Step up information verification and search for martyrs' remains in Nghe An province

On the morning of December 31, the Steering Committee 515 of Nghe An province held an online conference with 21 districts, cities and towns to conclude the area, create a map to search and collect martyrs' remains. Colonel Pham Van Dong - Political Commissar of the Provincial Military Command and comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Steering Committee 515 of the province co-chaired the conference.

Implementing the direction of all levels, the work of creating search maps,gathering martyrs' remainsalways received the attention of Nghe An province's leaders. Over the past 2 years, the Provincial Steering Committee 515 has directed districts, cities and towns to organize village and hamlet meetings to collect opinions from officials and people about information on martyrs and martyrs' graves. The organization has distributed more than 800,000 information cards on martyrs and martyrs' graves to households to provide information.

Conference scene at the Provincial Military Command bridge point. Photo: Tien Hung

Thereby, much valuable information about martyrs' graves was provided by the government and people, serving the survey work to conclude the exact location. Specifically, after distributing the collection forms, the units received more than 1,600 forms with information related to martyrs. Especially, 88 forms had information about 88 martyrs' graves that have not been exhumed in the area.

Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs speaks at the conference. Photo: Tien Hung

According to the report of the Provincial Steering Committee 515, the verification results show that there were 1,641 martyrs initially buried in Nghe An province. To date, 1,381 martyrs have been gathered in cemeteries. Of the 260 martyrs who have not yet been gathered, 88 martyrs have had information about their graves after information collection, 11 of which have been verified.

The conference also pointed out many difficulties and obstacles in this work such as the long time of sacrifice, the changing terrain, many information about the hometown and unit at the time of sacrifice, so the comparison and verification encountered many difficulties. In addition, many witnesses were no longer alive or were old and weak, so determining the location and burial place of the martyrs encountered many difficulties, significantly affecting the accuracy when verifying the graves as well as the areas to measure, draw maps to search and collect the martyrs' remains.

Comrade Bui Dinh Long concluded at the conference. Photo: Tien Hung

Speaking at the conference, comrade Bui Dinh Long said that despite many difficulties and obstacles, the conclusion of the area, the implementation of mapping to search and collect martyrs' remains in the province have achieved the set goals and requirements. In particular, the conference to conclude the area at 3 levels: village, commune and district has been completed. The organization has completed drawing the tombstone map at village level, the map to collect martyrs' remains at commune, district and province levels. The appendices on the list and data of martyrs are fully and specifically integrated, serving as the basis for drawing maps and organizing the search and collection of martyrs' remains in the province.

The work of searching for and collecting martyrs' remains has always received attention from Nghe An province's leaders. Photo: Tien Hung

Regarding measures for the coming time, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee directed localities to review for the last time the contents of the data in the report on the conclusion of the area and the map of searching and collecting martyrs' remains to avoid any errors. Based on the results of mapping at all levels, specialized agencies and districts, cities and towns continue to promote the collection and verification of information, and develop plans to organize the search and collection of martyrs' remains in the area. First of all, organize the collection of 11 martyrs' remains that have been verified and concluded. In particular, it is necessary to continue to widely propagate and disseminate Directive 24 of the Politburo and Decision 1237 of the Prime Minister on mapping the search and collection of martyrs' remains. Make all cadres, party members and people of all walks of life fully aware of the Party and State's policies and guidelines, the purpose, requirements, humanity and profound socio-political significance of mapping the search and collection of martyrs' remains.