"Paving the way" to the hearts of the people.

(Baonghean) - After two years of implementing the movement "Armed Forces of Military Region 4 joining hands to build new rural areas," many effective models and methods have emerged in agencies and units within the military region, contributing to the successful implementation of new rural development criteria by local Party committees, authorities, and people, fostering unity and further enhancing the image of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" in the hearts of the people.

Leading us along the newly constructed Da Bo road, Mr. Tran Ba ​​Minh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Van Dien commune (Nam Dan district), confided: "After so many years of traveling on a narrow, dilapidated road, dusty in the summer and muddy in the rainy season... now that we have this wide concrete road, everyone is very happy! This is not just a transportation route, but also a road symbolizing the bond between the military and the people."

The Da Bo village road is over 1 km long and 5.5 m wide, passing through Van Dien commune and Nam Dan town. When the road construction project began, the locality faced many difficulties because the people did not fully understand the policy and were unwilling to voluntarily donate land, structures, and contribute labor and resources. In this difficult situation, Brigade 414 stepped in to provide the locality with all the necessary machinery (excavators, bulldozers, rollers, concrete mixers) and mobilized officers and soldiers to help the locality build the road. For families who did not agree with the "State and people working together" policy, the unit, along with the Party committee and local government, went to each household to persuade and encourage them to participate. The unit's enthusiastic involvement motivated the officials and people to eagerly contribute labor and resources, accelerating the road construction progress. Colonel Nguyen Ba Soa, Political Commissar of Brigade 414, shared: "Helping people build rural roads not only contributes to the local Party committee, government, and people's efforts to fulfill the criteria for building new rural areas, but it is also the 'key' for the unit's officers and soldiers to 'open the way' into the hearts of the people."

Officers and soldiers of Regiment 1, Division 324, helped people in Giang Son Tay commune build rural roads.

In his application to donate land and structures for the construction of new rural roads, Major Tran Van Phuong, Battalion Commander of the Reserve Mobilization Battalion, Dien Chau District Military Command (Nghe An), wrote to the People's Committee of Dien Lien Commune (Dien Chau): “I voluntarily dismantle my fence and donate enough land to open a road according to the criteria of the new rural development program. I respectfully request that the village management board, the Party Committee, and the People's Committee of the commune create favorable conditions for my family to dismantle the fence and donate land to accelerate the progress of new rural development in the locality…”. With his wholehearted dedication, Major Tran Van Phuong is a pioneer in the movement of donating land and structures in his village to “join forces in building new rural areas”. Mr. Vo Van Luat, head of Hamlet 1, Dien Lien Commune, said: “When the initiative to encourage people to donate land and structures for road construction was launched, we recognized it as a difficult task requiring considerable time and persistent efforts from local authorities and departments. But surprisingly, when Mr. Phuong's family submitted a voluntary application to donate land and structures to the Commune People's Committee, and he and his wife voluntarily dismantled 100 square meters of newly built fence and donated over 80 square meters of land, everyone in the hamlet enthusiastically followed suit...”

After two years of implementing the emulation movement "Armed Forces of the Military Region join hands to build new rural areas," many good models and effective actions have emerged in agencies and units within the Military Region's Armed Forces, such as: the "Party members forming fraternal ties with disadvantaged families" movement of the 92nd Economic-Defense Brigade; literacy classes of the 4th and 5th Economic-Defense Brigades; "Volunteer Sunday" of the 324th Division and the 283rd Brigade; "Golden Bamboo Shoots" of the Lang Chanh District Military Command (Thanh Hoa)... In 2013 alone, the Military Region's Armed Forces signed agreements with 138 communes and 32 villages; launched fundraising campaigns totaling over 5 billion VND, mobilized nearly 43,000 man-days... and participated in building new rural areas alongside local Party committees, authorities, and people. It is also through this emulation movement that the awareness of officers and soldiers about the tradition of solidarity and close, inseparable ties with the people has been continuously enhanced, and the image of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" shines ever brighter in the hearts of the people.

Huy Cuong