Referring to inspection agencies at all levels and branches in Vietnam, Vietnamese people will think of the proverb, “What ever inspection, the inspectors aim for envelopes with money.”
The verse just mentioned has the implication that the inspection teams, large and small, all have the habit of asking for money, or “extorting money” legally, bearing the name of the state. The inspected agency kept giving the “envelope” and received a warm welcome, and the inspection was successful for both sides – the inspection agency as well as the inspected agency or organization.
What to inspect, when the inspection results are known in advance, so that mistakes and shortcomings will be recorded in the inspection conclusion, as “… there are insignificant errors, which should be avoided in futire, etc….” In short, the work of “inspection” does not solve the problem.
According to Thanh Nien newspaper, on August 16, 2023, continuing the 25th session, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and delegates gave opinions on the Draft Resolution on regulations “allowing the inspection agencies are entitled to take a part from the money recovered, discovered through inspection, after remitted to the state budget.”
The representative of the Government Inspectorate proposed to get 30% of the amount recovered through the inspection, out of the total amount already paid into the state budget. Specifically, “for the amount paid up to VND100 billion/year; be entitled to an additional 20% deduction for the amount paid from over VND100 billion to VND200 billion/year; 10% additional deduction for the amount paid from over VND200 billion/year”.
Accordingly, the amounts deducted, as proposed by the Government Inspectorate, will include: “money belonging to the state budget that is appropriated, used in contravention of state regulations, or lost due to the law violations caused have been recovered into the state budget; the increases in state budget revenues from taxes, fees, charges and other revenues as prescribed by law already paid into the state budget; the state budget expenditures in contravention of the regime have been remitted into the state budget.”
Public opinion immediately reacted, the majority of people’s opinions showed that the recommendations of the Government Inspectorate were unnecessary, ineffective, and most importantly, failed to fight corruption.
Still according to Thanh Nien newspaper, in the report presented by Government Inspector General Doan Hong Phong to the National Assembly Standing Committee on August 16, 2023, said, “In the 2018-2022 period, inspection agencies have got more than VND1.9 trillion, accounting for 12% of the total amount recovered and paid into the State budget.” And now, with the “hard” ratio of 30% as proposed, if implemented according to the proposed new policy, the annual budget for inspection agencies is estimated to increase by another VND45 billion, which means that the State budget will lose tens of billions of dong more.
That is why the public disagrees, and finds that such deductions are too unreasonable. Because firstly, inspection is a public service, which is a natural responsibility that the inspection branch must do according to regulations, not inspection for the purpose of increasing income, to have money to share.
Second, these are the sums that need to be recovered to return to the state budget, according to the obligation to perform. Now the Government Inspectorate again counts this, considering this as a kind of revenue of the management apparatus. This will set a very bad precedent in the management of the State. That resolution did not prevent loss of budget revenue and corruption.
Not to mention that, it will be a very dangerous thing, when the inspection agency only knows how to run after revenue to benefit, and the inspected units will be very miserable in dealing with it. Because there may be a situation, the inspection units may not need to rely on the law and management regulations, but only focus on seeking mistakes in order to increase their incomes.
An economic-finance-banking expert from Ho Chi Minh City told thobao.de with the request to remain anonymous, that:
“That resolution is unreasonable. All funds that the Government Inspectorate recovers from corruption, must be remitted to the national budget. It’s not right to give part of it to inspection agencies, because the inspection agencies perform official duties, and that public service has already been paid by the State.”
If the above Draft Resolution is implemented, the inspection agencies will turn into business units on their own work, legalized, by the Resolution approved by the National Assembly. And the consequence will be, the inspection work will not be substantive, not fair. And so, the inspection is no longer the activity of a state, but the way mafia gangs work.
Such a situation will set a very dangerous “corrupt within anti-corruption agencies.“
According to experts, in Vietnam, with the current rampant corruption, it is out of control. The loss of assets and money of the budget can reach hundreds of thousands of billions. Only in the case of “rescue flight” and “Viet A test kit“, it is estimated that it is about VND8 trillion. The important thing is, if the inspectors recover it, why not pay it back to the victim, but calculate the percentage to share.
If it is really a “State of the people, by the people and for the people” then surely, the mind of the Government Inspectorate leadership will never exist in sharing. Just thinking about spending money to share like that, it’s already humiliating.
Vu Anh
