Lesson 1: Cadres "go first, do first"
With the motto "Party members go first, the country follows", the cadres and party members of the mountainous district of Tuong Duong have promoted the pioneering and exemplary spirit in economic development, hunger eradication, and poverty reduction... Thereby, many typical economic development models led by party members have emerged.
Reporter team• August 22, 2024
In Tham Tham village, Nhon Mai border commune (Tuong Duong), Village Chief Va Ba Ca is trusted by the people because he is a man of his word.
As the head of a highland village, Va Ba Ca and the Party Cell and Management Board of Tham Tham village are always concerned with finding ways to propagate and mobilize people to actively change the structure of crops and livestock, and diligently develop household economy to reduce poverty according to the orientation of the Commune Party Resolution and the reality in the area.
Mr. Va Ba Ca always kept in mind: In order for the people to listen and believe, the village and hamlet leaders like us cannot be behind, but must "go first, do first" to change the awareness, thinking, working habits, and old farming practices of the people, from reclaiming land, breaking ground to sow corn, grow rice, grow ginger, grow peaches...
When no one in the village dared to grow passion fruit, Mr. Va Ba Ca boldly experimented with 300 trees, then continued to expand the area of passion fruit to 700 trees and achieved high economic value; from then on, the villagers also grew it. When passion fruit was no longer effective due to pests and diseases, Mr. Va Ba Ca pioneered the destruction of more than 2 hectares and switched to growing high-yield cassava with an income of 60-70 million VND/year.
Mr. Va Ba Ca is also one of the pioneers in growing ornamental peach trees in Tham Tham village with 3 gardens, each garden has several hundred trees, with an average income of 20-30 million VND/Tet peach crop.
Seeing the Village Chief's effective peach tree planting, since 2020, many people in Tham Tham village have started to plant peach trees, with small households planting a few dozen trees, while large households have 100-300 trees; in 2023 alone, the whole village has planted more than 3,000 trees.
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Village chief Va Ba Ca also boldly applied science and technology to develop livestock farming, helping to improve the quality of the flock, such as making incubators to raise chicks; growing elephant grass to fatten buffaloes and cows... Thanks to his diligence and hard work, Mr. Va Ba Ca has now become a "rich man" with nearly 40 free-range buffaloes and cows; and a flock of more than 100 chickens.
“On average, a family sells 7-8 buffaloes and cows a year; plus income from ginger, peaches, cassava... we earn about 100-150 million VND, enough to raise 2 older children to go to university and the youngest to go to elementary school” - Mr. Va Ba Ca shared.
Many people in Tham Tham village saw that the village chief's family had a stable economic development, so they came to visit and learn how to do it. Mr. Va Ba Ca enthusiastically guided them and shared their experiences.
Comrade Luong Van Hoa - Secretary of the Nhon Mai Commune Party Committee said: In this remote border area, people who do not accept poverty, overcome difficulties to become good at business, raise two children to go to university, and take care of people's and village affairs like Mr. Va Ba Ca are "rare".
In Tat village - a remote area of Yen Thang commune, former village chief Mac Van Thanh (born in 1963) is known as a pioneer party member in developing household economy in the area.
Not only is he "lucky" in bringing the mu tun tree - a natural medicinal herb with many uses - from the deep forest to successfully grow in his home garden with a scale of more than 2,000 trees, he also boldly invested in developing livestock with 40 buffaloes, cows, 10 porcupines, dug 2 fish ponds, planted more than 1 hectare of acacia and xoan trees, hundreds of square meter trees; becoming an example of overcoming difficulties for the villagers to follow.
Many people in the village, commune and surrounding areas heard the news, came to visit and learn about the experience of raising mu tun and raising porcupines, and were all enthusiastically and openly instructed by Mr. Thanh.
Mr. Thanh said: “I am a party member, the former village chief's son is also a party member, currently working as a deputy village chief, so I have to be even more exemplary. Moreover, the lives of the people in Tat village are still difficult, the production land is only 1.5 hectares, in the village there are nearly 100 workers working far away, if we can build many household economic models, people's lives will be less difficult, they will not have to leave their hometown to work far away anymore".
In many localities, village "leaders" not only "skillfully mobilize the people" in building new rural areas and reducing poverty, but also quickly apply social networks to promote and introduce local agricultural products, helping people consume products and increase income.
A typical example is Ms. Kha Thi Bich - Secretary of the Phay village Party cell, Xieng My commune, from the thought that "to promote hunger eradication and poverty reduction, cadres, party members, especially village and hamlet leaders must "say what they say and do what they say" so that people will believe and respect them".
Ms. Bich has researched social networking applications and her personal Facebook and Zalo, promoting and purchasing many agricultural products imported by people in Xieng My and Nga My communes such as wild jackfruit, dried banana seeds, wild honey, black chicken, black pig, cool fish, duck... for those in need.
When the number of orders increased, Ms. Bich went to neighboring areas such as Tam Hop commune (Tuong Duong) to purchase clean agricultural products and local plants and animals such as ginger, bamboo shoots, turmeric, chicken, pork, etc. to import to the lowlands. At the same time, she imported products from the lowlands such as fish, squid, shrimp, soft drinks, etc. to serve the people in the highlands. In addition, she invested in raising black pigs, planting more than 3 hectares of forest, planting grass, and raising 5 buffaloes and cows.
Commenting on Party Cell Secretary Kha Thi Bich, Head of Phay Village - Mr. Tinh Van Hong said: Here, people call Ms. Bich "the hard worker of the village" because of her spirit of working hard. When she is not busy with village work, she goes to the fields or goes to buy agricultural products, pack them, and import them downstream. Her family also invested in a pickup truck to serve the purpose of buying and transporting goods.
Currently, some households in Phay village and other villages in the commune have learned from Party Secretary Kha Thi Bich, using social networks to directly promote and introduce the sale of products produced and raised by themselves, bringing specialties of the mountains and forests everywhere.
Imbued with President Ho Chi Minh's teaching "Cadres and party members must set an example for the people. Senior cadres must set an example for junior cadres", many leaders in localities in the remote district of Tuong Duong have promoted the spirit of "practice goes hand in hand with words".
They not only do well in "Party work, people's work, government work" but also pioneer in developing household economy, striving to become rich legitimately.
A typical example is the Chairwoman of Tam Quang Commune People's Committee - Ms. Kha Thi Hien - an example of an ethnic minority woman overcoming difficulties to become a model leader and a good businesswoman in the locality.
Starting out as an agricultural extension worker and Vice President of the Commune Farmers' Association, working and studying at the University of Agriculture and Forestry, in August 2010, Ms. Kha Thi Hien was elected to the position of Vice President of the People's Committee of Tam Quang Commune at the age of 26, becoming the youngest Vice President of the People's Committee of Tuong Duong District at that time.
Dynamic, creative, daring to think and do, from October 2020 to present, Ms. Hien has been assigned the important responsibility of Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Tam Quang border commune.
As the head of the commune government, the female "leader" Kha Thi Hien always maintains a close, sincere, open style, often staying close to the area, staying close to the base, sometimes wading through fields, climbing hills to monitor the production situation, sometimes crossing streams, wading over passes more than 10 kilometers to inspect the people's domestic water works.
With the belief that "officials must set an example", outside of work time, on weekends, local people are familiar with the image of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Kha Thi Hien commune in work clothes with her husband - a former cadastral officer of Xieng My commune - going to the fields to plant acacia and raise livestock.
The result of that hard work and diligence is 4 acacia gardens of more than 7 hectares, more than 10 buffaloes and cows, dozens of chickens and ducks, and seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Ms. Kha Thi Hien shared: The locality has 11 villages, including 2 border villages with 1,971 households/7,806 people of Kinh, Thai, Kho Mu, Dan Lai, Tay Poong people living together, the economy still faces many difficulties.
To gradually eliminate the mentality of waiting and relying on others among cadres, party members and people, and build the will to be self-reliant in building new rural areas, we first of all determine that the heads of Party committees and authorities must "set an example" in both thinking and action.
Not only "leader" Kha Thi Hien, but also in Tam Quang commune, many cadres and party members have promoted the spirit of daring to think, daring to do, pioneering in the emulation movement of good production and business, getting rich legitimately with effective economic models; and are ready to support the experience and knowledge of animal husbandry and cultivation for the people. For example, the family of Mr. Lo Quang Hop - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Tam Quang commune, whose wife is the Secretary of the village Party Cell, with a model of raising bamboo rats, planting acacia, raising sows, chickens, and fish ponds for high income. "We have to be able to do it so that the people will be "satisfied" with the propaganda, otherwise the people will say "the cadres are just talking...", Mr. Lo Quang Hop expressed.
In Xieng My commune, Loc Thi Van, the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the commune, is also an example of diligence and hard work. From an officer of the Nga My Commune Health Station, after the separation of the commune, in April 2007, Ms. Van became Vice Chairman, then Chairman of the Commune Fatherland Front Committee, and is currently the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Xieng My Commune Party Committee (term 2020-2025).
As a Party worker, Ms. Van always believes that to truly be an exemplary and prestigious cadre, who can speak so that people listen and believe, in addition to fulfilling responsibilities and obligations to the Party and the people, one must also know how to strive to become rich legitimately.
Thinking is doing, after office hours, the couple plays the role of farmers, going to the fields to clear acacia and cajuput trees, and planting grass to feed cows... As a result, after many years of hard work, Ms. Van's family now has 8 hectares of acacia, 2 hectares of xoan, 15 cows, hundreds of chickens... bringing in an average income of 500 million VND/year.
Ms. Loc Thi Van shared: “When I am in the office, I am a civil servant, but when I go to the fields, I am also a farmer, no different from the locals. As a citizen, I understand better the local reality of what plants and animals need to be planted to bring economic value. At the same time, from practical production, I can share and exchange experiences in economic development for people in the commune to work together.”
Xieng My commune has 7 villages, with 717 households/3,034 people of Thai, Kho Mu, Kinh ethnic groups; it is an area with a low starting point, people's lives are still difficult, the poverty rate is currently 26%.
Therefore, implementing Project 07 DA/HU of Tuong Duong District Party Committee on "eliminating conservative, waiting, and dependent thinking among cadres, party members and the masses", Xieng My Commune Party Committee thoroughly grasped the motto "party members go first, the country follows"; only when cadres and party members "say what they say and do", self-reliantly strive to become well-off and rich through their own labor, can the spirit of daring to think and daring to do of the people be spread and encouraged.
Accordingly, in Xieng My commune, there are many other cadres who are also pioneers in developing household economy such as the families of comrades: Lo Van Danh - Chairman of the Farmers' Association with the model of afforestation, animal husbandry, and purchasing agricultural products for people; Vi Van Ba - Secretary of the Commune Youth Union with the model of planting, animal husbandry...
The examples of cadres and party members "practicing what they preach" in the highlands of Tuong Duong have strengthened people's trust in the Party and government, thereby creating consensus in putting the Party's Resolution into practice, including Project 07-DA/HU on "eliminating conservative, expectant, and dependent thinking among cadres, party members and the masses".
(To be continued)
