Identifying the socio-economic situation based on commune survey: Policy planning after merger (Part 1)

Collecting information on the economic situation, social security, culture, health, education, etc. of communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas is an important content in the survey of the socio-economic situation of 53 ethnic minorities in 2024. The collected data is not only a measure of the impact of development investment policies that have been and are being implemented in "core poor" areas, but also the basis for long-term policy planning for sustainable development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Along with backward customs in daily life, the situation of early marriage and consanguineous marriage; malnutrition, maternal and child mortality still exist... are issues of concern in improving the quality of the population in ethnic minority and mountainous areas of Nghe An. 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In many mountainous areas, the geographical distance between villages and hamlets is very large; the geographical distance from many households to the village center and the commune center is also very far. (In the photo: A corner of Ton K'Long A and B villages, Da Pal commune, Da Teh district, Lam Dong province)

The National Assembly Standing Committee has just issued resolutions on the arrangement of administrative units (ACUs) at the district and commune levels of 21 provinces and cities in the period of 2023 - 2025. Due to the characteristics of mountainous areas, after the merger, many communes will face great difficulties in socio-economic development. Data collected from the Survey on the socio-economic situation of 53 ethnic minorities in 2024 is one of the tools to identify immediate difficulties and challenges, thereby contributing to orienting investment and support policies for mountainous and highland communes after the merger.

Many challenges after merger

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, our country has 6,191/11,160 commune-level administrative units that do not meet the standards on natural area or population size. Of these, there are 5,106 communes (including 1,922 communes in mountainous areas; 3,173 communes in the plains and midlands; 11 island communes), 794 wards (including 422 wards in districts; 327 wards in provincial cities; 45 wards in towns) and 291 towns.

In order to streamline the apparatus, contribute to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of State management, promote socio-economic development and ensure national security and defense, the work of rearranging communal-level administrative units continues to be strongly implemented by the Party and State.

On October 24, 2024, the National Assembly Standing Committee voted to approve the Resolutions on the arrangement of district- and commune-level administrative units in 21 provinces and cities for the period 2023-2025. According to the plan, after the arrangement, 6/18 district-level administrative units and 233/487 commune-level administrative units will be reduced.

In the 21 provinces and cities subject to the recently approved arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels, in addition to Da Nang City, Hai Duong Province, Hai Phong City, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, and Ben Tre, the remaining localities are all in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

Speaking at the meeting on November 14, 2024, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man emphasized that the arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels is very important. The National Assembly Chairman requested the Government and provincial and municipal authorities to learn from experience in developing and approving the overall plan for the arrangement of local administrative units to better implement in the next phase, ensuring the goals and requirements of the arrangement of administrative units.

It should also be noted that the merger of commune-level administrative units in mountainous areas and ethnic minority areas has raised many issues that need attention. In many mountainous areas, the geographical distance between villages and hamlets is very large; the geographical distance from many households to the village center and the commune center is also very far.

This leads to difficulties in organizing meetings, propaganda, community activities, as well as implementing socio-economic development programs and policies in the area. This reality has been pointed out by localities after the process of collecting information on the socio-economic situation of 53 ethnic minorities in 2024.

There are still villages in ethnic minority areas that do not have solid roads to the commune center.

For example, from now until 2025, Minh Hoa district (Quang Binh province) will merge 03 communes: Hoa Phuc, Hoa Tien, Hoa Thanh to establish a new commune Tan Thanh according to Resolution No. 1242/NQ-UBTVQH15 dated October 24, 2024 of the National Assembly Standing Committee. The area of ​​these 03 communes is very large, but the population is very sparse; of which, Hoa Phuc commune has an area of ​​30.29 km2, population of only 714 people; Hoa Thanh commune has an area of ​​33.16 km2, population of 1,571 people; the most populous is only Hoa Tien commune, with an area of ​​26.32 km2, population of 3,169 people.

Not only the 3 communes mentioned above, but most of the mountainous and highland communes in Quang Binh province have the characteristics of large area but sparse population. This has been clearly stated in Report No. 528/BC-CTK, dated August 30, 2024 on the results of the survey to collect the socio-economic status of 53 ethnic minorities in 2024 of the Quang Binh Provincial Statistics Office.

According to the assessment of the Quang Binh Provincial Statistics Office, from July 1 to August 15, 2024, the whole province has 18 communes conducting the survey; of which 15 communes are highland communes, 3 communes are mountainous communes. If calculated from the center of Dong Hoi City to the commune People's Committee headquarters, there are 09 communes with a distance of 100 km - 140 km; 06 communes with a distance of 50 km - 90 km, 03 communes with a distance of 25 km - 45 km.

“The characteristic of ethnic minorities in Quang Binh is that the population is distributed in small areas in the middle of the mountains and forests; in the same commune, there are villages without roads, you have to go by boat or walk along trails, 3 to 4 days walk from the commune People's Committee headquarters,” said the Quang Binh Provincial Statistics Office.

Focus on infrastructure investment

Not only Quang Binh but also the localities in ethnic minority and mountainous areas subject to the administrative unit arrangement in the period of 2023 - 2025 approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee on October 24, 2024 will also face many problems after merging communes.

For example, in Nghe An, according to Resolution No. 1243/NQ-UBTVQH15 dated October 24, 2024 of the National Assembly Standing Committee, this locality will merge to reduce 48 communes; including many mountainous, remote and isolated communes that will be merged to form new communes.

According to the report analyzing the results of the socio-economic survey of 53 ethnic minorities in 2019, the average distance from the commune center of the ethnic minority area to the district center is 16.7km; about 10% of the villages in the ethnic minority area still do not have solid roads to the commune center.

According to the General Statistics Office, Nghe An is the province with the largest area in the country (16,490.25 km2, accounting for 3.2% of the country's area); in which the mountainous area, where many ethnic minorities live, accounts for about 84% of the province's natural area.

From the survey and collection of information on the socio-economic situation of 53 ethnic minorities in 2024, the Nghe An Provincial Statistics Office has pointed out difficulties in the implementation process. According to the Provincial Statistics Office, the mountainous terrain is vast, and the distance from one locality to another is too far.

“The survey areas and households are far apart across streams. There are many areas with no signal or weak signal, and the signal is not synchronized. There are areas where motorbikes are not available, it takes an hour to walk to the survey area,” said the Nghe An Provincial Statistics Office.

Of course, these objective difficulties do not change the determination of localities to reorganize administrative units. However, it is necessary that from the collected data, ministries, branches and localities will conduct a thorough assessment, thereby advising competent authorities to issue and implement appropriate investment policies in mountainous communes after the merger.

It is necessary to pay attention to infrastructure investment in localities that still owe some criteria and standards after the reorganization, because infrastructure in mountainous areas is often damaged by natural disasters. (In the photo: A devastated village in Ta Ca commune, Ky Son district, Nghe An province after the historic flood at the end of 2022 - Photo: Thanh Hai))

At the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the morning of November 14, 2024, Chairman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council Y Thanh Ha Nie Kdam suggested that the Government and localities need to have a specific roadmap and plan to ensure the arrangement meets the requirements and set goals. The Chairman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council also said that it is necessary to pay attention to the issue of infrastructure investment in localities that still owe some criteria and standards after the arrangement.

21 Resolutions on the arrangement of administrative units for the period 2023 - 2025 were approved by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on October 24, 2024, including the following provinces and cities: Hai Phong, Da Nang, Bac Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Nghe An, Quang Nam, Lam Dong, Binh Dinh, Bac Lieu, Binh Thuan, Ca Mau, Lang Son, Hung Yen, Long An, Quang Binh, Yen Bai, Ben Tre, Thai Nguyen, Kien Giang. In which, the Resolutions of Hai Phong, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Thanh Hoa and Ba Ria - Vung Tau take effect from January 1, 2025; other Resolutions take effect from December 1, 2024.

Survey to collect information from 53 ethnic minorities in Soc Trang province: Effectiveness from previous propaganda work

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/nhan-dien-thuc-trang-kinh-te-xa-hoi-theo-dieu-tra-phieu-xa-hoach-dinh-chinh-sach-sau-sap-nhap-bai-1-1731633381505.htm