Difficulties in developing the Party in rural areas.

(Baonghean) - The large number of young workers leaving the area and the difficulties in recruiting and developing new Party members in rural areas are among the reasons leading to the current trend of "aging" of Party members in rural Party branches.

The old bamboo is still there, but the new shoots haven't grown yet.

The Yen Luong Party branch (Giang Son Dong commune - Do Luong district) currently has 6 party members, including 3 members over 70 years old and 2 members who are commune officials. For many years, this party branch has faced difficulties in party development.

According to Party branch secretary Phan Van Tung: From 2008 to the present, the Party branch has only considered admitting one new Party member, Ms. Hoang Thi Xuan (born in 1991), Deputy Secretary of the village's Youth Union. The reason is the lack of resources for training, as most young people in the village are working far away, leaving only 3 young people at home, the rest being students...

This is also a common situation faced by some village and hamlet Party branches in Giang Son Dong, such as the Yen Tan Party branch, which has 9 members, including 1 member exempt from Party activities, 2 members over 70 years old who are ill, 1 young member who is seeking work far away, and 2 female members who are also at risk of ceasing Party activities due to working far away and marrying elsewhere, while the recruitment of new Party members is stagnating. Therefore, this Party branch is being classified as showing signs of the risk of becoming inactive again.

Party branch secretary Tran Van Thu, Hamlet 7, Tan Huong commune (Tan Ky district), guides local people in planting acacia seedlings.

Speaking about the current situation of "old bamboo" but "new shoots" not yet emerging in village Party branches, Comrade Thai Ba Son - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Giang Son Dong commune, said: The source of Party member development in rural areas mainly relies on the youth force, but currently, some of this force are studying at universities, colleges, or vocational schools, some are working far away, and a small number of young people at home have limited education and ability, lack the will to strive, and are reluctant to participate in the activities of mass organizations, making it difficult to cultivate them into outstanding individuals to be recommended to the Party.

In reality, many villages and hamlets no longer have young people, youth organizations are operating sporadically, and resources in grassroots organizations such as the farmers' association and women's association are also limited, so many rural Party branches are facing an aging trend. The entire Party committee currently has 19 branches and 266 Party members, including 198 rural Party members. In 2015, the target was to recruit 7 Party members, but only 6 were admitted. In 2016, the target was 7, and so far, only 8 Party members have been admitted...

Hung Tien commune (Nam Dan district), despite having 19 rural Party branches out of a total of 23, faces significant challenges in achieving the annual target of recruiting one new Party member per branch. Mr. Le Anh Dung, Deputy Secretary of the Commune Party Committee, stated: "The entire Party organization has 515 members, with an average age of over 50, while the annual recruitment of new Party members only reaches about 40% of the assigned target."

In 2015, the entire commune only admitted 6 party members, while in 2016, up to this point, 7 party members have been admitted, including some who are already in their 40s... According to data from the Nam Dan District Party Committee's Organization Department, not only in Hung Tien but also in several other communes, the annual party membership growth rate is low, such as Nam Giang (40%), Xuan Hoa (47.6%), Nam Hung (66.67%), Nam Trung (64.7%)... Some hamlets in areas with a large number of religious followers have not been able to recruit party members for many years and are at risk of becoming completely devoid of party members again, such as hamlets 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (Nam Loc commune), and in Van Dien commune, there is a combined party branch comprising 3 hamlets...

Officials from the Nam Dan District Party Committee held discussions with the Party Committee and the Party branch secretary of a hamlet in Hung Tien commune.

In Thanh Chuong district, there are also rural Party branches where the proportion of elderly members is high, while the number of young Party members has not increased for many years, leading to the risk of the branch ceasing to exist. For example, the Party branch of Hamlet 15, Thanh Ha commune, has only 3 members, 2 of whom are over 60 years old; the Xuan Son 2 Party branch, Thanh Xuan commune, has 4 members, 3 of whom are over 60 years old. Thanh Huong commune has two Party branches (Hamlet 1 and Hamlet 9), both with 4 members, 2 of whom are over 60 years old...

Comrade Dang Anh Dung, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, stated: The general situation regarding Party development in rural areas is currently very difficult, especially in areas without industrial zones and where many young people are working far from home. While creating a pool of potential members is already challenging, the number of outstanding individuals who are constantly on the move due to unstable employment makes monitoring, nurturing, and supporting them quite difficult. Some Party branches have few members, mostly elderly, which affects the ability to improve the leadership capacity and fighting strength of the Party organization and the implementation of resolutions of the Party branch and Party committee. Currently, in Thanh Chuong district, there are 6 Party branches at risk of having very few members (4 members or fewer). In 2016, the Thanh Chuong District Party Committee had to consider removing the names of 9 individuals (mostly in their 80s and 90s) from the membership list because they were working far from home, did not participate in regular activities, and did not pay Party dues...

Besides objective reasons, the reality shows that some grassroots Party committees have not yet truly paid attention to the work of creating a pool of potential Party members. In addition, local Party committees and authorities have not yet implemented groundbreaking solutions to create jobs and increase income, helping young people feel secure in establishing themselves and their careers in their hometowns.

Youth union branches at all levels, especially in villages and hamlets, have not clearly demonstrated their role in gathering and educating young people, resulting in limited activities in both breadth and depth. Therefore, the work of recruiting and training potential Party members from among youth union members remains limited. In some places, students are introduced to serve as secretaries of youth union branches in blocks and hamlets, and then trained and introduced into the Party. However, this is only a temporary solution because these individuals will later go to school or work, leaving the village and hamlet Party branches struggling to find new members...

Proactively generate resources.

Practical experience shows that overcoming the difficulties in developing Party members in rural areas today requires comprehensive solutions. First, Party committees in each locality need to do a good job of building clean and strong grassroots Party organizations, focusing on leading and promoting socio-economic development, building new rural areas, and improving the material and spiritual lives of the people so that the masses clearly see the pioneering and exemplary leadership role of the Party, creating motivation to strive to join the ranks of the Party.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tuong, Secretary of the Party Branch of Xuan Lam hamlet (Hung Tien commune, Nam Dan district), stated: "If Party members are not truly pioneers and role models, 'matching words with actions,' it will be very difficult to cultivate, educate, and guide the masses to strive to join the Party. To persuade others, cadres and Party members themselves must be role models for the masses to emulate."

In the Party Committee of Quynh Tan commune (Quynh Luu district), to overcome difficulties in Party development work, in addition to directing the regular review of potential members in mass organizations, the Party Committee of the commune focuses on promoting emulation movements at the grassroots level, especially in difficult areas. From there, exemplary individuals are identified and assigned to experienced and reputable Party members to mentor and assist outstanding individuals in joining the Party, with the motto of prioritizing standards and quality over quantity.

Officials in Yen Luong hamlet (Giang Son Dong commune, Do Luong district) are directing the people in building rural roads.

Thanks to this, in recent years, Quynh Tan has been one of the top units in Quynh Luu district in terms of the rate of admitting young Party members. In just the two years of 2014, 2015 and the first six months of 2016, the entire commune has admitted 32 new Party members. Some Party branches, such as the one in Hamlet 4, which had not admitted any new members for nearly 11 years, have now admitted two more young Party members.

Facing difficulties in Party development in Giang Son Dong commune (Do Luong district), the commune Party Committee issued Plan No. 19KH/DU dated March 12, 2016, on implementing Party development work for the period 2016-2020. This plan emphasizes the spirit and responsibility of Party committees, branches, and Party members in creating a pool of potential Party members, promoting exemplary conduct among cadres and Party members, especially key leaders, and incorporating Party member development into the criteria for evaluating and ranking grassroots Party organizations annually. Simultaneously, members of the Standing Committee and Party Committee are assigned to oversee specific clusters, closely monitoring Party branches in residential areas and hamlets to guide implementation.

Also addressing the issue of talent development, Comrade Nguyen Xuan Dung - Deputy Head of the Organization Department of the Nam Dan District Party Committee - stated: In the current situation, we cannot sit and wait but must proactively seek out and discover potential candidates to nurture, educate, and guide in order to create a source for Party development. In addition, focus on improving the quality of Party branch activities and promptly consolidating weak mass organizations in villages and hamlets to promote emulation movements at the grassroots level, aiming to gather and attract the masses, especially young people, to participate.

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, Comrade Nguyen My Tang - Deputy Secretary of the Thanh Chuong District Party Committee - raised the issue: Developing Party members, especially young Party members, is a regular task and plays an important role in enhancing the leadership capacity and fighting strength of grassroots Party organizations.

In the current difficult situation, Party committees and authorities at all levels need to implement many solutions to create a pool of potential members. However, the selection of outstanding individuals for the Party needs to be given due attention by Party branches, with appropriate methods to avoid chasing targets and achievements. Besides young people, rural Party branches also need to focus on developing Party members from the village-level leadership committees, especially village heads and officials of various associations and organizations, because in some localities, the percentage of village heads and leaders of associations and organizations who are not yet Party members is still relatively high...

Khanh Ly