Many policies for ethnic minorities

Việt Nam•08/10/2023

Over the years, the Party and the State have paid great attention to the socio -economic development of ethnic minority areas in mountainous regions. In addition to the two national target programs currently being implemented, there are also many specific investment and support policies for ethnic minority areas. As a result, the material and spiritual lives of the people have improved.

Support for "production land type 04"

The implementation of the policy to support the allocation of production land to ethnic minority households, as stipulated in Resolution No. 04-NQ/TU of the Provincial Party Committee, has contributed to helping ethnic minorities gradually stabilize their lives and escape poverty. The area of production land allocated under Resolution No. 04-NQ/TU is over 5,000 hectares for 4,415 households, and most of this allocated land has been put into production by the ethnic minorities. Simultaneously, the policy of providing advance investment has helped ethnic minorities have sufficient seeds and production materials on the allocated land, thereby maximizing land use efficiency. However, recently, there have still been instances of buying and selling land use rights, mainly through handwritten agreements, despite the government's regular dissemination and promotion of policies and laws to ethnic minority communities. To date, the area of land bought, sold, and transferred under Resolution No. 04-NQ/TU is 688.7 hectares/586 households (accounting for 13.64% of the total land area allocated).

lua(1).jpg — Farmers harvesting hybrid corn in the Mekong Delta (photo: N. Lan - archive).

Explaining the reasons, the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee stated that the land allocated to ethnic minority households was mainly taken from degraded forest land, resulting in low initial efficiency; the land was scattered and far from residential areas, leading to difficulties in surveying, reclaiming, and investing in irrigation to improve land use efficiency, and high investment costs. Therefore, they lacked control over irrigation water, resulting in inefficient farming, heavy dependence on weather and climate factors, prolonged droughts, frequent crop failures, and an inability for ethnic minority people to accumulate capital for production investment. In addition, the work of disseminating information and encouraging the buying, selling, transferring, and receiving of land allocated to ethnic minority households in some localities has not been consistently prioritized. A segment of ethnic minority people still rely on state investment, and those buying or leasing land use rights employ various methods to persuade them to accept the transfer.

Participating in forest protection contracts contributes to job creation, increased income, and improved living standards for ethnic minority households.

The effectiveness of contracting out forest management and protection.

Besides supporting "land allocation" (a type of agricultural land), the implementation of forest management and protection contracts is also one of the effective policies that has contributed to job creation, increased income, and improved living standards for ethnic minority households participating in forest protection contracts. As a result, forest areas continue to be managed and protected better, limiting deforestation for farming and illegal logging. Ethnic minorities have increased income and more stable lives; the relationship between ethnic minorities and forest protection forces has become closer, and their awareness of forest management and protection has improved.

Forest areas continue to be managed and protected more effectively, limiting deforestation.

From 2011 to 2021, the area of forest management and protection contracted to ethnic minority households was over 86,000 hectares/2,379 households (an average of 36.3 hectares/household), with a contract fee of 200,000 VND/hectare/year, and a total implementation cost of over 192 billion VND. From 2016 to the present, the Central Government has supported the implementation of forest management and protection contracts for ethnic minority households according to Government Decree No. 75/2015/ND-CP. For households in communes belonging to areas II and III that receive forest protection contracts, they are paid 400,000 VND/hectare/year, with a total capital of over 66 billion VND/72,000 hectares/2,408 households. In 2019, through the "Social Forestry" cooperation program between the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee and Binh Thuan Forestry One-Member Limited Company, 63 ethnic minority households were granted contracts to manage over 2,000 hectares of forest, with a contract rate of approximately 300,000 VND/hectare/year. Furthermore, in accordance with Resolution No. 18 of the Provincial People's Council, in 2022, forest protection contracts were implemented for 50,000 hectares/1,304 ethnic minority households (an average of 38.42 hectares/household), with a contract rate of 200,000 VND/hectare/year, totaling over 10 billion VND. Regarding funding for 2023, the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee is currently advising the Provincial People's Committee on the allocation of funds for forest protection contracts (Phase 1) for ethnic minority households.

Ethnic minority communities facing difficulties will receive financial support for housing construction under the national target program.

National target program

Notably, in addition to continuing the implementation of the two National Target Programs on building new rural areas and sustainable poverty reduction, the 15th National Assembly issued Resolution No. 120 approving the investment policy, and the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1719/QD-TTg approving the National Target Program on socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2030. To concretize this Program in the province, the Provincial People's Committee promptly directed the establishment and issuance of the operating regulations of the Provincial Steering Committee for National Target Programs. At the same time, it decisively directed the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee to coordinate with relevant departments, agencies, and localities to finalize documents, expedite the allocation of capital plans, and actively disburse funds for the Program. It also strengthened the monitoring of the Program's implementation in localities; promptly identified difficulties and obstacles, and proposed solutions. To date, the Provincial People's Committee has submitted 6 related resolutions to the Provincial People's Council for promulgation, and the Provincial People's Committee has issued 5 decisions.

Regarding the allocated funds for the Program in 2023, the Provincial People's Committee has directed and urged the departments, agencies, and localities assigned to manage the projects and sub-projects to actively and promptly implement the procedures for allocating the allocated funds. Currently, the People's Committees of the districts are also developing and finalizing resolutions for the district-level People's Councils to issue for the allocation of funds. Accordingly, as of August 5, 2023, the disbursement of the 2022 capital plan is as follows: development investment capital: VND 15.5 billion/VND 51.9 billion (30%), and recurrent expenditure capital: VND 17.6 billion/VND 35.8 billion (49%).

It is evident that numerous policies for ethnic minority communities have demonstrated that ethnic affairs and the implementation of ethnic policies are the responsibility of the entire Party, the entire people, the entire army, and the entire political system. All resources are mobilized to invest in the socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous regions, and areas inhabited by disadvantaged people. This gradually narrows the gap in living standards compared to developed regions, preserves and promotes the beautiful cultural identity of ethnic groups, combats social evils, and raises the general level of education, especially among ethnic minority cadres, to meet the requirements of development in the new era.

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