Head of Nghe An Department of Population and Family Planning: Many officials 'circumvent the law' to have a third child
(Baonghean) - Compared to other provinces and cities, population work in Nghe An has been facing many difficulties and challenges. Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Doctor CKII Nguyen Ba Tan - Head of Nghe An Department of Population and Family Planning on this issue.
Officials and party members "circumvent the law" to have a third child?
- Doctor Nguyen Ba Tan, while the birth rate in urban areas, the Southeast and the Mekong Delta has dropped below 2 children, the birth rate in the Central Highlands, the Northern Midlands and Mountains, the North Central Coast, including Nghe An, is still very high. Do you think that achieving the replacement birth rate is the most important goal in the current population work of your province?
- As we know, Vietnam's total fertility rate currently ranks 5th in Southeast Asia and since 2006 has reached the replacement level (2.1 children per woman) and has been maintained for many years.
In Nghe An, the population size is still large and continues to increase. The birth rate and the third child birth rate are high and the birth rate has not reached the replacement level. With the current birth rate (2.76 children), we also predict that our province will reach the replacement level by 2029.
Meanwhile, the fertility potential is still large, for every woman leaving childbearing age, 2.5 women enter, posing a risk of rapid increase in fertility again. Therefore, in parallel with the national task of focusing on improving population quality, in Nghe An, reducing the fertility rate to reach the replacement level is the most important task at present.
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| Photo: Thanh Cuong |
- For many years, the most talked about issue in Nghe An population work is the increase in the number of third and more children. However, if in the past, violations of population policy were mainly in remote, isolated and disadvantaged areas, now there is an opposite trend and it is mainly concentrated in central, favorable areas and well-off families. Is there anything unusual about this, doctor?
- According to statistics from the Department of Population and Family Planning, in 2018, the whole province had 50,888 children born, of which 11,675 were the third child or more, accounting for 22.9%, concentrated in localities such as Vinh city, Hoang Mai town, Do Luong, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau districts.
There are many reasons for having a third child, such as many families wanting to have more children so that when they get old, their children will take turns taking care of them and feel less lonely.
Furthermore, when life is improved, the economy develops, social security is guaranteed, many families with good economic conditions want to have more children to make their family happy. Even many families with conditions but not bound by regulations on civil servants and Party regulations, they are determined to have a third child, even a fourth child. However, it is also necessary to see that the situation of having a third child occurring in the central region, concentrated in well-off families is a common situation in many localities nationwide, not just Nghe An.
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| Staff of the Department of Population and Family Planning review the 2019 activity programs. Photo: Thanh Cuong |
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| To effectively implement the population policy, Nghe An province annually organizes a commitment signing ceremony between leaders of 21 districts, cities and towns. Photo: Thanh Cuong |
- There are also many opinions that Nghe An has a rapid increase in the rate of third births because we have "loosened" the regulations on handling violations. According to the doctor, is this correct, especially for cadres and party members?
- Since the beginning of 2018, to adapt to the new situation, Nghe An has issued a number of new regulations, with many changes in handling cases of giving birth to a third child or more and without clearly stating the forms of punishment.
Specifically, according to Decision 11 (2018): Violators in the case of having a third child (except in cases where the law provides otherwise) will be handled according to: current regulations, commitments, rules, regulations of agencies, units, regulations of village conventions, conventions of the place of residence, and will not be considered for the title of Cultural Family.
It can be affirmed that the changes in Nghe An’s population policy are consistent with the local situation in the new period and are not a “relaxation” of handling violations for cases of having a third child or more. However, some people, including many officials and party members, do not understand or deliberately misunderstand, in order to “circumvent the law” to have a third child.
Currently, the entire population sector is shifting the focus of population work from family planning to population and development, which means shifting the focus from reducing births to maintaining a stable replacement birth rate. However, Nghe An has not only not yet achieved the replacement birth rate, but the third child birth rate is still higher than the national average. As one of the 10 provinces with a high birth rate, the core task of population work is to persevere, promote the 2-child model; immediately eliminate the idea of free births and correctly understand the spirit of the new policy on population and development.
Promoting the "golden population" structure for development
- Doctor, in fact, since 2006, Vietnam has entered the period of "golden population structure", half of the working-age population is young, under 34 years old. However, many opinions also say that "golden population" is only "potential"; to turn "golden population" into development opportunities, there are many other factors. In Nghe An, what is the advantage of "golden population" and how to promote the capacity of young workers?
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| Students in Thanh Chuong district are excited about the “Ring the Golden Bell” contest to learn about adolescent reproductive health. Photo: My Ha |
- Vietnam entered the period of “golden population structure” since 2006, meaning the total dependency ratio is less than 50%, or simply put, there are 2 people of working age to support 1 person of dependent age. However, this period only appears once and its length depends on the adjustment of the birth rate. Therefore, if the “golden population structure” is not taken advantage of, Vietnam will face many difficulties as the population ages.
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| Vinh City exchanges on the occasion of World Population Day 2019. Photo: My Ha |
In our province, currently the working-age population is more than 2 million people, accounting for more than 64%, reaching the threshold of the "golden population" structure. According to calculations, every year, our province has more than 30,000 people entering the working age.
To promote the province's young labor force, the population sector must promptly advise all levels to maintain a reasonable birth rate to prolong the "golden population" structure and slow down the "population aging" process. For economic sectors, it is necessary to increase employment opportunities, diversify occupations; expand and improve the quality of vocational training according to labor market needs. In addition, it is necessary to redistribute labor resources reasonably, have policies to encourage and attract scientific and technical staff and qualified labor force to work in mountainous districts.
- Nghe An is one of the provinces with the highest population in the country. However, the quality of the population is not yet highly appreciated. Can you assess the current population quality of the province?
- A community is considered to have good quality if it ensures its survival. It is a community with good health, low rates of disability, low rates of illness, high levels of education, high material and spiritual life, freedom to develop, high community cohesion (high solidarity and love for each other) and guaranteed security.
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| Consulting and providing medicine to areas with high birth rates in Phuc Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). Photo: My Ha |
The average life expectancy of Nghe An people is currently around 74.5 years. However, in reality, this figure is still lower than the national average.
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| Vinh City presents gifts to families that implement population policies well on the occasion of World Population Day 2019. Photo: My Ha |
- We all understand that investing in population work is investing in human resources - a prerequisite for development. But, in reality, for a long time, population work has mainly relied on subsidies, without "worthy" investment. As the head of the population sector of the province, what do you expect in the current period, especially for a special province like Nghe An?
- The United Nations calculates that if we invest 1 USD in population, we will save 31 USD in basic social services. That shows that the value of proper investment in population and family planning work has been scientifically and fundamentally evaluated by the world. In other words, as recommended by the Cairo Conference: "Set the best budget, material and human resources for the Population Program"....
- Thank you doctor for the conversation!