Take good care of ethnic minorities

In recent years, the material and spiritual life of ethnic minorities in Soc Trang province has been constantly improved and has many positive changes. Mr. Lam Hoang Mau, Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of Soc Trang province, discussed this content with SGGP Newspaper reporters.

Mr. Lam Hoang Mau, Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions of Soc Trang province

* REPORTER: Could you give a general assessment of the living conditions of ethnic minorities in the province?

- Mr. LAM HOANG MAU : The whole Soc Trang province currently has 27 ethnic minorities, with more than 424,900 people, accounting for 35.45% of the population (Khmer ethnic group is 361,929 people, accounting for 30.19%; Chinese ethnic group is 62,541 people, accounting for 5.22%; other ethnic groups are 444 people, accounting for 0.04%). Ethnic minorities live together, united, and attached to Kinh people; trust in the leadership of the Party, and comply well with the policies and laws of the State.

In addition, in the areas where ethnic minorities live, cultural and social activities have made much progress; infrastructure is increasingly improved, especially rural transportation, the number of households using electricity is increasing, educational and medical facilities are being invested in upgrading and newly built... Since then, the rural face of ethnic minorities has been increasingly renewed, the economic situation and life of ethnic minorities have continuously improved. By the end of 2024, the poverty rate among ethnic minorities will decrease to 1.7%, and the near-poor rate will decrease to 5.92%.

* To take care of ethnic minorities, what programs and policies has the province implemented in recent times?

- With the attention and support from the Central Government, in recent years, the provincial Party Committees and authorities have focused on leading and directing the effective implementation of the Party and State's policies for ethnic minority areas, especially the restructuring of the agricultural and rural sectors. The national target program for sustainable poverty reduction has supported poor and near-poor households to participate in livelihood diversification projects and agricultural production development projects; provided preferential credit; and provided health insurance for poor and near-poor households.

At the same time, the implementation of the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority Areas has brought about very positive results. The total capital allocated for the 2021-2024 period is about 918 billion VND, which has been used to implement many projects and sub-projects such as: supporting residential land, housing, and job conversion; building water works for daily life and production; implementing many models to support production development and diversify community livelihoods; building and upgrading facilities for ethnic minority boarding schools; organizing knowledge training for ethnic minority officials, civil servants, and public employees... Since then, the lives of ethnic minority people have gradually changed positively.

Up to now, 100% of communes in ethnic minority areas have paved roads to the center; about 80% of hamlets and villages in ethnic minority areas have roads; 100% of communes in the province have solid schools and classrooms and maintain the standards of universal primary education; 100% of communes, wards and towns meet the national criteria on commune health;

Khmer ethnic people in Soc Trang happily celebrate the Ooc Om Boc Festival - Traditional Ngo boat racing

* To promote the achieved results and overcome the limitations, what solutions will the province propose in the coming time, sir?

- In the coming time, the province will continue to promote propaganda work in ethnic minority areas, strengthen people's trust in the Party and the State, and raise vigilance against plots of hostile forces taking advantage of ethnic and religious issues. Ensure sustainable development of ethnic minority areas, associated with hunger eradication and poverty reduction, improve people's material and spiritual life; gradually narrow the gap in living standards compared to developed areas; preserve and promote the fine cultural identities of ethnic groups, contributing to repelling social evils; improve the intellectual level of the people, train human resources, especially ethnic minority cadres, to meet development requirements in the new period.

Focus on implementing socio-economic development policies in ethnic minority areas towards the goal of sustainable development and promoting the advantages and potentials of each region and area and the spirit of self-reliance of ethnic minorities; consolidate the great solidarity of ethnic groups associated with building a clean and strong grassroots political system; continue to build a team of prestigious people and core forces in ethnic minority areas; strengthen the construction and replication of advanced models in all fields to promptly replicate economic, cultural, social, security and defense development models in the locality.

* Thank you for this discussion .

Performed by TUAN QUANG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/cham-lo-tot-cho-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-post800903.html