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

*Many people have complainedabout the lack of responsibility and abuse of power by quite a fewgovernment officers, particularly those who are directly involved inhandling land and construction matters. In your opinion, should theseofficers be called civil servants?

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

ThePrime Minister has recently issued an instruction emphasising the needto exclude those civil servants from the public service. In order totransform the PM's directive into a reality, all government offices andagencies 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?

TheLaw on Cadres and Civil Servants, the Law on Public Employees and otherlegal instruments which have been issued are quite comprehensive. Sincethe two laws came into effect, all ministries, sectors and localitieshave been proactive in implementing the laws. Positive results have beenreported.

However, the performance quality and attitude of acertain groups of civil servants and public employees are not up toscratch. To overcome these constraints, the PM has issued an instructionon preventing malpractices in employee development and awarding meritsto those who have excelled in their work.

The document is amanifestation of the efforts being taken by the Government and the PrimeMinister himself to push for reforms in public service.

*How canwe fight back against a negative trend in an office where a boss abuseshis/her power and shows authoritarian behaviours?

I think insuch a situation, we need to have the involvement of the whole politicalsystem and the oversight of the people. These measures are alreadyincluded in the Prime Minister's instruction.

The document asksthe office head to take responsibility in the prevention and combatingof malpractices in the office. It is also the responsibility of eachcivil servant and public employee in that office.

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

Regardingthis issue, the Ministry of Home Affairs calls upon the mass media toshow more stories about good people and good deeds in the campaign tocombat malpractice by civil servants and public employees.-VNA