BRATISLAVA, August 27, (WEBNOVINY) — The contact of citizens with state institutions should become considerably simpler and more efficient once the respective reform is completed. At the same time, the state should save millions of euros. This should be the result of a state administration reform titled ESO, which Prime Minister Robert Fico and Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Robert Kalinak presented to the media on Monday morning.
Within the reform’s first pillar, the contact between citizens and the state should become simpler. Contact places are to be established that will be accessible to people within fifty kilometers from their homes, or one hour by public transport. At these contact places, people will be able to get in touch with several state administration offices that are currently located separately. Moreover, each contract place should be able to substitute any other located in the place of a citizen’s permanent residence. A principle will apply based on which the state will not ask people for what it already has in its databases. The contract places are to be put into operation as of January 1, 2014. The reform includes a plan to introduce information centers that will provide information to citizens via a toll-free number and electronic mail.
The reform’s second pillar covers structural changes. In addition to the creation of contact places, also integrated offices on the district level will be established, where the whole state administration for individual districts will be concentrated via respective sectors. Thus by 2014, of the current 613 regional administration bodies, only 79 offices should remain. „These district offices will cover the entire regional state administration which is now operated within a district or residential area by several state bodies. Therefore, the specialized state administration on regional levels will be canceled and all these bodies will be concentrated under a district office and will carry out their operation through departments of the respective district office,“ Prime Minister Robert Fico explained at the news conference. He added that the district offices will fully represent the state on the district level.
The third pillar concerns cost cutting for both the citizens and the state. The Interior Ministry has calculated that the reform will cut citizens’ costs and time spend at offices by half. On the other hand, the state is expected to save some 700 million euro by 2016 thanks to the reform.
SITA
