Tears of the poor

(Baonghean) - At the end of August 2014, Ms. Tran Thi Ngan (village 5, Kieu Ha, Nam Cuong, Nam Dan) brought her son Huynh Quoc Nam (class 6B, Phuc Cuong Secondary School) to Nghe An Newspaper to submit a petition...

In the application, Ms. Ngan wrote: "A few years ago, with the attention of the Party and the State, I received 10 million VND in support and a loan at the interest rate for poor households of 10 million VND, and I was able to build a small house for my mother and I to live in. Our material life depends on one sao of grade 3 land. The peanut harvest yielded 120 kg, excluding fertilizer and seeds, about 1,500,000 VND. The vegetable and bean harvest yielded about 300,000 VND. In addition, my child received the 202 policy, receiving 180,000 VND per month (2,160,000 VND per year). Thus, the total annual income was about 3,900,000 VND. The average per capita income was only 165,000 VND/month. Although we were frugal, the income was too low to cover the minimum daily expenses, not to mention the money for the child's school supplies.

Chicken coop made from plastic crates by Ms. Tran Thi Ngan

Ms. Tran Thi Ngan's family background is in village 5, Kieu Ha, Nam Cuong.

Yet the village chief and the village executive committee took the 10,000,000 VND support money to build a flood shelter and added it to the income, then removed my family from the list of poor households... The content of my petition was concluded by the Chairman of the District People's Committee, but the commune still refused to resolve it, and even covered up the bad behavior of the officials...".

Her house is in village 5, Kieu Ha, just a short distance from Yen Xuan bridge. Seeing a stranger claiming to be from Nghe An Newspaper, busy in the "chicken coop", she frantically ran in and out, explaining: "There is no land to receive guests", then sobbed about the petition. At the end of 2013, the hamlet executive committee organized a review of poor households. The meeting had quite a lot of attendees. As soon as the meeting started, the hamlet chief announced that her family had escaped poverty this year. The reason was that in addition to the income from 1 sao of grade 3 rice field, she received 10,000,000 VND from the State to build a flood shelter. Many people reminded her: "You should ask them. How did your family escape poverty?". Indignant, she said to the people around her: "I will accept it, I will not ask. I am a poor household, but I cannot receive support money from enterprises, so why ask for it and get a bad reputation...". Then she left halfway. Later, seeing that the poor households in the village were all people with better circumstances, the retired people advised her to ask the higher authorities to consider giving her a policy. They said: "Be patient and take care of your child. With such difficult circumstances, how can you afford to send him to school?". Thinking back and forth, seeing that the income from the fields, along with buying and selling vegetables along Yen Xuan bridge, was not enough, she had to submit a petition to the higher authorities.

Her house is located on a small plot of land about 45 square meters. It is called a house, but it is not a house: the walls are built, the roof is covered with low, dark fibro cement, the area is about 12 square meters, divided in half to form a room, a living room. The newly built flood-proof hut connected to the house is about 8 - 9 square meters wide, the bottom is used as a kitchen, and the attic to prevent floods. The part considered the living room, besides the table, two plastic chairs, and a small altar, there is nothing more. In the room is an old double bed, with a broken domestic TV in the corner of the house. The property of the mother and daughter, perhaps the only valuable thing is an old mini bicycle. And a few dozen skinny eggplant plants are planted in the narrow yard; the "chicken coop" is two plastic beer bottles upside down, tied with steel wire, inside, there are 5 - 6 chicks.

Waiting for me to "verify" all the family's assets, she said: "The commune checked again, but still affirmed that I had escaped poverty. I filed a petition to the district, and they sent someone to verify again, and concluded that the commune was wrong, that it was not correct to include flood-proof house building support money in income. The district organized a dialogue and reaffirmed this. But the commune still did not listen, they said that if there was anything, they would reconsider next year. The district had made a decision, but the commune still refused to change it...".

She showed me Decision No. 5347/QD-UBND dated August 26, 2014 of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Dan District. In this decision, in addition to the content of her complaint, it also detailed the complaint settlement procedure of the People's Committee of Nam Cuong Commune; the verification results of the District Inspectorate; the opinions of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and the State's regulations on poverty standards, the process of reviewing poor households... In the verification part of the District Inspectorate, after reviewing, her family's total income (excluding expenses) was 6,100,000 VND. Divided over 12 months, 2 people, the average is 254,000 VND/person/month. Regarding the State support of 10,000,000 VND to build a flood-proof hut, the Inspection Team worked with the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and affirmed that it must be implemented according to Circular No. 21/2012/TT-BLDTBXH dated September 5, 2012, when investigating and reviewing, it was not included in the income. The Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee decided to cancel the decision to resolve the complaint of the Chairman of Nam Cuong Commune, and at the same time, assigned the Nam Cuong Commune People's Committee to restore the poor household status for her family.

Tears streamed down her dark, prematurely aged face. She said, "Last time, I planned to not let my child go to school anymore, but the teachers at the newspaper took pity on him and gave him money and some pens to buy books and notebooks so he could continue going to school. But where will I get the money to pay for school? My child has been in debt since the beginning of this year. Why did the district make such a clear decision but the commune did not follow it? Please help me, newspaper..."

Go to Nam Cuong commune to ask about the matter of "The district decided so but the commune did not do it", as you said. On September 12, there was a power outage, the commune chairman was not in the room. Requesting to work with Mr. Nguyen An Toan - Deputy Secretary of the commune Party Committee, this matter really happened. According to Mr. Nguyen An Toan, the poor households in hamlet 5, Kieu Ha. "In form, they are better, but they still meet the standards of poor households". And he said that, although the district decided like that, the hamlet and commune officials still affirmed that her family, a household of two, she was still healthy, so even if the support money for building a flood shelter was not included, her income still exceeded the regulations for poor households. He said: "The hamlet review board, the commune's poor household review board has verified this.

Moreover, the people of Hamlet 5, Kieu Ha also did not vote...". Check the household income survey form investigated by the Hamlet Chief of Hamlet 5, Kieu Ha on October 25, 2013. Here, her total income is 2,500,000 VND; total expenditure is 764,000 VND; plus the amount of 10,000,000 VND to support the construction of a flood-proof hut is 12,500,000 VND. Subtract the total expenditure of 764,000 VND, divided by 12 months, 2 people, the average is 489,000 VND/person/month. In the verification report of the commune, conducted by two Deputy Heads of the Commune's Hunger Eradication and Poverty Reduction Board and the Hamlet Chief of Hamlet 5, Kieu Ha on March 13, 2014, her income from the fields is estimated at 3,000,000 VND; the provisional profit from petty trading is 2,400,000 VND; support money for making huts 10,000,000 VND; support money from businesses 1,300,000 VND.

Total income is 16,700,000 VND. Divided equally, each person in her family gets 695,000 VND/month. I asked the Deputy Secretary of the Commune Party Committee: If we exclude the State's support for building a flood shelter, as in the commune's verification, with an income of only 6,700,000 VND for 2 people, what basis does the commune and hamlet have to affirm that her income exceeds the poverty line? This person looked at the verification record, checked the signatures of those who carried it out, and then explained: The hamlet and the Commune Poor Household Review Council had their opinions, but the Standing Committee of the Party Committee had no opinion...

Leaving the Nam Cuong flood area at noon. Stormy day. The sun was blazing, hot. I remembered the house that was not worthy to be called a home; I remembered the small yard with eggplants; I remembered the chicken coop made of two plastic beer barrels; the skinny boy with deformed limbs - the result of the woman's desire to be a mother, and her - her hair streaked with silver, her clothes ragged, working hard to scrape up cold rice for the chickens, and I felt sad for the way some of the officials here treated me...

Article and photos:Nhat Lan