“Hearing State”: a year later

Today we have all witnessed that active reforms in Kazakh society and the implementation of the “hearing state” concept occurred during one of the most difficult periods in the history of independent Kazakhstan. Due to the pandemic, the population is having a hard time. All socio-economic spheres are under enormous pressure. Kazakhstanis are experiencing difficulties in psycho-emotional and material terms.

July 22 marks one year since the creation of the Department for Control over the Consideration of Appeals of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. How effective was this work, how many people did they help solve their problems? About this in an exclusive interview with the Deputy Head of the Department Daniyar Kadirov.

Dialogue in a new format

– Daniyar Ramazanovich, I suggest we talk about how productive this period was for the Department? This is extremely important, since your work is directly related to the reception of citizens, a live dialogue with people who, having bypassed a number of authorities where they were not heard, turn to you? What does the “hearing state” concept mean for them in practice?

– The concept of a “listening state”, initiated by Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, actually lays a new foundation for dialogue, interaction and cooperation between citizens and the state. Responding promptly and effectively to citizen requests is only one aspect of the concept.

What is fundamentally new in it is that work in this direction has acquired a consolidated character, when specific responsible structures and responsible persons have been identified who are responsible for the quality of consideration of appeals in government bodies.

last hope

Working directly with people, I see firsthand that for many, the Reception Office of the Presidential Administration is the last hope for solving their problems.

– It’s hard to disagree with this.

“Realizing the assigned responsibility, we are trying to find a legal opportunity to resolve the issue.

A year later, I can say with confidence that we have achieved certain results. And all thanks to the fact that the citizen and his interests are of paramount importance to us.

The companies Google, Facebook, Tesla are united by one mission – to change the world around people, making it more open, accessible and comfortable. In this, the mission of our Department is very similar to the mission of such corporations, since we are creating a kind of ecosystem for working with appeals, which should improve the quality of interaction between citizens and government bodies.

New methodology

– What was the emphasis when working with public appeals?

– During the first year of work, we were focused on developing a new methodology for working with requests and creating a network of front offices in the regions, similar to the Reception of Citizens of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

I would like to dwell in more detail on the reception of citizens and not cover the entire range of issues, since the concept of a “hearing state” is a complex concept that affects many spheres of the state’s life. Our task is to build a fundamentally new quality of interaction between government agencies and the population, built on accessibility, openness and customer focus. It would not be an exaggeration if I say that these principles are already being implemented in our work.

Firstly, the new procedure for receiving citizens provides for two formats of work: receptions at the front office of the Presidential Administration and on-site receptions for the Presidential Assistant. Today, a resident of any region of the country who has made an appointment with us has the opportunity to choose: come to Nur-Sultan, participate in the reception through a video conferencing channel between the akimat and the front office of the Presidential Administration, or wait for an on-site reception by the Presidential Assistant in the region of residence .

In other words, if a person is unable to come to Nur-Sultan due to health reasons, lack of financial resources, time, or for some other reason, we always remain available to him. This measure is especially relevant for socially vulnerable citizens who do not have the financial ability to travel to Nur-Sultan, to the front office of the Presidential Administration.

Secondly, after the creation of the Department, citizens are received exclusively by the Assistant to the President or his deputies.

Thirdly, they are mandatory attended by representatives of government agencies whose competence includes the issue of considering the appeal of a particular citizen. And, if possible, the issue raised by the applicant will be resolved on the spot.

Fourthly, civil society institutions are involved in joint work.

For example, representatives of the Association of Chambers of Legal Consultants of the Republic of Kazakhstan conduct an independent examination of incoming applications and prepare appropriate conclusions, which are sent to the prosecutor’s office, law enforcement, central and local executive bodies.

The past year has shown the high efficiency of the current practice. On individual appeals, thanks to interaction with civil society, it was possible to achieve the introduction of acts of prosecutorial response, and the judiciary reviewed previously issued court decisions.

In addition, in the context of receptions of citizens, the involved consultants also provided about a thousand free legal consultations.

People’s trust is growing

Thanks to the proactive work of the front office, it was possible to protect people from six attempts at unauthorized rallies, ten single pickets, three suicide attempts and one hunger strike. In my opinion, these facts indicate a certain level of public confidence in our work. People who were in a critical life situation believed that we would objectively, openly and, most importantly, qualitatively consider their appeals.

– Judging by the response of citizens who contacted you, people began to trust more. This makes me happy.

– In the future, we intend to disseminate the experience of the front office of the Presidential Administration in the regions of the country.

– Today it is obvious that accessibility and openness are principles demanded by society. How many citizens have been received by the Presidential Reception Administration in the new format?

– Literally on August 5-6 last year, a visiting reception was held in Nur-Sultan on the basis of the city akimat. It was used to develop an algorithm for interaction with local executive bodies. In the same month, the front office of the Presidential Administration began working in a new format with the involvement of representatives of responsible government bodies and civil society institutions. After this, we already had a clear idea of ​​how further work should be structured.

Therefore, during the year of the Department’s operation, 1,777 citizens attended our receptions, 700 of whom were as part of visiting receptions for the Presidential Assistant in 9 regions of the country.

I would also like to remind you that on November 21, 2019, at the initiative of the Department, a Unified Reception Day was held for the first time. On this day, heads of central government agencies and akims of all levels organized personal receptions for citizens. In total, over 14 thousand people applied to the reception authorities throughout the republic.

In addition, the Department monthly monitors the reception of citizens by government agencies. And, if we see that some government agency does not hold receptions or receives a small number of people, although there is a request among citizens, then we immediately respond. Citizens also notify us if they are deliberately not making an appointment. Then we get involved, investigate the issue and take action.

In the future, this practice will spread at the level of regional akimats.

– From which areas of the country do the most requests come from on Single Admission Day?

– The largest number, 47 percent of all requests, came from Almaty, Akmola, Kostanay, Zhambyl and Turkestan regions. The overwhelming majority (68.8 percent) of those who applied raised issues of public utilities, social protection, provision of housing and land plots.

Sign up in advance

– Are there aspects of the Department’s work that, let’s say, the population doesn’t really like?

– That happens. Sometimes citizens become dissatisfied with the fact that they need to make an appointment in advance or cannot come without an appointment at any time convenient for them. But from my experience, I want to say unequivocally that the reception of citizens acquires meaning only when they have carefully prepared for it. And this requires some time.

Focus on quality

– Any idea is only as good as its implementation. How is the quality of consideration of incoming applications controlled?

– Of course, without improving the quality of consideration of appeals, it is in principle impossible to talk about a “hearing state”, therefore the Department, as mentioned above, switched to a new methodology for monitoring and working with appeals, regardless of whether they were received as part of the reception, through the e-government portal or on paper. First of all, control over the determination of the specific procedure and timing for resolving citizens’ issues by government bodies has been strengthened.

For example, if the appeal touches on the interests of a group of citizens or from the analysis we see that the problem is repeated many times and the issue is systemic in nature, with the support of the Department, interdepartmental coordination is directly carried out, including the creation of working groups on specific problems – mortgage holders, equity holders, etc.

At the suggestion of department employees, the practice of requesting and analyzing primary materials from government agencies has been introduced. As a rule, these are inspection protocols, expert opinions, minutes of meetings, standard contracts, and so on.

Thus, the assessment of the quality of consideration of an appeal by government agencies occurs not based on the response submitted to the Department, but on the entire spectrum of work carried out by government agencies.

And, as I already noted, if necessary, a legal examination is carried out on the applicant’s question, as well as the responses of government bodies.

At the same time, employees periodically contact applicants to double-check the arguments of government agencies.

Human factor

– After certain issues are resolved, are adjustments made to the work of the structures about which complaints are received?

– When working with appeals, we are essentially conducting a mini-investigation. We break it down into the history of events and try to identify the root cause of the situation that has arisen. Often we are faced with a human factor, where someone was negligent in their work, made a mistake, abused their position or did not act.

Therefore, I would say this: we are fighting against the facts of formalism, negligent attitude towards official duties. Over the past year, we have accumulated unique experience, so similar departments in the regional akimats that have begun their work will also be focused on promptly detecting such facts and responding to them. It is important to note that the skills, knowledge and experience of the staff that we have all acquired while working in the Department form the basis of a methodology that will be replicated among other government agencies.

Not a complaint, but a request

– Do you receive requests of a personal nature or from teams where there are no complaints? In these cases, do people also have a chance to get help?

– Yes, they are. The most popular personal request among citizens of Kazakhstan is an invitation to the Head of State to a wedding celebration or cutting the bonds of children. Foreign citizens ask the President to send his photograph with an autograph. Citizens with an active civic position deserve special attention. They make their proposals for the development of sectors of the economy, tourism, sports, culture and so on.

For example, last year an appeal was received with proposals for the development of regional and interregional tourism. For an expert assessment of the relevance of the proposals and the possibility of their practical implementation, the appeal was sent to the Ministry of Culture and Sports. In the course of studying the issue, the Ministry involved the author of the appeal in active interaction, inviting him to meetings, meetings and working groups. All this lasted more than one month. And after several official events, the applicant told us that he did not think that everything would be so serious and his opinion would be discussed at a high level. Therefore, you need to be prepared for the fact that if you send a proposal to us, you will most likely have to work as part of a working group.

There are funny things

– Regarding personal requests, we had a funny case when a nonresident citizen, who was delayed at the reception, asked for help picking up a small bag from the station. We, of course, decided to help him, and in the end the car was loaded with 8 large “Chinese bags”. It’s good that there was enough space in the car to accommodate all this.

Life is multifaceted, for this reason the reasons for appeals can be very different, we try to make every effort to support our citizens.

– Are there any plans to make any changes to the handling of appeals, taking into account the difficult situation due to the pandemic?

“Perhaps our department is not the only government body that receives citizens via video conferencing. We started this work immediately after the state of emergency was lifted.

In June, Assistant to the President Tamara Duisenova 55 people from 7 regions of the country were accepted. The initial analysis of appeals has also been strengthened to determine the urgency of the issue being raised and the possibility of its prompt resolution. Our main task during this difficult period is to ensure high-quality and timely consideration of applications.

– I wish that the population’s confidence in the work of the Department increases from year to year, turning the Concept of a “hearing state” into reality.