Nghe An eliminates 'poor core' of ethnic minority area with very few people
(Baonghean) - With many difficulties in economic and social life, ethnic minorities in general and ethnic minorities in particular have long been considered the "poor core" of the province. In order to focus resources to support and accompany people to stabilize their lives, many urgent solutions have been implemented with the goal of improving the effectiveness of ethnic and mountainous policies in the coming time.
Identifying difficulties
In Nghe An, the Dan Lai and O Du ethnic groups are located in an area with a very small population. In recent times, with the attention and many practical support policies of the Party and the State, the lives of the Dan Lai and O Du people have had remarkable changes. However, due to many reasons, reviving the socio-economic life of this very small ethnic minority area still faces many difficulties.
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| Mr. La Van Doan's family, a Dan Lai ethnic group in Co Phat village, Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district, successfully planted orange trees in the middle of the Pu Mat forest. Photo: Thanh Quynh |
The Dan Lai ethnic group - the only "sitting-sleeping" ethnic group in Vietnam residing only in Nghe An, currently lives mainly in Con Cuong district (with 3,528 people) and Tuong Duong district (with 818 people). Because their living area is concentrated at the source of streams in Pu Mat National Park with hunting and gathering habits, the lives of the Dan Lai people are always surrounded by poverty, backwardness and racial degradation.
Faced with that situation, on December 16, 2016, the Prime Minister issued Decision 280/QD-TTg approving the Project "Conservation and sustainable development of the Dan Lai ethnic minority currently living in the core zone of Pu Mat National Park, Con Cuong district, Nghe An province".
However, after more than 10 years, the project implementation is still unfinished. Dan Lai people have not been able to integrate into the new life, their lives mainly depend on the State's support. The reason is that the resettlement areas still lack water for living and production, the land allocated for production is both insufficient and difficult to cultivate, while before, people were used to exploiting secondary forest products in large forest areas, so it is very difficult to ensure production after resettlement. Along with that, changes in living space and community culture make it difficult for people to integrate into the new life.
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| A party cell meeting in Thach Son village, Thach Ngan commune, Con Cuong district. Photo: Thanh Quynh |
Acknowledging the shortcomings in the implementation of the above project, the representative of the Provincial Ethnic Committee pointed out the lack of harmony in the policies of migration, resettlement, economic development with cultural preservation and natural resource conservation. Specifically, there is a contradiction between paying too much attention to the conservation of the National Park without paying due attention to the lives and livelihoods of the people. At the same time, it is necessary to frankly identify the contradiction between investing too much in economic support solutions to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty without paying attention to cultural foundations, production practices and community relationships.
Similar difficulties also occur with the second smallest ethnic minority in the province - the O Du. Currently, the O Du ethnic group resides in the mountainous areas of Tuong Duong district with 179 households and 856 people. Of these, more than 445 people live in Vang Mon (Nga My), the rest live interspersed with the Thai and Kho Mu ethnic groups in the four communes of Tam Dinh, Thach Giam, Xa Luong and Luong Minh.
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| O Du people in Vang Mon village, Nga My commune (Tuong Duong). Photo: Dinh Tuan |
In the past, people lived mainly on slash-and-burn cultivation or shifting cultivation, but now the forestry production area has been exhausted, making it almost difficult to make a living. Therefore, the average income per capita has almost "hit rock bottom" at only 4.8 million VND/year, the average food is only 150 kg/person/year; the poverty rate is up to over 57%.
Focus on improving the quality of life of our people
Recognizing the difficulties that two ethnic groups with very small populations in Nghe An are facing, at the workshop "Implementation of policies and laws on socio-economic development in areas with very small ethnic groups, current situation and solutions" held on June 24 in Con Cuong district, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh presented practical solutions and suggestions to help ethnic groups with very small populations stabilize their lives.
Specifically, the Provincial Party Secretary affirmed that Nghe An will continue to focus resources and synchronously implement many sustainable solutions to support and accompany ethnic minority communities in general and ethnic minorities in particular in the coming time. In particular, it will promote the implementation of the Project approved in Decision No. 3829/QD-TTg dated August 22, 2017 of the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee on "Supporting socio-economic development of the O Du ethnic group in the period 2016-2025" and Decision 2086/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister approving the Project "Supporting socio-economic development of ethnic minorities in the period 2016-2025". These are two "key" projects to create development momentum for the O Du and Dan Lai ethnic groups in the province.
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| Scene of the Workshop “Implementation of policies and laws on socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas, current situation and solutions” in Con Cuong, June 24, 2019. Photo: Thanh Quynh |
Also at the workshop, with the goal of actively finding a direction for the Dan Lai community, Mr. Luong Thanh Hai - Head of the Provincial Ethnic Committee submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister, ministries and central branches for the policy of adjusting and supplementing the scope and location of the project to support the Dan Lai people to accompany Con Cuong district in building a community tourism area in the residential area of 186 households upstream of Khe Khang. This will help people both preserve their cultural identity and create a livelihood to maintain a stable life. As for households that have been separated from the land of Pu Mat National Park, it is necessary to plan to arrange enough residential land, production land and basic infrastructure works to provide domestic water and electricity for people to stabilize their lives.
Speaking at the workshop, Comrade Tong Thi Phong - Politburo member, Permanent Vice President of the National Assembly highly appreciated the efforts of the Party Committee, government, organizations and people of Nghe An province in unanimously implementing ethnic policies and work in the past time. Through the workshop, Comrade Tong Thi Phong agreed and proposed many urgent solutions with 7 key tasks. In particular, what needs to be done immediately is to arrange land and housing for the very small ethnic minorities associated with the construction and completion of infrastructure from villages and hamlets, supplementing planning according to the new rural criteria. Along with that is the attention to production development, creating livelihoods, there must be land for production associated with investment in preserving water sources, water sources, especially in the immediate future, there is a need for hygienic domestic water.
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| Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong visits Con Cuong Ethnic Boarding School - Secondary School. Photo: Thanh Quynh |
In the coming time, there needs to be very special policies on investment capital and loans, gradually helping people access commodity production and paying more attention to preserving and promoting the cultural identity of ethnic minorities, helping them integrate into the new life.
To achieve the above goals, Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong agreed with the proposal of the workshop chairmen to submit to the National Assembly at the 8th session of the 14th National Assembly a resolution on investment policies for socio-economic development for ethnic minorities facing many difficulties, including ethnic minorities with very small populations. At the same time, strengthen the leadership and direction of Party committees at all levels, authorities, the Fatherland Front and organizations, and armed forces in areas where ethnic minorities with very small populations live.
Comrade Tong Thi Phong suggested that Nghe An province continue to effectively implement the Party’s Resolution and the State’s policies with the highest responsibility, helping to raise the status of ethnic minorities so that they are no longer the “poor core” of the province. From there, consolidate the great solidarity of ethnic groups, contributing to building and protecting the Fatherland.
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| Dan Lai ethnic group in Mon Son commune (Con Cuong). Photo: Tien Hung |
The implementation of policies and strategies for socio-economic development in the ethnic minority areas in Nghe An in recent years has achieved many important results. The people's lives have been increasingly improved, the poverty rate has decreased by an average of 3-4% per year. The average income per capita in 2019 is estimated at 29.09 million VND/year. The infrastructure system has been invested quite synchronously, over 90% of households have used the national grid, 100% of communes have car roads to the center.
