The Government’s Steering Committee on Public Administration Reform held a meeting on Thursday to announce the PAR Index and the SIPAS in 2020. — VNA/VNS Photo

 HÀ NỘI — The northern province of Quảng Ninh maintained first position on the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR Index) for the fourth consecutive year in 2020.

The province also topped the Satisfaction Index of Public Administration Services (SIPAS) for the second time which measures the quality of public service delivery through feedback from citizens and organisations.

The results were announced on Thursday by the Government’s Steering Committee on Public Administration Reform.

Regarding the PAR Index, Quảng Ninh was followed by Hải Phòng, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Bình Dương and Đồng Tháp.

Meanwhile, Hải Phòng, Bắc Giang, Hải Dương, Hưng Yên and Vĩnh Phúc ranked after Quảng Ninh in terms of the SIPAS. Localities with the lowest SIPAS were Bình Thuận, Đắk Lắk, Cao Bằng, Quảng Bình, Quảng Ngãi, Kiên Giang and Bình Phước.

The PAR Index also looked at 17 ministries and ministerial agencies with the State Bank of Việt Nam continuing to rank top. This is the sixth time the credit institution has earned first position in public administration reform. It was followed by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Health were ranked bottom.

The SIPAS was measured at provincial/municipal People’s Committees in all 63 provinces and cities in the country. It provides a set of indicators reflecting assessment, satisfaction and expectations of people and organisations for 16 public services such as granting/licensing/certificating land-use rights, the environment, driving licences, transport, construction, legal assistance, business licences, labour and social welfare.

It showed that 5.13 per cent of surveyed residents and organisations had to travel many times to conduct public services and the situation was recorded in all 63 localities.

Around 1.23 per cent of surveyed people and organisations suffered harassment and 0.59 per cent of them had to pay additional fees to have public services completed.   

According to Minister of Home Affairs Phạm Thị Thanh Trà, which produced the PAR Index, the administration reform has gained encouraging results, contributing to socio-economic development of the country. — VNS