In pursuit of the policy of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, District 10’s Party Committee has always focused on directing and guiding the staff resources preparation from the armed forces, and initially achieved important results.

In order to diversify the staff resources under the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee’s program and project on planning managerial staff resources, the District 10’s Party Standing Committee has developed “the Program of cultivating and preparing staff resources from Party members of the armed forces having fulfilled their services” (hereafter the Program for short). The Program has elaborated the guidelines of the City Party Committee on the work of staff and staff development. At the same time, it has standardized and built up the mechanism, created favorable conditions to attract and use talented people, ensuring the inheritance, continuity and stability in the transition between generations of staff, contributing to building qualified young staff, meeting the local practical demands.

Grounded on that spirit, the district’s Party Committees and authorities at all levels have always strengthened the leadership and direction, synchronously implemented a number of solutions, closely combined the work of organization and the work of ideology with the work of policy, with a focus on the principal points as follows.

Firstly, bringing into play the synergy of the whole political system, promoting the responsibilities of organizations and individuals for implementing the Program.

The task of preparing staff resources in general and from Party members in the armed forces having fulfilled their services in particular is not only the responsibility of the Party committees and organizations but also the responsibility of the mass organizations in the political system to prepare diverse staff resources to select and build the District’s contingent of cadres at all levels, meeting the task requirements. Being fully aware of this, the District Party Standing Committee has issued the Decision No.797-QD/QU attached with the Regulations on “the Program of cultivating and preparing staff resources from Party members of the armed forces having fulfilled their services”. In the meantime, the Committee has founded a working group led by the Secretary of the District Party Committee. Agencies and units have thoroughly grasped and well performed the responsibility of detecting and introducing participating candidates, ensuring the quantity, reasonable structure and high quality. Focuses have been placed on the candidates having clear political profiles, good qualifications, moral senses and lifestyles, volunteer spirit and desire to devote themselves to serving their hometown and country. In the process of implementation, the District has strengthened the dissemination and propagation in the local universities and colleges, wards, civil groups and mass organizations, such as the Youth Union, Veterans’ Association, Women’s Union, Trade Union, etc., so that each candidate could grasp the criteria, their rights and obligations when participating in the Program. As specified, each ward would introduce one or two candidates. Particularly, the District Youth Union could introduce three or four candidates. In addition, military commands at all levels ought to cooperate with the youth union and functional agencies in regularly monitoring the working process of the candidates before, during and after the demobilization. The District Party Committee’s Commission of Organization, District’s Department of Home Affairs, other agencies and wards have surveyed, thoroughly understood the recruiting needs, and arranged the working positions as the candidates had completed their military or police services. Additionally, these bodies have cooperated with the relevant agencies in monitoring, managing and advising on the implementation of regulations and policies as prescribed. In the meantime, difficulties and problems during the process of implementation have been opportunely reported to the District Party Standing Committee to be settled.

District leaders meet party members having fulfilled military service in the 2015-2018 period

Second, complying with the principles, procedures and regulations during the process of implementing of the Program. In the implementation process, the District Party Standing Committee has required the Party committees and authorities at all levels to ensure transparency, openness and democracy, and to select the right candidates having good qualities and capabilities. Party committees and authorities have been also required to uphold the principle of Party’s unified, direct, comprehensive leadership over the work of detecting, planning and cultivating staff. At the same time, they have been asked to carry out the recruitment procedures and jurisdictions strictly in accordance with the laws and regulations of the City Party Committee and the District Party Committee, and socio-political organizations. Specifically, criteria for being selected for staff resources before pre-enlistment have been specified as follows: being Party member, graduating from universities or colleges, voluntarily participating in the Program, being introduced by Party committees, military or police units and Youth Union. The working group has cooperated with the District’s Commission of Organization in preselecting, interviewing and putting candidates in the projected source list. During the service, localities in combination with units have regularly exchanged information, grasped the situations, opportunely encouraged and created favorable conditions for Party members to strive constantly and well fulfill their military or police services. For those admitted to the Party during the service, the working group would consider and decide on a case-by-case basis. After fulfilling the military or police service, candidates have been received and given favorable conditions to take the recruitment examinations for civil servants. Then they have been cultivated, trained, and assigned to managerial positions at the socio-political organizations according to the needs of the locality. At the same time, there have had policies and entitlements to ensure participants’ living conditions. On the other hand, the District Party Committee has always promoted the role of mass organizations in the management, inspection and supervision, ensuring the Program to be conducted democratically, publicly and transparently. After two years of implementation, thanks to synchronized organization and strict screening process, the ratio of source staff compared with the number of original candidates has reached above 30%, ensuring that the selected ones have best qualities and capabilities. By June 2018, 13 candidates have been chosen as source staff, including 3 being in active service, 4 working at the district and wards’ bodies with valuable contributions to the development of the locality.

Third, attaching importance to cultivating, training and upgrading qualities, capabilities and professional competence of the source staff. The District Party Standing Committee has directed the Party committees at all levels, especially Party cells to strengthen the political and ideological education and to raise the revolutionary morals of the cadres and Party members in general and the Program’s Party members in particular. Thereby, it has motivated them to make efforts and persist in fulfilling all assigned tasks. Meanwhile, the District Party Standing Committee has cooperated with the City and functional agencies in organizing political theory courses, updating new knowledge and training professional skills in line with the title planning and personnel demand. Accordingly, due regard has paid to the basic knowledge, such as: law, specialization, profession, management science, national defense and security, etc. In addition, the District has attached importance to training the source staff in the working process, especially the skills of leadership, communication and problems settlement at the grassroots level through the patriotic emulation movements. The Party committees at all levels have also required every source staff member to be eager to learn, be active, dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility.

In order to create favorable conditions for the source staff of the Program to continue to develop their skills and experience gained from the armed forces, the District Party Committee has instructed the District Youth Union to form the club “Red seeds” which gathers young Party members having fulfilled their military or police services. This is a suitable model for them to participate in social activities, contributing to improving the quality of implementation of national defense and security tasks in the locality. At the same time, this is not only the place where the District Party Standing Committee can grasp thoughts and aspirations of this staff, but also an important “channel” for the Party committees and authorities to thoroughly understand the situations at the grassroots level, especially the situation of political and social security. Despite having been in operation since the beginning of 2018, the Club has had many practical activities, such as suggesting and recommending excellent individuals for the local authorities, exchanging with youngsters preparing to perform military service, and setting up social networking sites having the information of ideological orientation, etc.

Leaders of the “red seeds” club

Fourth, stepping up the implementation of the City Party Committee’s Project on building military Party cells in association with planning grass-roots military cadres in the 2016 - 2025 period. The District Party Standing Committee has actively guided the wards’ Party committees to attach the building of military Party cells to the building of military cadres, and the admission of new party members to the development of source cadres. Annually, the District has issued instructions to improve the quality of military call-up and increase the percentage of Party members, college and university graduates enlisted in the military in order to create long-term staff resources. Besides, through social activities, local emulation movements, Party members working in the militia and self-defense forces with outstanding achievements have been cultivated and selected to staff resources. The District has identified that the military cadres at the ward level are a part of the local civil servants. Therefore, apart from standardizing this contingent in accordance with Project 799 by the Prime Minister, the District has also concentrated on improving this staff’s comprehensive knowledge of economics, law, foreign languages to advise Party Committees and authorities on the national defense and military affairs and the socio-economic management and development in the locality in the new situation. Grounded on local demands and individual capacity, this staff can be transferred and developed, thereby creating “dynamic” and “open” staff resources and complementing the whole political system. This has helped step by step overcome the closed status, creating motivation for cadres and civil servants to actively work, study, train and strive. It has not only consolidated and improved the quality of the political system but also created a connection among cadres and civil servants in various branches and at all levels.

Although the Program has just been implemented since 2016, with the initial results, it can be affirmed that this is a proper and creative approach by the District 10’s Party Committee, Ho Chi Minh City, contributing to preparing a plentiful contingent of qualified cadres, especially those in the field of national defense and security. This has shown the Party’s trust in the young generation. At the same time, this has created favorable conditions for Party members having fulfilled their military or police services to strive to become cadres and civil servants, meeting the requirements of leadership and management of the locality.

M.A. Dang Quoc Toan, Secretary of the District Party Committee