Inspection agencies achieve notable progress in 2023

Deputy Prime Minister Lê Minh Khái made his speech at the virtual meeting on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo Văn Điệp

HÀ NỘI — Inspection agencies have uncovered many cases of wrongdoings that attract significant public attention, helping the Government to recover a large sum of money from perpetrators.

The remark was made by Deputy Prime Minister Lê Minh Khái at the virtual meeting to review inspection performance in 2023 on December 29.

In 2023, the agencies conducted over 200,000 inspections collectively, bringing to light violations and frauds that amount to over VNĐ257 trillion (US$10.6 billion) plus 616 ha of land. Of the embezzled money, they suggested measures to recover over VNĐ188 trillion and 166 ha of land.

The agencies received over 422,600 documents from about 363,000 individuals seeking to file complaints against wrongdoings. They managed to handle 88.4 per cent of the complaints, returning VNĐ133 billion and 8.7 ha of land to the concerned people and taking legal actions against 38 wrongdoers.

The agencies also unveiled 176 individuals involved in corruption, of which 132 were identified through inspections and 44 through complaint handling. The better performance in inspections and complaint handling has led to the diminishing of crowd protests over the years.

At the meeting, Deputy PM Khái praised inspection agencies for the good results they pulled off this year. He suggested they delve into the lessons learned during the year to move further next year.

He praised the Government Inspectorate for assisting the Government’s Party Civil Affairs Committee in finalising the Scheme to Remove the Obstacles to Land Projects included in Inspection Reports. The governmental body was also getting kudos for having ended overlapping inspections.

The tasks for 2024, he said, would involve the implementation of the Law on Inspections. In other words, inspection agencies would have to work in line with the guidance set by anti-corruption committees from all government levels and keep a closer watch on corruption-prone sectors.

He urged inspection agencies to cooperate closely with local governments to handle complaints at the grassroots level. He said it was not recommended for unsolved complaints to be passed too quickly to the central government.

He urged inspection agencies to improve the legal framework on anti-corruption and take more measures to crack down on fraudulent conduct, focusing on managing conflicts of interest and supervising the income of people with authority.

He urged inspection agencies to continue to develop a pool of inspectors characterised by professionalism, responsibility and discipline, who would lead the charge against corruption. The determination and leadership of those at the helm of the agencies would play a big role in the people-centric efforts. — VNS