To mobilize people to build new rural areas

(Baonghean) - According to the report of the Steering Committee for New Rural Development (NTM) of the province, in 3 years (2011-2013), the total mobilized capital reached 13,964.428 billion VND; of which the State budget capital (including Central and local) invested in implementing the program was 1,753.620 billion VND (accounting for 12.6%); capital combined from programs and projects was 5,723.149 billion VND (accounting for 41.2%); credit capital was 1,701.808 billion VND (accounting for 12.2%), enterprise capital was 761.283 billion VND (accounting for 5%); capital contributed by people was 4,024.568 billion VND (accounting for 29%).

According to the provisions of Decision No. 800/QD-TTg dated June 4, 2010 of the Prime Minister, the mobilized capital sources are all unsatisfactory and do not meet the requirements: State budget capital is structured at 30% but only reaches 12.6%, credit capital is structured at 30% but only mobilizes 12.2%, capital from enterprises, cooperatives and other economic types is structured at 20% but only mobilizes 5% from enterprises, capital from national target programs is structured at 23% but mobilizes up to 41.2%, capital contributed by the people requires only 10% but has mobilized up to 29%. Thus, to build the new rural area, nearly half of the capital relies on national target programs, this capital source is invested in 11 programs and projects that already existed, included in the new rural area construction program but is managed vertically, making it very difficult to coordinate. Of the remaining capital, capital mobilized from the community is the largest (29%). This is also the most effectively used source of capital, because it is contributed by local people and is checked and monitored during the implementation process.

From the above reality, many localities have drawn experience: to successfully implement the new rural construction program, it is impossible to expect investment capital from the State budget but must rely mainly on the people's strength. After 3 years of propaganda and mobilization to implement the new rural construction program, people's awareness has been raised, clearly showing the practical effects of this program. However, to mobilize people to build new rural areas, the current difficulty is that farmers' income is too low. According to the new rural construction criteria, the average income per capita/year in the North Central region must be 1.4 times higher than the average income of the province. However, the average income per capita/year in rural areas of Nghe An in 2011 reached 13 million VND, and by 2013 it had only increased to 21 million VND, lower than the average income of the province. The poverty rate according to the new rural criteria for the North Central region is 5%, but in Nghe An in 2011 it was 15%, and now it is still 10%. The whole province has only 90 communes with average income meeting the NTM standard, there are 431 communes with average income not meeting the standard, of which 172 communes have average income below 50% of the standard. With such low income, mobilizing farmers to contribute to NTM construction is very difficult.

Mobilizing people to build new rural areas is a fundamental and long-term direction. Therefore, the core task of building new rural areas is to develop the economy in agriculture and rural areas so that farmers have the conditions to contribute to building new rural areas. In reality, if the local economy does not develop, the source of mobilizing people to contribute to building new rural areas mainly depends on the support of those who are far from home and have the conditions or those who go to work abroad. Local people's contributions are mainly land and labor. With the current underdeveloped agricultural production, farmers' products are very difficult to sell on the market, and farmers' income in cash is very limited. To mobilize people's strength to build new rural areas, it is necessary to "nurture" people's strength with many solutions: Enterprises act as "midwives" to consume products for farmers, the State has policies to encourage the consumption of products made by farmers, scientists actively apply scientific and technical advances to agricultural production to have high-quality products that can be consumed in the market.

In short, to mobilize people to build the new rural area, the basic long-term direction is to develop agriculture to produce high-quality goods with many products consumed in the market, bringing high income value to farmers. That is both the starting point and the goal of the New Rural Area Construction Program.

Tran Hong Co