Promoting the strength of the militia and self-defense forces, building and protecting the homeland

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of November 30, in Hanoi, the Ministry of National Defense held a national online conference to summarize the 2009 Law on Militia and Self-Defense Forces (MND).

The conference was attended by representatives from central ministries, departments and branches and more than 3,000 delegates at connecting points nationwide. Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang - Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission, Deputy Minister of National Defense, Chief of the General Staff chaired the conference.

At Nghe An bridge, comrade Le Xuan Dai - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference. Attending were representatives of provincial departments, branches and sectors.

Comrade Le Xuan Dai - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference at Nghe An bridge. Photo: Phong Quang

Immediately after the Law on Militia and Self-Defense Forces came into effect, the Ministry of National Defense took the lead in advising the Government and coordinating with ministries, departments and branches to thoroughly grasp and seriously implement it. After 8 years of implementation (2009 - 2017), the Militia and Self-Defense Forces nationwide have grown stronger and stronger, and the quality of training and combat readiness has been increasingly improved.

Up to now, the total number of militia officers and soldiers nationwide has reached over 1.4% of the country's population; the rate of party members in the militia has reached 20.1%; 5,452 military party cells have been established and 3,091 new military headquarters have been built at the commune, ward and town levels.

Along with that, 33,369 commune-level military commanders with intermediate, college and university degrees in basic military have been trained; of which 2,753 have been promoted to leadership positions at the commune level and higher. From 2010 to present, 7,619,132 militia and self-defense forces have been mobilized with more than 34,179,602 working days, participating in activities to ensure political security, prevent natural disasters, search and rescue, build new rural areas, contributing to the implementation of socio-economic and national defense and security tasks in localities...

The conference announced the decisions of the President to award the Third Class Labor Medal, the Prime Minister to award Certificates of Merit, and the Minister of National Defense to outstanding collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in implementing the Law on National Defense and Security in the 2009-2017 period, contributing to the cause of national construction and defense.

Officers and soldiers of the Military Command of Le Loi Ward (Vinh City) practice shooting. Photo: Archive

In addition to those results, the delegates attending the conference discussed and analyzed to clarify the limitations and shortcomings in implementing the Law on Militia and Self-Defense Forces. The awareness of the position, role, functions and tasks of Militia and Self-Defense Forces of units and localities at times was not yet comprehensive and profound; some agencies, units and localities have not invested properly in policies, allowances for responsibilities and operating costs for Militia and Self-Defense Forces...

On the other hand, the organization and building of self-defense forces in private enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises faces many difficulties; the activities of the maritime militia are still limited in terms of human resources and facilities...

Concluding the conference, Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang emphasized: The Ministry of National Defense will study and summarize the comments of units and localities, and soon complete the draft amendments to the 2009 Law on National Defense and submit it to the National Assembly for study and approval, in accordance with new developments in practice.

He emphasized that the amendment and supplementation of the Law on Militia and Self-Defense Forces must ensure the inheritance and development of the 2009 Law on Militia and Self-Defense Forces; ensure that the Militia and Self-Defense Forces are always under the leadership of the Party, the unified management of the Government and the Ministry of National Defense; ensure that the amended Law on Militia and Self-Defense Forces is consistent with the provisions of the 2013 Constitution, the Law on National Defense and current legal documents; ensure that the new Law on Militia and Self-Defense Forces is democratic, easy to understand, easy to access, and easy to apply in practice. Thereby, contributing to improving the quality of the Militia and Self-Defense Forces in the current new situation.

Phong Quang - Trong Kien