Promoting democracy - the 'key' to success in Anh Son

The people's "Dien Hong Conference"

Cao Son is a poor commune, located about 20 km from the center of Anh Son district. For a long time, infrastructure has not been given due attention in terms of investment and upgrading. The rural road system with 172 km is mainly dirt roads, especially on days of heavy rain, the whole commune is divided into 15 regions, people cannot travel.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Vinh - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said that, in the face of that situation, the Commune Party Committee issued Resolution No. 35, focusing on 3 key issues: Strengthening the great solidarity bloc, solving urgent needs of the people, "rekindling" the people's trust in the Party Committee and authorities at all levels. The workshop "Joining hands and hearts to build the homeland" was organized and raised 18 types of issues to ask for people's opinions related to attracting State resources, mobilizing people's contributions through socialization of infrastructure construction, construction and restoration of historical and cultural relics and other welfare works. Cao Son people called it a "Dien Hong conference" on socio-economics, listening to people's opinions to shape the development direction for the locality.

Model flower nurseries, a new direction for people in Cao Son commune. Photo: My Nga

"That consensus marks the efforts of the Party cell and the Front's working committee."

Secretary of Party Cell 10 Nguyen Thi Thuyet

To feel the reality, we went to village 10, a typical example of mobilizing people to build roads and bridges. In recent times, thanks to the good promotion of grassroots democracy regulations according to the motto: people know, people discuss, people do, people inspect, village 10 has created great consensus. Leading us along the wide, hardened road, standing on the sturdy Bau Dung bridge, comrade Nguyen Thi Thuyet - Secretary of the Party Cell of village 10 proudly said: "When there was a policy to build rural roads and bridges, people not only supported money, materials, and working days but also donated land to open roads. That consensus marked the efforts of the Party Cell and the Front Working Committee of village 10".

Before disseminating and mobilizing the people, the Party Cell of Village 10 thoroughly discussed the mobilization motto. It was not only to disseminate to the people to clearly understand the policy and effectiveness of building traffic infrastructure, but also to discuss and get the people's consensus before organizing implementation. It is worth noting that although the people's lives are still difficult, they are willing to join hands to do "big things". Since then, many typical party members and outstanding people have appeared to support with large amounts of money, such as Mr. Phan Sy Dao's family supporting 126 million VND, Mr. Pham Hong Thuy's family supporting 75 million VND...

Upgrading and expanding main traffic routes of Cao Son commune (Anh Son). Photo: Minh Chi

“Nothing is greater than the power of the people. When the people agree, everything goes smoothly. All supporting policies are discussed with the people to reach a common consensus.”

Head of Village 10 Phan Trong Buoi

Therefore, all 16 households in the village were satisfied and on average each household voluntarily supported 21 million VND to build a 450m long road and rebuild the 2.5m high Bau Dung bridge. During the implementation process, the village's Community Supervision Board also operated effectively, so the people trusted it very much. From those specific actions and the enthusiastic emulation movement among the people, from 2018 to September 2019, the whole commune concreted and asphalted 13km of road; built and upgraded 14 people's bridges; built and restored 7 temples and shrines.

Sharing the secret of success, comrade Nguyen Duc Vinh - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Cao Son commune said: "We must know how to use the village as a "fortress", and take the people as the main subject. In particular, we must trust and order people to give advice, at the same time share difficulties and solve outstanding problems among the people. People's trust is only built when all policies are public and transparent through specific activities, not through words".

Strengthening trust in Party committees and authorities

In Hung Son commune, comrade Vo Van Hien - Secretary of the Commune Party Committee said: With the motto "using the people's strength to liberate the people", the commune mobilizes and promotes the people's strength in building cultural institutions, implementing democratic regulations in basic construction works. Up to now, 6/9 villages have completed the construction of football fields, which are places for community recreation, each football field has an average area of ​​5,000 - 6,000 m2.², with a budget of 200 - 250 million VND, entirely from the people's own resources. Not only improving the spiritual life of the people, the Party Committee and authorities at all levels in Hung Son also focus on accompanying the people in finding new directions, shifting crop structure, developing the economy to improve material life.

The large sports stadiums of hamlets in Hung Son commune were built by the people's own internal resources. Photo: My Nga

The barren hills are now covered with green tea hills.

According to the Party Secretary of the Commune Vo Van Hien, at the dialogue sessions, asking for opinions on industrial tea planting, people expressed concerns and did not really believe in the level of success. In order for people to understand and follow, the Party Committee promoted the core role of the grassroots party organization, party members taking the lead in developing tea planting, with the motto of doing, propagating, and listening to people's opinions. Persistently mobilizing, realizing the right direction, people participated in industrial tea planting. The barren hills have now been covered with green tea hills, becoming a large intensive farming area, the whole commune currently has 533 hectares.

Moreover, thanks to the stable income from the main tea tree, from a poor commune in the "bottom" of the district in previous years, from "barren hills" to "million hills", Hung Son has quickly "turned around" to achieve the criteria of increasing per capita income, exceeding the target set by the Resolution of the Commune Party Congress for the 2015-2020 term. Mr. Nguyen Van Thuan, a resident of Hamlet 5 shared: "People are able to exercise their right to be masters, participate in discussions and contribute opinions on local affairs. Therefore, many difficulties are quickly resolved, creating trust".

Tea trees have now become the main crop for people in Hung Son commune. Photo: My Nga

The results of implementing the democratic regulations have promoted the positivity among the masses; local leaders have also more accurately determined their responsibilities and powers, thereby creating positive changes in all economic and social fields.

Comrade Nguyen Cong The - Head of the District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee said that in 21 communes and towns of Anh Son district, the People's Inspection Committee and the Community Investment Supervision Committee have been completed, consolidated and put into practical operation. The implementation of the QCDC is associated with administrative reform, publicly posting working procedures at the headquarters to quickly and promptly resolve administrative procedures for the people. In particular, the process of asking for people's opinions and democratic discussions before implementing programs and projects has been well implemented by localities such as in the construction of new rural areas and the development of village covenants. Since then, the people's mastery has continued to be significantly enhanced, strengthening trust in the Party Committee and the government.

However, comrade Nguyen Cong The said: In some localities and units, the implementation is still formal, especially the collection and response of people's opinions are not thorough. Grasping the people's situation, forecasting and participating in solving complex problems arising among the people still has many limitations. These limitations need to be focused on overcoming to further improve the results of QCDC implementation in the area.