Directive No. 81-TTg Regarding the Organization of a Campaign to Inspect the Handling of Petitions and Complaints from the Public

DIRECTIVE

OF THE PRIME MINISTER NUMBER 81/TTg APRIL 8, 1981 ON THE ORGANIZATION OF A CAMPAIGN TO CHECK THE HANDLING OF PETITIONS AND COMPLAINTS FROM THE POPULACE
According to the report of the Government Inspectorate Commission, the situation with petitions and complaints from the populace has been trending towards an increase over time, with 130,586 petitions and complaints received in 1980 across various sectors and localities, representing a 27.3% increase compared to 1979. This does not include the thousands of letters sent annually to newspapers and radio stations. The majority of these petitions and complaints involve workers, civil servants, village cadres, police officers, and military personnel violating citizens' democratic rights, deviating from policies and revolutionary morals, engaging in bureaucracy, corruption, bribery, oppression, and harassment of the populace.

Although efforts have been made at all levels to address these issues, there are still tens of thousands of petitions and complaints that remain unaddressed. Some provinces still have two to three thousand pending petitions, while some sectors have up to ten thousand pending cases, many of which involve violations by leading cadres of the sector or locality, and many complex cases that have persisted for years without resolution. This situation has diminished the trust of the populace in the Party and the State.

Due to delays in handling petitions and complaints at responsible levels, direct accusations and complaints to the Central level have increased. In 1980 alone, the Government received 18,285 petitions and met with 2,176 individuals. This situation not only causes inconvenience to central agencies but also has negative political implications.

To address this situation and ensure citizens' right to complain and accuse as stipulated in Article 73 of the Constitution, the Prime Minister requests the heads of Ministries, General Departments, Chairmen of People's Committees at provincial and district levels, and heads of grassroots units to immediately undertake the following actions:

Strengthen the inspection of petition handling work at all levels and grassroots units to improve this work. Initially, all sectors and levels must resolve the backlog of petitions and complaints. The focus should be on cases involving the infringement of property and democratic freedoms of the people, oppression and harassment of citizens. The inspection and resolution of petition cases should identify shortcomings and deviations in policy implementation, as well as deficiencies and mistakes of state officials and party members at the grassroots level, especially those who violate the Party's policies and state laws, engage in embezzlement, theft of socialist property, oppression of the people or subordinates... to handle or punish them, aiming to eliminate the root causes of petitioning, set examples for education, and strengthen the machinery of the Party and the State.

2. To implement the above tasks, each sector and locality must organize inspection teams for petition handling within their sector or locality, and guide subordinate units to review the backlog of petitions to develop plans for resolution.

Provincial and district People's Committees need to assign representatives of the People's Councils, mass organizations, and may mobilize retired cadres with prestige and enthusiasm to participate in provincial and district petition inspection teams. Heads of specialized sectors should mobilize staff with management expertise (policy, system, law...) to join local petition inspection teams, and enhance the dedicated forces for inspection and petition handling within their sectors.

Through the inspection of pending petition cases, all sectors and levels must draw lessons to perfect this work within their sectors and localities;

- Regarding organization, it is necessary to strengthen the staffing of petition handlers according to Circular No. 4-TT/TTr dated July 20, 1977 of the Government Inspectorate Commission.

- Regarding the responsibility system for petition handling, it must strictly reflect Decree No. 217-CP dated June 8, 1979 of the Council of Ministers on four systems, Decree No. 182-CP dated April 26, 1979 of the Council of Ministers on the socialist collective ownership rights of workers and civil servants, and Circular No. 436-TTg of the Prime Minister on the responsibility for resolving petitions and complaints of all sectors and levels.

It is necessary to organize meetings with the populace in accordance with Article 14 of the service system for the people in Decree 217-CP.

4. From now until the end of June 1981, the heads of Ministries, General Departments, and Chairmen of Provincial, City, and Special Zone People's Committees must directly organize inspections of petition handling in their sectors and localities and report the results to the Prime Minister.

The head of the Government Inspectorate Commission shall provide specific guidance to assist all sectors and levels, coordinate with relevant agencies to monitor, compile, urge, and inspect the implementation of this directive to achieve good results.

Tô Huy Rứa

Tố Hữu

(Signed)