Hanoi (VNA) - Mergingadministrative units must be conducted in line with streamlining apparatus,personnel and improving the quality of state officials, according to DeputyMinister of Internal Affairs Tran Anh Tuan.

Per resolutions from the Politburo and NationalAssembly Standing Committee, the Ministry of Internal Affairs aims to merge 631communal administrative units and 16 district-level units by 2021.

The units to be merged do not meet criteria interms of natural area and population for their current classification.

At a meeting to collect feedback on a draftlocal administrative unit arrangement project this week, leaders of localitiesagreed that rearrangement would make positive changes and bring into full playeach locality’s potential. However, the overhaul requires localities to reachconsensus.

From Hanoi’s experience ofadjusting administrative boundaries more than 10 years ago, Deputy Secretaryof the municipal Party Committee Ngo Thi Thanh Hang said the rearrangementexploited the capital city’s potential and improved local livelihoods.

There should be common rules and criteria forthe rearrangement and localities must study and consider economic structure,infrastructure connection, geographical location, local cultural and historicalfactors before merging, she said.

“The rearrangement should be conducted step bystep to avoid causing disorder and affecting political task implementationduring 2019-2020,” she said.

Locality leaders expressed concern over publicofficials and servants being made redundant after the mergers.

To address redundancy, Deputy Minister Tran AnhTuan said local Party committees and authorities should review and categorisepublic officials and servants based on their capacity.

Officials who fail to take on assigned taskswill be made redundant. Others who are qualified should be offered other jobsor chances to apply for jobs at other units. The rearrangement must also ensurefor those continuing their work must be compensated at a least the same levelas previously, he said.

Besides district and commune-leveladministrative units, the ministry encourages localities to merge as long asthey ensure stability and receive consensus from local people.

The deputy minister said the Government islooking towards building e-Government and using technology in State officeactivities. District and commune-level administrative unit rearrangement aimsto make the apparatus adapt to technology.

Minister of Internal Affairs Le Vinh Tan saidthe ministry would try to submit the draft project to the Government forapproval by the end of this month and hope to begin the merging process nextmonth.

He proposed the Central Party Committee’s OrganisationCommission issue merging instructions and asked local internal affairsdepartments to assist provincial people’s committees to review administrativeunits that do not meet criteria and encourage local authorities to conduct themergers.-VNS/VNA