Opportunity to escape poverty sustainably

(Baonghean) -In 2013, many near-poor households in the province had great joy when the loan program for near-poor households was implemented. As a result, by the end of May, 13 districts, cities and towns in the province had disbursed more than 20 billion VND.

The family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Luyen, hamlet 2 Kim My - Nghi An commune (Vinh city) is near-poor, in extremely difficult circumstances. Last year, her husband fell seriously ill, and her 3 children were still in school age. At a dead end, not knowing how to stabilize their lives, the head of the savings and loan group Kim My announced the good news that her family had been able to borrow capital for near-poor households. The day the Bank for Social Policies granted her a loan of up to 30 million VND, Ms. Luyen was so happy that she cried: "I am extremely grateful to the State for creating conditions for near-poor households like my family to borrow this preferential source of capital to earn a living. The family has invested in buying 1 cow and 1 pig to develop livestock farming, both to support plowing and to have a little extra income to cover living expenses".

The family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dan (Trung Tam hamlet, Nghi An commune) used to be a poor household, but now they have just escaped poverty and become near-poor households. Mrs. Dan's family's situation is also difficult, her husband died of a serious illness, she alone works in the fields to raise 2 children who have finished high school but are unemployed. Mrs. Dan is 64 years old this year, in poor health and always sick, unable to go to the market to trade. "Now that the Bank for Social Policies has approved a loan of 20 million VND, I plan to buy a breeding cow to develop livestock farming, hoping to have more income to improve my life," Mrs. Dan confided.

Social Policy Bank disburses credit capital to near-poor households in Nghi An commune - Vinh city.

Ms. Luong Thi Chuong - Chairwoman of Nghi An Commune Women's Union said: Nghi An Commune has 71 near-poor households, in this first disbursement, 22 households received loans, with a total amount of 600 million VND. Previously, some households who had information that they had received loans were excited to buy cows on debt to raise first, waiting for the capital to be paid back. Currently, the lives of local people are facing many difficulties due to low agricultural prices, difficult to sell, and unprofitable production. Women from near-poor households in hamlets such as Kim Trung, Kim Hop, Trung Tam, Kim Nghia... often go to the market to do small business to make a living, if they do not have capital to maintain production, the risk of falling back into poverty is very high. Therefore, the Government's decision to lend capital to near-poor households is extremely meaningful.

As a district bordering Vinh City, Nghi Loc currently has over 6,200 near-poor households, with an estimated total capital demand to meet lending needs in the area of ​​over 100 billion VND. By the end of May, Nghi Loc District Social Policy Bank had disbursed 2.5 billion VND to 125 near-poor households, with an average loan of 20 million VND per household. The loan capital was mainly invested by households in developing family livestock farming, initially creating jobs for a part of the rural labor force, contributing to ensuring social security in the area.

Currently, not only Nghi Loc and Vinh City, but also Nam Dan, Quynh Luu, Hung Nguyen, Tan Ky, Cua Lo Town, and Quy Hop districts are disbursing the program.

Mr. Hoang Son Lam - Head of Credit Department of the Provincial Social Policy Bank said: After the policy was issued, it was reviewed and counted that the whole province currently has 108,573 near-poor households in need of loans, accounting for 14.6% of the total number of households in the province. The total capital demand for loans to near-poor households in the area is estimated at about 1,600 billion VND. The branch is proposing that the Central Government provide capital to implement in 2013 at 750 billion VND, meeting about 47% of the capital demand of near-poor households in 2013.

Recently, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies has provided 70 billion VND to the Nghe An Bank for Social Policies to lend to near-poor households. By May 31, 13 districts, cities and towns in the province had disbursed more than 20 billion VND of credit program capital for near-poor households. The districts are actively disbursing this preferential capital to quickly bring capital to near-poor households in the shortest time. People are very excited to have access to capital to invest in production and business development, because this policy truly meets the people's expectations, accompanying them in stabilizing their lives towards prosperity and happiness.

Decision No. 15/2013/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister “on credit for near-poor households”, effective from April 16, 2013, has become a new driving force in the people’s journey to escape poverty sustainably, ensuring the effectiveness of social security work. This policy has opened up opportunities for tens of thousands of poor households in the province to have capital for production, business, and to strive to stabilize their lives.

Article and photos: Quynh Lan