. This system should integrate with the central evaluation network and provide transparent, unified data.

Government working groups will be established to inspect, guide, and assist localities in overcoming difficulties in implementation and governance under the two-tier system.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Finance are tasked with urgently resolving outstanding salary and benefit payments for employees laid off under Decree No. 178/2024/ND-CP, with a deadline of October 10. The Ministry of Finance must also coordinate with localities to resolve delays in opening payment accounts for grassroots organizations.

Addressing inconsistencies in staff capacity - especially in state management, legal frameworks, IT, and accountability - Chinh called for a thorough assessment and resolution of weaknesses in commune-level civil servants. He demanded final guidance on determining job positions and staffing structures.

The Prime Minister urged stronger decentralization and delegation of powers. He made clear: "Whoever does it best should be assigned the task. If you don’t know how to manage it, don’t take it on. Let localities decide, implement, and take responsibility. The central government should not take over local functions."

Ministries and sectors must work with local authorities to review and revise overlapping or conflicting laws and regulations. Missing legal documents must be promptly drafted, and bottlenecks in administrative procedures - especially in land, planning, finance, public assets, construction, transportation, and surplus public facilities - must be addressed.

Chinh also instructed ministries to accelerate digital transformation and ensure seamless infrastructure in power, telecommunications, and IT systems.

He stressed that the two-tier local government model must operate synchronously, consistently, and effectively to meet the expectations of the Party, State, and the people.

The new administrative structure must outperform the old one. Public services and administrative procedures for both citizens and businesses must continuously improve.

Ngan Anh