VietNamNet Bridge – Tran Anh Tuan, Vice Minister of Home Affairs, tells Tin Tuc (News) Newspaper that underperforming civil servants and public employees may be in the firing line for job cuts.

Illustrative image. – File photo

Many people have complained about the lack of responsibility and abuse of power by quite a few government officers, particularly those who are directly involved in handling land and construction matters. In your opinion, should these officers be called civil servants?

Frankly speaking these officers don't deserve to be called civil servants. They must go!

The Prime Minister has recently issued an Instruction emphasising the need to exclude those civil servants from the public service. In order to transform the PM's directive into a reality, all government offices and agencies must step up their performance appraisals of staff, particularly to address official complaints that have been lodged.

I'm confident, when all these measures have been implemented, the quality of our public service will improve.

Don't you think it is time to revamp the attitudes of cadres, civil servants and public employees?

The Law on Cadres and Civil Servants, the Law on Public Employees and other legal instruments which have been issued are quite comprehensive. Since the two laws came into effect, all ministries, sectors and localities have been proactive in implementing the laws. Positive results have been reported.

However, the performance quality and attitude of a certain groups of civil servants and public employees are not up to scratch. To overcome these constraints, the PM has issued an instruction on preventing malpractices in employee development and awarding merits to those who have excelled in their work.

The document is a manifestation of the efforts being taken by the Government and the prime minister himself to push for reforms in public service.

How can we fight back against a negative trend in an office where a boss abuses his/her power and shows authoritarian behaviours?

I think in such a situation, we need to have the involvement of the whole political system and the oversight of the people. These measures are already included in the prime minister's Instruction.

The document asks the office head to take responsibility in the prevention and combating of malpractices in the office. It is also the responsibility of each civil servant and public employee in that office.

Of course, the head office is the mirror for others to follow. If any malpractice is detected in the office, the boss must take a tough stance against it. However, for good deeds, due merits should be awarded.

Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Home Affairs calls upon the mass media to show more stories about good people and good deeds in the campaign to combat malpractice by civil servants and public employees.

Source: Vietnam Plus