New wind of ethnic minorities

The National Target Program for Socio -Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, Phase 1 from 2021-2025, approved by the Prime Minister in Decision 1719/QD-TTg dated October 14, 2021, is a major policy for the comprehensive development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Looking back nearly 4 years, which is almost the end of Phase 1, the implementation of this important policy has brought a breath of fresh air, bringing new vitality and new joy to ethnic minorities...

The 2km Luong - Dong Bong route is invested from the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, helping people to conveniently trade and develop the economy.

During a business trip to Dong Bong - a particularly difficult area with 99% of the population being ethnic minorities in Van Luong commune, Tan Son district, what impressed me most was the bags of rice from the last crop that had been dried in the sun and carefully sifted by the people and stored in granaries for year-round use, demonstrating the abundance in each family.

According to Mr. Ha Phuc Toan - Head of Dong Bong area, in the past few years, no household in the area has to worry about making ends meet during the lean season. The entire area of 72 households with 342 people has only 41 hectares of rice land, mainly open fields; the larger households have 5 sao of rice fields, the smaller households have 1 sao of rice fields to grow rice. In addition to growing rice, every household in Dong Bong has several thousand to tens of thousands of square meters of land to grow tea. When the lean season comes, they sell tea to buy rice, so they have enough to eat. Therefore, people's lives have changed positively, and their quality of life is increasingly improved.

In the afternoon of October, a sudden torrential rainstorm came, in the newly built level 4 house of Mr. Phung Xuan Thuy, the sound of rain seemed to be more bustling when pouring down on the corrugated iron roof, blending with the joy of the homeowner. This rainy season, his family no longer has to worry about leaks. With support of 46 million VND from the central budget, the district and the commune's Fatherland Front, he sold a pair of cows for 14 million VND, borrowed 40 million VND from the Social Policy Bank, plus support from relatives to build a level 4 house with an area of about 50m2, covered above and below, enough for a family of 4 to live comfortably.

Mr. Thuy shared: "Thanks to the support of the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, we have the motivation to build houses." Mr. Thuy's wife said while shoveling rice into the barn: "After a year of marriage, my parents let my husband and I live separately with a dowry of two fields, a piece of land for living and 2,000 square ^meters of garden with tea trees. We built a temporary thatched house to live in, and my husband works as a porter for tea every day, earning about 7 to 8 million VND per month. I stay home to work in the fields and take care of two children, one is 3 years old and the other is 4 years old. After the winter-spring crop, we move to the winter-spring crop, and have just enough food to eat. Last winter-spring crop, my family harvested 3.7 quintals of rice, this season, we only got 3 quintals because when we were about to harvest, there was heavy rain, the fields were flooded and part of them were damaged. Before, we were always worried about our makeshift house, and suffered every time there was a storm. Now that we have a solid house, we feel more secure and can focus on making a living for a better life."

Talking to the guests, Mr. Thuy and his wife could not hide their smiles, their eyes sparkling with joy and happiness when they had a new house to live in. Mr. Thuy is one of 9 households in the commune that benefited from Project 1 on housing, which was quickly resolved by the government and organizations.

Newly built house of Mr. Phung Xuan Thuy's family.

In addition to housing, career conversion is also one of the urgent needs of ethnic minority people. From 2022 to present, the Program has provided support to 38 households lacking production land and in need of career conversion. Support machinery for poor and near-poor households in Dong Tun, Dong Bong, Tan Thinh areas; implement community production development projects associated with breeding Sind crossbred cattle; intensive tea cultivation for business, contributing to improving the lives and sustainable poverty reduction for ethnic minorities...

In 2024, Van Luong commune was assigned nearly 400 million VND to maintain and repair concrete roads in Tan Thinh area and invest in a number of cultural institutions such as amplifiers and loudspeakers for 6 areas: Hoang Ha, Mon, Loi, Ben Gao, Luong, Lang; focus on investing in improving the qualityof education ... Thanks to that, the spiritual life of the people is increasingly improved.

Comrade Nguyen Thiet Hai - Chairman of Van Luong Commune People's Committee shared: "The Party Committee of the Commune People's Committee determined that the implementation of the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas must ensure the correct principles, transparency, democracy and unity in the implementation process. Therefore, when implementing, people are very excited because the Program's top priority is to address the urgent needs of ethnic minorities in extremely difficult areas, helping poor households stabilize their lives, focus on economic development, and escape poverty."

Accordingly, in phase 1 from 2021-2025, Van Luong commune will benefit from Project 1, Project 3, Project 4, Project 6, Project 10 with a total capital of nearly 2 billion VND. These projects are a lever for poor ethnic minorities, extremely disadvantaged areas, and areas with a large number of ethnic minorities to change their appearance and have a prosperous and happy life.

Thuy Hang

Source: https://baophutho.vn/luong-gio-moi-cua-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-220326.htm