Achieving New Rural Standards - Challenges After Glory: Part 1 - The Countryside is Brimming with New Life

BHG - 51 communes meeting the New Rural Area (NTM) standards of the province are vivid evidence of the synchronous development of economy , infrastructure and quality of life. However, behind the halo is a big challenge in maintaining and improving the quality of NTM criteria. Because, only 9.8% of them still meet all 19 NTM criteria; many communes have decreased sharply, facing the risk of losing the standard, even some neighboring districts have "no" NTM communes.

Part 1: The countryside is filled with new life

NTM is not only a policy but has become the daily rhythm of life in every countryside in the northernmost part of the country. When "Party's will - people's heart" blend, once poor countrysides now rise to become livable countrysides with synchronous infrastructure, gradually modernized, bright, green, clean, beautiful, safe rural landscapes, rich in traditional cultural identity.

From the right decision…

Com products of the Tay people attract tourists in the space of Phuong Thien Market ( Ha Giang city).

In 2011, our province simultaneously implemented the National Target Program (NTP) to build new rural areas in 175 communes/11 districts and cities. However, with the characteristics of a mountainous and border province with many difficulties, fragmented terrain, and uneven educational levels, the journey to build new rural areas faces many challenges. At this time, the average of the whole province only achieved 3.5 criteria/commune/19 NTM criteria, the average annual income per capita is low, and the poverty rate is high. Mobilizing contributions from people and businesses faces many obstacles, while the demand for investment capital for infrastructure is very large, requiring solutions suitable to reality.

With the determination to build a rich and civilized countryside, the province has proactively and flexibly implemented the program of building new rural areas. The strictness in leadership and direction, the specificity in the way of guiding the implementation of new rural criteria of all levels and sectors, together with the spirit of consensus among the people, have become an important foundation to make the program of building new rural areas a central and continuous task of the entire political system and society. In particular, Ha Giang is considered one of the leading localities in the country in completing legal documents to implement the National Target Program on building new rural areas.

Although there was a time when the Central Government did not allocate capital for the NTM program, from 2021 to now, the Provincial People's Committee has proactively used the local budget, allocating 50 billion VND/year to support cement for 11 districts and cities to concretize rural roads. This decision not only reduces the financial burden on people but also arouses the spirit of initiative and responsibility of the community. Thanks to that, people actively contributed working days and materials, joining hands to build more than 1,100 km of concrete roads of all kinds. Notably, in the process of implementing the NTM construction, the province has mobilized more than 3,366 billion VND, nearly 5 times higher than the original plan. Of which, there was a contribution from the people with a total value of 342.3 billion VND. Typically, in Phuong Thien commune (Ha Giang city), out of the total of more than 5.9 billion VND mobilized to invest in the construction of local public works, the people contributed more than 4 billion VND, accounting for 68.3% of the total capital. Secretary of the Phuong Thien commune Party Committee, Le Thai Hung affirmed: "The initiative of the people not only helps reduce the budget burden but also connects the community, raises awareness of preserving and promoting the effectiveness of works after investment, helping to build a real and sustainable new rural area".

In particular, from 2022 to now, our province has not set a time to complete the number of communes meeting the NTM standards according to the annual plan, but has organized implementation according to each group of criteria for each commune, ensuring that the set goals are completed by the end of the 2021 - 2025 period. This approach has helped localities easily identify difficulties, be more proactive in implementing each criterion to effectively focus resources, avoid spreading; ensure that communes when recognized as meeting the NTM standards are sustainable, substantial, contributing to improving people's lives comprehensively.

Another impression is that in 2024, our province has selected two district-level units, Bac Quang and Quang Binh, to pilot the application of the decentralized management mechanism to implement the National Target Program on New Rural Construction. Vice Chairman of Bac Quang District People's Committee, Nguyen Dam Thuyen, said: "This is a breakthrough step that not only helps localities promote creativity and be more proactive in planning, mobilizing resources and organizing implementation, but also enhances the role and responsibility of district-level authorities in orienting and supervising the New Rural Construction Program. Reasonable decentralization also helps shorten the process, reduce dependence on the provincial level, thereby accelerating the implementation of New Rural criteria in a more practical and flexible manner with the conditions of each locality."

… Towards achievement

Nestled amidst the majestic nature of the Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark, Nam Dam village, Quan Ba ​​commune (Quan Ba) is home to 68 Dao ethnic households. After more than a decade of construction (2013-2024), Nam Dam village has achieved 10/10 criteria to become a typical cultural tourism village and is also one of the first new rural villages of Quan Ba ​​district.

The family of Mr. Ly Ta Muoi, Nam Dam village, Quan Ba ​​commune (Quan Ba) prepares a room to welcome guests.

The attraction of Nam Dam comes not only from the poetic natural landscape but also from a community that is closely connected with traditional cultural values ​​that are preserved intact, from traditional costumes, typical cuisine, precious folk remedies to the unique Cap Sac ceremony or the earthen wall house imbued with the soul of Dao people's architecture. The whole village has 39 households operating homestay services, giving visitors a genuine experience of the life of the Dao people. In 2024 alone, Nam Dam welcomed over 21,500 domestic and international visitors, not only bringing in more than 5.8 billion VND in revenue from tourism but also creating stable jobs for 150 workers. The process of building a typical cultural tourism village associated with the new rural area has transformed Nam Dam from a purely agricultural village into a bright spot in community tourism, turning cultural identity into a profitable asset. In 2023, the village was honored to receive the ASEAN award for community tourism, affirming its position on the regional tourism map. Mr. Ly Ta Danh, Party Cell Secretary and Head of Nam Dam village, could not hide his joy: "Currently, there is only 1 poor household and 4 near-poor households in the village, and people's lives are improving day by day."

Not only Nam Dam, the whole province has 133 villages meeting the new rural standards, of which 52 villages in extremely difficult areas have been recognized as new rural areas, becoming evidence of a strong breakthrough in socio-economic development, realizing the goal of building a rich and civilized countryside. More impressively, the journey of building new rural areas of the province also marked an important milestone when Ha Giang city was recognized by the Prime Minister for completing the task of building new rural areas, 51/175 communes meeting new rural standards. Each commune meeting the standards is a touching story of unity, efforts to overcome difficulties, mobilizing internal strength to change the face of the homeland, turning muddy roads into spacious roads, poor villages into prosperous villages...

In 2014, Phuong Thien commune (Ha Giang city) was one of the first 3 communes in the province to meet the new rural standards. By 2022, this locality continued to affirm its pioneering position when it became the first advanced new rural commune in the province. Just 2 years later, Phuong Thien made a spectacular breakthrough, making its mark with the title of the first model new rural commune in education in the province. Currently, 100% of schools in the commune have met national standards, many of which have met level 2 standards and have been assessed for educational quality at level 3 (the highest level). In addition, Phuong Thien commune has also met the standards for universalizing preschool, primary and secondary education at level 3 and eliminating illiteracy at level 2. The commune's Community Learning Center has been assessed and classified as good, contributing to building a learning society and improving people's knowledge.

Along with the above results, identifying rural economic development as the core foundation in building new rural areas, Phuong Thien commune has focused on promoting production and business in many fields. In 2024, the average income per capita of the commune will reach 62.33 million VND, an increase of 14.33 million VND compared to 2022. The rate of poor households will decrease to only 1.04%, and that of near-poor households will be 4.38%. People's lives will improve with 99.62% of houses meeting solid standards, 100% of the population having electronic health management, and the rate of participation in health insurance reaching 99.3%. In addition, traffic infrastructure has been invested synchronously with 100% of commune, village, alley, and intra-field roads being hardened, the lighting system reaching over 50% on commune roads and nearly 90% on alley roads, ensuring safety and aesthetics.

According to many Party committees: Building a new rural area is a long journey, with a starting point but no ending point. Achieving standards is just the beginning, maintaining standards and improving the quality of criteria to ensure sustainable development is a truly difficult problem, requiring the drastic and synchronous participation of the entire political system and the people.

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Part 2: The hardship of keeping the title

Article and photos: THU PHUONG

Source: https://baohagiang.vn/kinh-te/202504/dat-chuan-nong-thon-moi-thach-thuc-sau-vinh-quang-ky-1-mien-que-bung-suc-song-moi-4045cd7/