Change in a purely agricultural rural area

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - Visiting Xuan Tho commune (Trieu Son district) today, what we easily notice is the "transformation" of a purely agricultural area, with rural infrastructure projects being invested in and built comprehensively and modernly. In particular, the road system has been concreted and asphalted, creating a continuous connection between villages and the commune center, neighboring communes, and the district center, facilitating the development of agricultural production, economic trade, and culture for the local people.

A model road in Xuan Tho commune (Trieu Son district).

In 2023, Xuan Tho commune was selected by the Steering Committee for New Rural Development of Trieu Son district to implement the advanced new rural development program. Recognizing that the advanced new rural development program in the locality would act as a "breath of fresh air" to promote the advanced new rural development movement throughout the district, the commune Party Committee quickly issued a specialized resolution on new rural development to serve as a guiding principle for leadership and direction. Simultaneously, the commune People's Committee was tasked with proactively developing a specific plan and roadmap for each stage. The implementation steps needed to be scientifically calculated, based on the actual conditions of the locality. In particular, priority tasks were identified as breakthroughs to focus leadership and direction on implementation, while effectively promoting grassroots democracy according to the motto "the people know, the people discuss, the people do, the people inspect, the people supervise, and the people benefit."

Inspired by President Ho Chi Minh's teaching: "Even the easiest task is impossible without the people's support, but even the most difficult task can be accomplished with the people's participation," the Party committees, government, Fatherland Front, and political organizations from the commune to the village level have joined forces to promote awareness among the people about the meaning and goals of advanced rural development for the construction and development of Xuan Tho commune. This includes sustainable socio-economic development, linked to improving people's lives and building a synchronous, progressively modern, and distinctive rural infrastructure. From this, each citizen recognizes their responsibility and role as the main actors in advanced rural development and trusts in the leadership of the local Party committees and government, actively contributing their efforts and resources to building a renewed homeland.

Along with propaganda and mobilizing the entire political system to jointly participate in building new rural areas, Xuan Tho commune has issued several mechanisms and policies to support and stimulate demand in villages and unleash the people's potential. Specifically, the commune People's Council has issued a resolution on supporting investment in the construction of drainage ditches and cover systems when people donate land to expand commune roads. For village roads, when upgrading and expanding roads of 6.5m or more, the commune provides 100 tons of cement/km for the construction of drainage ditches and 50 tons of cement/km for road surfacing. Similarly, for alleyways, when people donate land to rebuild fences, the village invests in the construction of drainage ditches, and the commune provides 20 tons of cement/km...

Alongside this, the commune has also promoted the role of the Fatherland Front and political mass organizations in organizing emulation movements and many specific, practical activities and actions that have spread to members and the general public, aiming to encourage each individual and household to join forces in building and improving the new rural areas. Notably, the commune's Fatherland Front has focused on implementing Resolution No. 12-NQ/HU dated July 22, 2022, of the District Party Committee on "strengthening the leadership of the Party Committee in mobilizing people to donate land to expand rural roads in Trieu Son district." In 2024, the commune mobilized people to donate land to expand 8.7 km of rural roads. In addition, the Women's Union of the commune launched a widespread campaign "Building families with 5 no's and 3 clean's." The commune's Youth Union launched the movement "Young people are proactive and creative in building and protecting the Fatherland." The commune's Veterans Association effectively implemented the "Lighting up village roads, bright and green fences" movement. The commune's Farmers Association took the lead in mobilizing the people to actively participate in environmental sanitation, collecting waste in the fields, planting and caring for flower-lined roads, and building a green, clean, and beautiful rural landscape.

Thanks to its innovative approach, Xuan Tho commune has successfully mobilized the people's spirit and strength in the construction and development of their homeland. From 2018 to 2024, the commune mobilized 415.983 billion VND for advanced rural development. Of this, the central, provincial, and district budgets contributed 13.668 billion VND; the local budget contributed 14.165 billion VND; investment capital from businesses and cooperatives exceeded 62.500 billion VND; and the people voluntarily contributed 1.950 billion VND and donated hundreds of square meters of land and thousands of days of labor, equivalent to approximately 29.700 billion VND, to build infrastructure and rural welfare facilities. In addition, the commune's Party committee and government actively mobilized resources from people living away from home to contribute to advanced rural development. A prime example is the family of Mr. Nguyen Huu Xuan, a native of the area currently residing in Bien Hoa City ( Dong Nai province ), who has contributed over 50 billion VND to invest in the construction of roads, welcome gates, primary schools, model fences along several routes, and the renovation of the Tam Mai communal house.

From the mobilized capital, Xuan Tho commune has focused on investing in the construction of rural infrastructure projects in a synchronized and modern manner. Currently, the road from Xuan Tho commune to the district center and more than 22.5km of commune, village, inter-village, and alley roads in the area have been asphalted or concreted, ensuring a bright, green, clean, and beautiful environment. In addition, the local school system at all levels meets the standards for physical facilities at levels 1 and 2 as prescribed. Specifically, in 2022, Xuan Tho Kindergarten was recognized as meeting national standards at level 1. In 2024, Xuan Tho Primary School was recognized as meeting national standards at level 2. Xuan Tho Secondary School has been recognized as meeting national standards at level 1. The transformed rural landscape of Xuan Tho is further enhanced by a spacious community cultural center, adjacent to a stadium covering over 14,000 square meters and a sports complex equipped with various fitness and sports facilities to meet the training needs of the people. Even more noteworthy, in the two years (2023 and 2024), the commune invested in the construction of five new village cultural centers, with a total cost of nearly 4 billion VND. Village cultural centers and sports facilities have planned areas ranging from 800m2 to 1,231m2, with a construction capacity of 150 to 200 seats, and are fully equipped with facilities to ensure good service for community activities. Furthermore, the commune actively cooperates with Trieu Son Power Company and Thanh Hoa Power Construction Joint Stock Company to replace, repair, and maintain electricity to ensure stable power supply for 1,027 households for living, production, and business purposes.

With high determination and great efforts from the Party Committee, government, Fatherland Front, political organizations, and the unity of the people, Xuan Tho commune achieved the New Rural Area (NRA) status in October 2024. The resources from the people were the decisive factor in this journey to achieving the advanced NRA standard. Not only has the commune donned a "new look" with a comprehensively invested and modern infrastructure, but the material and spiritual lives of the people in Xuan Tho commune have also improved significantly. While the average per capita income in 2020 was 48.83 million VND, it increased to 68.62 million VND by 2024; the poverty rate decreased to 1.16%.

Text and photos: Tran Thanh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/doi-thay-o-mot-vung-que-thuan-nong-249045.htm