Review and delineate areas inhabited by ethnic minorities and mountainous regions.

The review and demarcation of ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2026-2030 is being urgently carried out by relevant departments, agencies, and localities to ensure objectivity, transparency, accuracy, and timely progress. The aim is to accurately define villages and communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas according to their level of development, serving as a basis for applying ethnic policies, social security policies, and socio-economic development policies during the 2026-2030 period.

A view of Son Thuy commune.

According to Decision No. 861/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister and Decision No. 612/QD-UBDT of the Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities (now the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religion), in the period 2021-2025, Thanh Hoa province has 174 communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, with 129 communes in Area I, 24 communes in Area II, and 21 communes in Area III. During this period, the province still has 318 particularly difficult villages in 95 communes. After the reorganization of administrative units and the implementation of a two-tiered local government system, the province has 76 communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, 11 communes with mountainous characteristics, with over 701,000 ethnic minority people, accounting for more than 18% of the province's total population, comprising 7 main ethnic groups: Kinh, Muong, Thai, Tho, Mong, Dao, and Kho Mu.

Thanks to the special attention of the Party and State through various programs and projects, the infrastructure system in ethnic minority and mountainous areas has received significant investment, and the material and spiritual lives of the people have continuously improved and been enhanced. The average per capita income in mountainous areas is estimated to reach 53.9 million VND/person/year in 2025 (almost double that of 2020). The poverty and near-poverty rate among ethnic minorities is projected to decrease from 8.6% in 2024 to 5.6% in 2025.

However, 2025 marks the expiration of decisions defining ethnic minority and mountainous regions – which serve as the legal basis for implementing ethnic policies and ethnic affairs. Therefore, immediately after the Government issued Decree No. 272/2025/ND-CP on the definition of ethnic minority and mountainous regions for the period 2026-2030, on October 19, 2025, the Ministry of Ethnic Minorities and Religions issued Official Letter No. 2350/BDTTG-VPQGDTMN on organizing the implementation of Government Decree No. 272/2025/ND-CP. The Provincial People's Committee then issued a plan for reviewing and defining ethnic minority and mountainous regions for the period 2026-2030. Based on this, relevant departments, agencies, and localities within the scope of the review have promptly organized the implementation of related tasks.

In Son Thuy border commune, despite the enormous workload after implementing the two-tiered local government system, the commune People's Committee promptly developed and issued a plan, clearly assigning responsibilities, tasks, areas, and timelines. Commune People's Committee Chairman Mac Van Toi stated: "The demarcation of ethnic minority and mountainous areas is not only a legal basis for applying support policies in the future, but also an important foundation for long-term planning and investment in the locality. Therefore, closely following the guidance of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions and other relevant departments and agencies, the commune established a council to review and demarcate the areas and a working group with the prescribed composition, emphasizing the role of the Party branch secretary and village heads, while also promoting the supervisory role of the people."

Based on the criteria for reviewing and delineating ethnic minority areas as stipulated by the Government, the People's Committee of Son Thuy commune organized inspections and reviews to understand the actual living conditions of the people and the socio-economic development conditions in the villages. They proactively coordinated with relevant departments and agencies to accurately determine criteria regarding topography, altitude above sea level, slope, etc. Simultaneously, they organized conferences to gather feedback from the people, especially influential individuals, to ensure objective consensus on the review results. After completing the review steps, the People's Committee of the commune reported and requested the Provincial Council for the Assessment of Ethnic Minority Area Delineation to appraise and submit the results to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for approval.

According to the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions, the provincial People's Committee's plan for reviewing and delineating ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2026-2030 has specifically defined the review principles, work content, completion time, and responsibilities of relevant departments, agencies, and the People's Committees of communes and wards subject to review and delineation. In this plan, departments, agencies, and localities will review, assess, and determine the list of communes, villages, and hamlets in ethnic minority areas; mountainous villages, hamlets, and communes; villages, hamlets, and communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; particularly difficult villages, hamlets, and communes; and communes in Zone I, Zone II, and Zone III. The review will be conducted in 92 communes and wards in ethnic minority and mountainous areas during the 2021-2025 period and communes and wards with mountainous characteristics from 2015 to the present. The review and demarcation of regions are based on many criteria such as topography, poverty rate, percentage of the population belonging to ethnic minorities, percentage of people using clean water, infrastructure conditions, healthcare, education, etc.

Due to the need to review and evaluate diverse criteria, the large volume of work, and the short timeframe, while basing the determination of criteria regarding average per capita income and poverty rate on December 2024, many communes faced considerable difficulties, especially those undergoing mergers. In response to this situation, the Provincial People's Committee organized inspection teams, including representatives from relevant departments and agencies, to visit localities to monitor progress, resolve obstacles, and accelerate the implementation of the plan.

According to Cam Ba Tuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and Religions: "Through inspections, most Party committees, governments, and local leaders have demonstrated a high sense of responsibility, assigning officials and civil servants to coordinate with Party branches, management boards, and village-level Fatherland Front committees to review criteria in an objective and transparent manner, ensuring progress. Through the inspections, the delegation directly guided and resolved difficulties for localities in carrying out the procedures for determining criteria, accelerating progress and ensuring the quality of the review and demarcation of ethnic minority and mountainous areas."

With that in mind, most communes and wards subject to review and demarcation have now completed their reports on the results of identifying and demarcating the areas, submitting them to the People's Committee for appraisal by relevant departments and agencies. According to the plan, the provincial appraisal council will complete the appraisal of the review results of the communes and wards before December 25th and submit them to the Provincial People's Committee for approval.

Text and photos: Dong Thanh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/ra-soat-phan-dinh-vung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-va-mien-nui-271605.htm