Part 2: Finding effective solutions for mountainous areas

Therefore, the practical requirement is to find a way for the village to improve itself and organize its political and social life, only then can it truly develop sustainably; thereby "erasing" the Party cell in depth, avoiding formality.

>>>Part 1: There are still gaps in the work of 'whitewashing'

A corner of Mong village, Huoi Giang 1, Tay Son commune (Ky Son).

Strengthening party member solution

The farthest village of Tam Hop commune (Tuong Duong) is Huoi Son, where the Mong ethnic group lives on the high mountain of Phuxailaileng; production and animal husbandry face many difficulties, not to mention social evils, bad guys try to incite people to do bad things, affecting security and order in the border area. Also due to the remote and complicated terrain, the Huoi Son village Party Cell only meets once every few months.

Faced with that situation, party member Nguyen Cong Minh, a cadre of Tam Hop commune, was sent to the village. Having graduated from an agricultural university, this young cadre has many ideas and models to guide people to apply in production such as: growing rice, raising chickens, and raising cattle for breeding.

With a stable economy and no need to worry about hunger, the Mong people will be stable and will no longer have to migrate. Comrade Minh confided: “I personally feel that the knowledge I have learned is not in vain and is meaningful”… Secretary of the Party Committee of Tam Hop commune - Comrade Vi Van Toan commented: “Young, dynamic cadres like Comrade Minh are the ones that the remote and isolated areas are lacking and in need of. After the time of “lying low”, Comrade Minh was proposed by the Party Committee of the commune to his superiors and planned to be elected as Chairman of the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune”.

Currently, Tam Hop commune has also seen many improvements. People have come down from the mountains, learned to grow wet rice, and switched to growing turmeric and passion fruit. The economy is growing, social evils are gradually being eliminated, and many bad customs have been eliminated. In the commune, many households have bought televisions and motorbikes, and people believe in the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's policies and laws.

To closely care for people's lives and at the same time strengthen political security in the highlands and border areas, the Party Committee and government here have established a close relationship with the border guards.

Major Ho Xuan Tuyen, a former border guard officer, was assigned to be Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Tam Quang Commune (Tuong Duong), in charge of Tan Huong village. This is a Thai village with 58 households/254 people. When the village was first established, the Party cell had 7 members, and its operating methods were limited, so the dissemination and popularization of resolutions, policies, and guidelines of the Party, and policies and laws of the State encountered many difficulties. With a long-standing understanding and attachment to the people in the border area, along with high political qualities, "specially enhanced party member" Ho Xuan Tuyen has made many innovations in the way of management, bringing the Party cell into regular activities, creating solidarity and spreading many exciting activities.

Comrade Vi Van Long - Secretary of the Tan Huong village Party Cell shared: In 2017, the Party Cell has built many specialized resolutions on strengthening security and order, changing crop structure and maintaining environmental sanitation. Now the roads in the village are clear and clean. The cultural and artistic movement is very vibrant, people always trust the Party... From 2016 to now, we have admitted 3 party members.

It can be said that sending party members to the hamlet and village party cells is an effective solution to "eliminate" "empty" party cells in the highlands and remote areas. But after all, this is only a short-term solution. Not to mention that some party members who are sent to the grassroots level to participate in activities are also recognized by insiders as "not promoting, not advising, proposing to the Party Committee and the government solutions for socio-economic development, and are still passive in leading and operating the activities of the grassroots party cells" - Comrade Lu Van May - Head of the Organization Committee of Tuong Duong District Party Committee commented.

In the long run, party cells cannot always rely on the full support of their superiors. When the reinforcements withdraw, will the party cells have to rely on their own strength? And how can they continue to promote the political, economic and social life of the village? To build a future generation of successors?...

Nurturing local party members

Mr. Loong Pho Bien is a Khmu ethnic person, living in Xop Tip village, Muong Ai commune (Ky Son). Previously, he lived in Co Mi village, on the top of Keo Lum mountain. “When the Party and the State had a policy of moving people down from the top of the mountain, I went down first, and encouraged the people to follow. Down here it is much more convenient, children can go to school fully, are taught how to keep clean. People know how to grow rice, raise pigs and cows to sell for money…” - village elder Luong Pho Bien said.

It is known that after being discharged from the army and returning to work as a commune cadre, when he reached retirement age, Mr. Bien returned to work as the Chief of Xop Tip village. Now, he is retiring to let young people take over: "We have to let the children do it, they strive, we are old, we can only say what we know. We need responsible people who have learned new things to guide people to get rich!" - he said.

The village elder is usually the person who is highly respected by the villagers in each village. Because he is the one who knows a lot, has experience, and can give advice to the villagers when they encounter difficulties. In fact, the number of experienced and knowledgeable people in the villages is gradually being "younger", which are the village chiefs, the young people who are conscious of studying, to return to build their homeland. This is the source to nurture the elite masses, to select and bring them into the Party's ranks.

When we arrived at Huoi Giang 1 village, Tay Son commune (Ky Son), we heard the village's loudspeaker broadcast entirely in Mong. Village chief Vu Ba Gianh (born in 1982) explained: "Many people in the village do not know Kinh, so the radio must be broadcast in Mong. The most difficult thing is that every time we come back from a meeting, there are directives or new policies of the Party and State, we have to spend more than a day translating from Kinh to Mong, then pass them on to the villagers." After finishing 9th grade, Vu Ba Gianh stayed home to work on the fields, but at that time, he was the most literate person in the village, working as a branch secretary, deputy village chief and police officer, and was later elected village chief.

Mr. Vu Va Chong (born in 1960) in Trung Tam village, Huoi Tu commune is one of the households with good economic performance. Mr. Chong shared that, seeing the high terrain of Huoi Tu, with fog all year round, he thought that the sa mu and po mu trees would grow well, so he bought seeds to try planting and found that they grew well. Currently, his tea hill has been intercropped with more than 5,000 po mu and sa mu trees.

This taciturn Mong man works quietly and diligently, as if using his actions as evidence and lessons for others. Currently in Huoi Tu, many households have started planting pơmu and sa mu trees. Mr. Chong is the village Party Cell Secretary and the Commune Police Chief, and was invited to attend the National Conference to commend exemplary village Party Cell Secretaries.

Comrade Vi Hoe - Secretary of Ky Son District Party Committee said: “The elimination of party cells in the Ky Son highlands is being resolutely implemented by the authorities at all levels. In fact, it has been effective, almost filling the gaps. But the results are only limited to quantity. In terms of quality, we need to pay attention to developing the local team. The target audience we are targeting are prestigious elders, educated and enthusiastic young people who return to work in the villages…”.

Comrade Pham Trong Hoang - Secretary of Tuong Duong District Party Committee shared: "The most fundamental thing is to focus on socio-economic development in remote villages, remote areas, and areas with high risk of "white skin". From there, gradually reduce the situation of people migrating to work far away, create conditions for young people to stay and build their homeland and they themselves are the elite source of the masses to nurture, recruit into the Party, becoming a factor ensuring the solid development of the Party organization in difficult and special areas.

(To be continued)