Continuing the 7th Session, on the afternoon of May 25, the National Assembly discussed in groups the adjustment of investment policies for the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period.
Support expanding the beneficiaries
Regarding the adjustment of investment scope, delegate Pham Trong Nghia (Lang Son delegation) stated that despite receiving great attention and investment, statistics show that ethnic minority areas are still facing many difficulties with 5 sad "mosts", which are: the most difficult area, the area with the lowest quality of human resources, the area with the slowest socio-economic development, the area with the lowest access to basic social services and the area with the highest poverty rate.
Delegate Pham Trong Nghia (Lang Son delegation). (Photo: DUY LINH)
According to the Government's Proposal, the expansion of beneficiaries of the Program applies to 4 groups: some preparatory schools, universities, ethnic boarding schools not located in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; some district medical centers, district-level hospitals with important roles; special national monuments, national monuments with typical values of ethnic minorities.
"These are the subjects that directly impact 3/6 measurement indicators of the multidimensional poverty standard: education, health care and culture and information," said delegate Pham Trong Nghia.
Re-emphasizing the views of the Party and State on the development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas, the Lang Son delegation highly appreciated and fully supported the expansion of the beneficiaries of the Program. Furthermore, according to the Government's Proposal, the addition of 4 groups of beneficiaries with more than 4,000 billion VND mentioned above also does not increase the total investment and capital structure approved by the National Assembly in Resolution No. 120/2020/QH14. Thus, there is no impact on investment resources.
Regarding the authority and form of the document, delegate Pham Trong Nghia agreed to include 2 contents in the Resolution of the 7th Session:
Firstly, the National Assembly agreed to adjust the capital source for implementing the National Target Program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas stated in Clause 3, Article 1 as "The investment capital source of the Program is arranged in the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2021-2025 and the career budget is arranged in the annual budget estimate according to the National Assembly's resolutions on the allocation of the annual central budget estimate and current regulations".
Second, the National Assembly agreed on the necessity and additional investment and support for four target groups in the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2025 period; assigned the Prime Minister to decide on a specific list, ensuring the objectives of the Program and ensuring that the total investment level as decided by Resolution 120 of the National Assembly is not increased.
Noting that the remaining time of phase 1 is only 1.5 years, delegates requested the Government to urgently review and immediately issue a list of specific beneficiaries; issue an implementation plan; and resolutely direct localities to focus on implementation.
In the process of determining the list of subjects, delegate Pham Trong Nghia suggested that it is necessary to pay attention to avoid duplication, especially for subjects that have been invested in under the economic recovery program and according to Resolution No. 99/2023/QH15 on thematic supervision of the mobilization, management and use of resources for the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic; the implementation of policies and laws on grassroots health care and preventive medicine.
Supporting the adjustment of the Program's investment policy, delegate Ngo Trung Thanh (Dak Lak delegation) also agreed to include the two proposed amendments in the Resolution of the 7th Session, there is no need to issue a separate Resolution.
Strengthening local decentralization
Participating in the discussion in the group, delegate Ta Thi Yen (Dien Bien delegation) expressed her agreement with the Government's proposal to adjust the investment policy for the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period and the Ethnic Council's Verification Report.
Through the actual participation in monitoring in some localities, delegates realized that when implementing the Program, some public service units in the ethnic sector, ethnic boarding schools, typical historical and cultural institutions, and district-level health care in ethnic minority areas, directly related to the tasks and goals of the Program, still faced many difficulties, were really lacking, and needed investment and support from the State.
Delegate Ta Thi Yen (Dien Bien delegation). (Photo: DUY LINH)
However, some of the above agencies, units and organizations have not been clearly defined in the Program's investment policy (due to their headquarters being located outside ethnic minority and mountainous areas), leading to some difficulties in capital allocation.
“Expanding the beneficiaries of the Program is necessary in accordance with the spirit of the Central documents and Resolution No. 88/2019/QH14 dated November 18, 2019 of the National Assembly on approving the Master Plan for socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the 2021-2030 period,” said delegate Ta Thi Yen.
Delegates also agreed on the principle of adjusting the capital source to implement the Program as proposed by the Government, accordingly, the investment capital source of the Program is arranged in the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2021-2025 and the career budget is arranged in the annual budget estimate according to the National Assembly's resolutions on the allocation of the annual central budget estimate and current regulations.
In order for the adjustment of the Program's investment policy to come into effect soon, delegate Ta Thi Yen agreed with the proposal of the Ethnic Council to add this content to the General Resolution of the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly and not issue a separate resolution because the adjustment content is not large, thereby creating conditions for the Government to proactively have detailed regulations, and at the same time decentralize the implementation of these adjustments within the total investment of the Program decided by the National Assembly.
In addition, the female delegate of Dien Bien delegation requested the Government and relevant agencies to pay close attention to the progress and quality of the Program's implementation as well as the disbursement progress because the remaining time of the 5-year plan 2021-2025 is very short, while the progress of implementing tasks, goals and disbursing capital sources is not commensurate.
The delegate emphasized the need to continue to strongly decentralize to localities to decide on the total central capital allocated for specific tasks and goals, each year as well as the 5-year medium term, only then can progress be accelerated, ensuring the implementation of the targets, goals and tasks of the Program.
Source
Comment (0)