Don't give up just because it's difficult...

The national target program for sustainable poverty reduction has multifaceted impacts on people's lives. Photo: PV

Please… return the capital

Mr. Ho Ngoc Man, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dai Loc district, said that for the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction, the locality does not have investment capital in 2024, only operational funds.

This year, the total planned budget for operational expenses allocated to Dai Loc is nearly 11 billion VND, including nearly 9.9 billion VND from the central government budget and over 1 billion VND from the provincial budget.

To date, nearly 3.3 billion VND out of almost 11 billion VND has been allocated, reaching a rate of 30%. The district has requested to repay more than 7.5 billion VND, including more than 6.8 billion VND from the central budget and more than 717 million VND from the provincial budget.

The reason Dai Loc district is requesting to return the funds is that currently, the number of poor households in the entire district is still 765, but the majority are unable to work. Over the past period, although the commune authorities have invited many poor and near-poor households to register for the poverty reduction project, they have refused.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hiep Duc district, said that the total capital for implementing the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in 2024 in the locality is nearly 15.6 billion VND.

Of this, the central government budget contributed nearly 13.7 billion VND, the provincial budget over 1.4 billion VND, and the district budget over 442 million VND. Of the nearly 15.6 billion VND planned for 2024 (including funds carried over from 2022-2023), Hiep Duc district has allocated nearly 9 billion VND so far, leaving nearly 6.6 billion VND unallocated. As of the end of July 2024, the district had only disbursed over 188 million VND, reaching a disbursement rate of 1.2%.

People in mountainous areas need support to strongly develop production in order to increase their income. Photo: PV

Faced with difficulties in implementing the sustainable poverty reduction program, the People's Committee of Hiep Duc district has submitted a report to relevant provincial units requesting a reduction of over 7.1 billion VND in operational funds in the 2024 capital plan, including: over 6.4 billion VND from the central budget, over 672 million VND from the provincial budget, and over 70 million VND from the district budget.

Not only in the lowland and low-lying mountainous areas, but also in the high-mountain districts and provincial-level departments and units allocated funds for the sustainable poverty reduction program, the disbursement rate has been very low.

It must be implemented decisively.

Recently, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Van Dung and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Tran Anh Tuan consecutively chaired three working sessions with leaders of relevant departments and agencies and 18 districts, towns, and cities on the implementation of national target programs.

In the coming period, relevant sectors and authorities at all levels need to decisively implement the national target program for sustainable poverty reduction. Photo: PV

At the meetings, leaders from many localities and units raised a series of difficulties and obstacles in the implementation process, especially the sustainable poverty reduction program; they also requested the return of part or all of the allocated funds.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Van Dung said that the reason many localities and units are requesting to return funds from the sustainable poverty reduction program is because the initial allocation of funds by relevant departments in the province was not closely aligned with the actual situation.

As for localities and units at the provincial level, returning the funds isn't as easy as just saying so. From the beginning, recognizing the program's low feasibility, why didn't they promptly propose returning the funds instead of delaying it for over seven months?

Comrade Le Van Dung emphasized that the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction has great social significance and impacts many aspects of people's lives in Quang Nam province.

Any locality or unit that proposes returning allocated funds must conduct a serious review and clarify the responsibilities of the collectives and individuals involved.

"The consistent guiding principle of the Provincial People's Committee is that local governments and departments, agencies, and units under the provincial administration must participate with the highest political determination, and not give up when faced with difficulties; they must strive to rapidly increase the disbursement rate of investment capital. The Provincial People's Committee does not accept the return of allocated funds, except in cases of force majeure," Mr. Dung said.

According to a report by the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the total estimated budget allocated from the central and provincial budgets for the implementation of 7 component projects under the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Quang Nam province over the three years from 2022 to 2024 is more than 1,981.6 billion VND.

Specifically for 2024, the estimated budget allocated by the central and provincial governments to 12 districts, towns, and cities in the lowland and low-mountain areas for the sustainable poverty reduction program was over 128.8 billion VND (including funds carried over from 2022-2023). As of July 24, 2024, these localities had only disbursed over 3.8 billion VND out of the total of over 128.8 billion VND, reaching a disbursement rate of 3%.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/thuc-hien-chuong-trinh-muc-tieu-quoc-giam-ngheo-ben-vung-dung-thay-kho-ma-buong-3139261.html