Nam Dan strives to build the homeland according to Uncle Ho's advice

MODELS IN MANY FIELDS

Coming to Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan) today, the countryside space is truly fresh. The roads are green - clean - beautiful; the lotus ponds are built with embankments, bridges, communal houses, creating a space for locals and tourists to enjoy when coming to Uncle Ho's hometown. This is also a performance space for Vi and Giam Folk Song Clubs; model gardens, new rural standard gardens have become homestay tourism experience models... Tourists from all over the world coming to Uncle Ho's hometown all have the same feeling about a peaceful, livable countryside and friendly, polite, hospitable people.

The rural face of Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan) is green - clean - beautiful. Photo: Mai Hoa

Along with the new rural space and landscape, the material life of the people is increasingly improved, with the system of restaurants and tourist service kiosks developing; agricultural production gradually breaks the monoculture of rice into some models of growing fruit trees, high-class vegetables in greenhouses, growing flowers, ornamental plants combined with sightseeing, experience...

In particular, from lotus, through the Bac Village Lotus Cooperative, 15 lotus products have been successfully developed, of which 9 products meet 3-star and 4-star OCOP standards (lotus tea, lotus tea, lotus rice tea, lotus heart tea, white lotus queen tea, dried lotus seeds, lotus leaf tea products...) to serve the needs and tastes of consumers nationwide and are present in the Korean market through Korean distribution enterprises.

Lotus tea making in Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan). Photo: Nhat Thanh

The cultural and spiritual life of the people of Uncle Ho's hometown has improved; sports activities, Vi and Giam Folk Song Clubs; and Folk Dance Clubs are bustling in all hamlets. The development in Kim Lien commune today is comprehensive, which comrade Tran Thanh Hai - Secretary of the Commune Party Committee said, the proof is that the locality was recognized as meeting the advanced new rural standards in 2020 and meeting the new rural standards in culture - tourism in early 2022.

Not only Kim Lien commune strives to achieve model commune, in a semi-mountainous commune with many difficulties like Nam Nghia, the Party Committee and the People have also used their own will, perseverance and persistence to build the commune to meet new rural standards (in 2015), to reach advanced new rural standards (in 2021) and achievenew rural modelon environmental landscape (2022).

Rural transport system in the model new rural commune of Nam Nghia. Photo: Mai Hoa

Sharing experience in bringing the commune to the model new rural standards, Party Secretary Nguyen Quang Dung said: The result is a 3-stage process; to reach the model new rural standards, it must first reach the advanced new rural standards with 19 criteria and before the advanced new rural standards, it must reach the new rural standards with 19 criteria.

In directing, the commune assigns specific responsibilities to each organization and individual comrades in the Party Committee, cadres, and civil servants in charge according to each criterion and specific hamlet area; takes easy and low-cost criteria first, such as the criteria of the political system, security, and order; criteria requiring funding are all discussed thoroughly, publicly, and democratically; especially, arousing the people's self-esteem to unanimously contribute their efforts and money to build the new countryside through 3 stages.

In the 2 years (2021, 2022) of building an advanced and model new rural area alone, the people of Nam Nghia commune have contributed more than 20 billion VND. The awareness of building the homeland and preserving a green - clean - beautiful landscape and environment has become a habit and a regular daily task of the people; whenever or wherever something is dirty, the people and self-management groups do it immediately, without having to wait for "Green Sunday".

Nam Dan district leaders survey the experiential tourism model in Nam Nghia commune. Photo: Mai Hoa

STRIVE TO ACHIEVE THE RIGHT NEW RURAL DISTRICT

“Homeland is a heavy duty, high affection”, during his lifetime, despite being busy with national affairs, his hometown Nam Dan was always a concern in President Ho Chi Minh’s heart. On his two visits to his hometown and through letters sent home, President Ho Chi Minh always gave his hometown encouragement, expressing his wish that his hometown would organize a patriotic emulation movement that was vibrant, widespread, practical, and persistent, making Nam Dan a model district and Nam Lien commune (Kim Lien today) a model commune and the same for other communes in Nam Dan district.

Those wishes and messages are always considered by the Party Committee and People of Nam Dan district as His sacred Testament for his homeland to strive, persevere, and firmly pursue the goal of building Nam Dan district into a model new rural district, in the direction of developing culture associated with tourism (Decision No. 17 of the Prime Minister, issued on January 4, 2019, approving the Pilot Project to build Nam Dan district into a model new rural district in the direction of developing culture associated with tourism, period 2018 - 2025).

Farm economic model combining eco-tourism, experiential tourism, homestay in Nam Giang commune (Nam Dan). Photo: CSCC

Comrade Nguyen Hong Son - Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the District People's Committee shared: Building a model new rural district is identified as a key political task of the Party Committee, the government, and the political system from the district to the grassroots. In addition to the steering committee, the district also established steering groups for building a model new rural area, headed by members of the Standing Committee, to regularly work with communes to review criteria, orient methods, ways of doing things, and assign each commune to develop a plan to improve the achieved criteria, and direct the implementation of unachieved criteria. Every month and every quarter, the district steering committee organizes meetings on new rural topics with working groups and localities; the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee organizes meetings with communes on the roadmap to the finish line to urge and remove difficulties and obstacles, and communes that have not registered to the finish line to have orientations for the long-term roadmap.

In directing, besides closely following each commune in the roadmap to reach the advanced and model new rural area, closely following the criteria of a model new rural district in terms of culture associated with tourism for drastic direction; Nam Dan district has selected 4 comprehensive and difficult-to-implement contents to build 4 very specific directing plans. Such as launching the movement to build "Bright - green - clean - beautiful" blocks and hamlets; organizing a competition for typical models in building model new rural areas and civilized urban areas (roads, headquarters, schools, "Bright - green - clean - beautiful" residential areas); building standard gardens, model gardens of new rural areas; promotingOCOP product development.

OCOP products in Nam Anh commune are diverse and rich. Photo: Quang An

Along with that, the district also focuses on shifting the structure of crops and livestock; enhancing the application of science and technology, joint ventures, and partnerships with businesses, creating effective economic models. Chairman of the District People's Committee Nguyen Hong Son said that the selection of key contents for direction both ensures substance and sustainability; and has a broad scope of the movement to build advanced, exemplary new rural areas, not limited to, and focused on communes in the roadmap.

Looking at the target of Decision No. 17 of the Prime Minister by 2025, there will be 6 communes achieving model new rural areas, up to now, Nam Dan district has 5 communes achieving; 100% of communes achieving advanced rural standards, 9/18 communes have achieved (in 2023, we will continue to strive to have 2 more communes achieving model education and 4 communes achieving advanced new rural areas).

In Nam Dan town alone, the district is resolutely directing the implementation of urban civilization criteria. For 42 contents of the 5 criteria of the model new rural area on "Culture associated with tourism", 35/42 contents have met the standards. Nam Dan district is continuing to set the determination to fully complete the targets and criteria and be recognized by the Prime Minister as a "Model new rural area on cultural development associated with tourism" on the occasion of the 135th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday in 2025.

A corner of Nam Dan district. Photo: Hai Vuong