Nghe An delegates questioned the Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee on 2 issues.

According to the Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province, in mountainous areas, many hydropower projects are being built and the economic efficiency that these projects bring cannot be denied.

However, the problem is that ethnic minorities affected by the projects and resettled people face many difficulties, suffer many disadvantages, and do not benefit from the projects.

Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An Province Tran Van Mao speaks to question the Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee. Photo: Thanh Duy

Delegates from Nghe An province asked the Minister to let them know what solutions have been proposed to the National Assembly and the Government to have mechanisms and policies to allocate a portion of the budget collected from hydropower to reinvest in socio-economic development and social security for people in affected areas to stabilize their lives and sustainably eliminate hunger and reduce poverty?

The Deputy Head of the Provincial Delegation of National Assembly Deputies also said that the Party, National Assembly and Government have had many policies to develop ethnic minority cadre resources. However, in reality, the number of ethnic minority cadres at all levels from central to local levels is very low compared to the Government's regulations.

"I request the Minister to state the cause and solution?" - delegate Tran Van Mao questioned from Nghe An bridge.

Due to time constraints, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien requested the Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee to receive and answer the questions in writing.

Do not let debt fund to implement policies for ethnic minorities

After listening to the questions and answers, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh made a statement accepting the opinions; at the same time, he affirmed that developing ethnic minority and mountainous areas is both a goal and a requirement for sustainable development, contributing to building the great national unity bloc and a Vietnamese culture imbued with national cultural identity, unity in diversity.

Overview of the question and answer session at the Hanoi bridge. Photo: Quochoi.vn

The Permanent Deputy Prime Minister said that in its direction and administration, the Government has developed and issued many mechanisms and policies to arrange and mobilize resources, and made efforts to organize implementation to comprehensively develop ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

"Currently, we have issued 116 policies for ethnic minorities and mountainous areas, covering most areas of social life," said comrade Truong Hoa Binh.

However, in implementing ethnic policies, there are still some shortcomings and limitations. Therefore, to comprehensively develop ethnic minority and mountainous areas, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh affirmed: "The Government will continue to synchronously implement solutions."

In particular, the Government resolutely directed the implementation of the goals set out in the two national target programs on new rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction for the 2016-2020 period and other target programs and projects; continued to prioritize budget allocation for mountainous areas and ethnic minorities; developed and implemented new rural construction projects focusing on villages and hamlets in disadvantaged communes...

In addition, the Government also has strong investment attraction solutions to develop socio-economic infrastructure, develop production and business in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; invest in education and training development, promote human resource development, cadres, civil servants and public employees of ethnic minorities; invest in developing the grassroots health system in three aspects: investing in building district hospitals, commune health stations, training medical human resources, supporting health insurance; urgently review, prioritize resource allocation, accelerate effective implementation of resettlement programs and projects in key areas...

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh acknowledged the recommendations at the question and answer session, especially the recommendation of the Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee on integrating policies into a national target program for ethnic minority and mountainous areas; assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ethnic Minorities Committee and other ministries and branches to summarize, evaluate carefully, and make scientific proposals on this issue.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien concluded the working session on the morning of August 13. Photo: Quochoi.vn

On behalf of the National Assembly Standing Committee, concluding the working session on the morning of August 13, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien suggested that the Government should have solutions to continue implementing ethnic policies in the coming time, including reviewing, balancing, and allocating sufficient resources to implement effective policies on investment in socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas, and not to leave debt.

The National Assembly Standing Committee also proposed that the Government study and integrate and reduce the management and implementation of ethnic policies to propose a common 10-year program for the coming period based on assessment and preliminary review of policy implementation.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly also proposed continuing to effectively implement ethnic policies, considering this a key task of the entire political system, especially in localities where ethnic minorities live;...