Da Nang: Drang Phok village Party cell lights up the faith of the people

From Drang Phok in the middle of the jungle to Ea K'tur after the incident, from the Quang Truc border to Bao Loc urban area, the mark of innovation in the Party's leadership method is spreading strongly, creating trust through action and transparency.

VNA reporters have produced a series of four articles highlighting the transformation in border areas, villages and urban areas - where the Party's mark of innovation has spread from the Central Highlands jungles to the Central cities.

Lesson 1: Drang Phok village Party cell, lighting up the people's faith

Located deep in the core area of Yok Don National Park, Drang Phok village (Buon Don commune, Dak Lak province) is more than 15km from the commune center, nearly 30km from Serepok Border Guard Station 743, completely isolated from the outside world .

In the rainy season, people have to go through three muddy sections; in the dry season, the old dipterocarp forest loses its leaves due to the heat. In the middle of that old forest, there is a Party cell that always lights up the faith of the people.

Light in the middle of the jungle

Buon Drang Phok is one of the “terminal nodes” in the political “bandwidth” of the Central Highlands after the unification. This is the place that once tested the will of the Party and the grassroots political system.

Today, this place has been transformed with green forests, electricity, data networks and dedicated Party officials coming to every house.

“Drang Phok village has had a Party cell since 2004. With the Party, people know how to grow rice, fertilize, raise livestock; gradually abandon the habit of living by the rain and sun, hunting, and going to the forest…” - Mr. Y Te, Secretary of the Drang Phok village Party cell, said slowly and firmly.

With a gentle smile and warm voice, he is affectionately called by the villagers as "the fire keeper for his people in the middle of the jungle."

The Drang Phok Party Cell currently has 11 party members. The entire village has 147 households with 519 people, including 8 ethnic groups living together in harmony. Mr. Y Te said that the difficulty of the remote forest area is not the lack of food and clothing, but the lack of opportunities to access information, so that people can clearly see "What the Party is doing and for whom".

Therefore, the business party cell chose the way of "going with the people, being among the people" to talk about the Party through actions.

Ethnic people of Buon Don border commune share joy on Independence Day. (Photo: Nguyen Dung/VNA)

Secretary of the Party Committee of Buon Don Commune Nguyen Cong Dung shared that the Party Cell is a special political nucleus. This is the most remote and difficult village, but it has the most steadfast Party organization - steadfast in belief, will and flesh and blood attachment to the people. Wherever there is a strong Party Cell, there is security and peace of mind for the people. The Party Committee of Buon Don Commune and the People's Committee of the Commune maintain a mechanism of "connecting the data layer" between the village Party Cell, village elders, the Police, Border Guard and mass organizations.

This method is called “digital map of people’s hearts”. All information from the base is updated, processed and responded to within the day.

According to Mr. Nguyen Cong Dung, the two-level local government model after the merger has helped remote communes access resources and manage more effectively. Commune Party Committee officials regularly take turns going to the villages to attend activities with the Party cells; listening to concerns and resolving problems right at the grassroots level.

“The Commune Party Committee not only issues resolutions but also "goes with the resolutions". Each policy has cadres following it all the way down to the people.”

Cadres, soldiers, and party members share the same belief.

Implementing changes in the Party's leadership method and deploying a two-level local government system, the responsibilities and work of the Health Party Cell Secretary become even heavier.

Livestock farming activities in Don village. (Source: VNA)

He had to continuously go to the commune for meetings to grasp new policies and working methods; then return with village chief Cuong Nie to go to each house to guide electronic declaration and build production programs.

In Drang Phok village, commune cadres, Border Guards and Party cell members are all “family members”. Lieutenant Colonel Do Van Dien (24 years of Party membership, just received his assignment at the combined military-civilian medical station in Drang Phok village) said: “Our mission is not only to help people treat illnesses, but also to help people be ‘healthy’ in their faith. Each Party member and soldier here is assigned to be in charge of helping specific households, from farming, raising livestock, building roads, repairing houses to guiding children to go to school.”

Political Commissar of Serepok Border Guard Station, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Kieu informed that the station assigned 20 soldiers who are party members to take charge of and help 75 families in all villages and hamlets of the commune.

The soldiers help people develop their family economy from farming to raising livestock, disease prevention and treatment, road construction, house repair, etc. This work has been carried out for many years and is one of the tasks that helps soldiers bond with the people and become more mature.

“Every grassroots cadre is a 'political broadcasting point'. The Party leads by action and specific responsibilities, not just by documents,” emphasized Nguyen Canh Tung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Buon Don Commune.

Thanks to the support of the Commune Party Committee, Party cells in remote areas such as Drang Phok have formed the "Three Together" model: living together, working together, and discussing together with the people. Soldiers and Party members wade in the fields and go to the fields with the people.

According to Party Secretary Nguyen Cong Dung, the Party does not only lead by resolutions, but also by faith and example. Each Party member is a small nucleus in the operating system of faith in the jungle.

When night fell on Drang Phok, at the head of the village, the military medical station was still lit. Lieutenant Colonel Do Van Dien was still counting the sick cases so that he could go to their homes to treat them the next day.

At the end of the village, Mr. Y Te's house still has its lights on. In the middle of the deep forest, that light is the symbol of the Party's vitality - persistent, simple and never extinguished./.