Achieving a 'dual' objective in building new rural areas.

Difficulties

Dien Lam commune was selected by Dien Chau district as one of two communes in the district to implement advanced new rural development in 2021. Therefore, at the beginning of this year, the Party Committee, government, and people of Dien Lam commune are paying special attention to the advanced new rural development criteria, with the goal of achieving the target on schedule.

Mr. Ta Thanh Hao, Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Lam commune, said that after reviewing the criteria for advanced new rural areas, it was found that most of them...criteria for advanced new rural developmentThe first phase has been completed; only a few criteria remain that require investment: transportation, cultural institutions in villages and hamlets, and the development of production models.
Specifically, although the main road network of the commune has been asphalted and concreted, about 5 km from Hamlet 8 to Hamlet 11 is in disrepair and needs to be rebuilt. In addition, the road corridors on some routes need to be widened according to the New Rural Development plan. After the hamlet merger, reducing the number of hamlets from 25 to 11, five new cultural centers have been built in the commune to meet the needs of five hamlets: 1, 4, 7, 10, and 11; the remaining six hamlets do not yet have standard cultural centers.

A view of the new rural area in Dien Lam commune (Dien Chau district). Photo: Xuan Hoang

“To build a standard village cultural center, the cost would be approximately 2 billion VND, so the commune doesn't have the budget to invest all at once,” Mr. Ta Thanh Hao shared. In reality, an advanced new rural commune must have products that achieve OCOP star ratings, so the biggest difficulty for Dien Lam is the lack of a defined production model. Mr. Hao believes that there are few outstanding products in the commune, therefore, the locality has not yet identified any product to develop.

According to Mr. Le The Hieu, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Dien Chau district, in 2021, the District People's Committee selected two communes to achieve advanced new rural development status: Dien Lam and Dien Ky. These two localities have many advantages in socio-economic development after achieving new rural development status.

To specifically assess each advanced new rural development criterion in these communes, the district will conduct an inspection at the end of March 2021, thereby focusing on implementing the criteria that have not yet been met. To ensure that the two communes achieve advanced new rural development status this year, the Dien Chau District People's Committee will prioritize the allocation of funds from various programs and projects, investing effectively.
Yen Thanh DistrictThis year, two communes were selected to achieve advanced new rural area standards: Tan Thanh and Long Thanh. Although these two localities are not among the top communes in achieving new rural area standards, they have their own advantages, making the construction of advanced new rural areas much easier.

Mr. Pham Van Chinh, Chairman of the Tan Thanh Commune People's Committee, said that immediately after achieving the New Rural Area (NRA) status in 2016, the locality consciously pursued the goal of building an advanced NRA. Therefore, by the beginning of 2021, Tan Thanh had basically completed 15 out of 15 advanced criteria.

However, there are still some criteria that need attention, namely the infrastructure of the primary school, which needs to have additional functional areas and a row of classrooms built. In particular, higher authorities need to invest in upgrading Provincial Road 538E, the section passing through the commune, which has been in disrepair for many years. Otherwise, the people will not be satisfied with the commune's achievement of advanced new rural standards. Furthermore, the health criterion has not yet met the standard, as the rate of people participating in health insurance is currently only 88%, while the required rate is 90% or higher.

A model of vegetable and fruit production in greenhouses in Tan Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district). Photo: Xuan Hoang

"The commune's New Rural Development Steering Committee, in coordination with the Fatherland Front and other organizations, regularly visits people's homes to educate and raise awareness about the importance and benefits of participating in health insurance, and to help the locality build an advanced new rural commune. Even for disadvantaged households, the village head regularly visits and inquires about their situation to encourage them to participate in health insurance. We hope that this criterion will be met this year," Mr. Pham Van Chinh expressed.

Clearly define objectives to ensure prompt implementation.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hang, Deputy Chief of the Provincial New Rural Development Office, said: Unlike previous years, this year Nghe An is implementing two "dual" goals simultaneously: building new rural communes and achieving advanced new rural commune standards. This is because the Provincial People's Council Resolution assigned 20 communes to achieve new rural commune status and 20 communes to achieve advanced new rural commune status in 2021.

Therefore, right from the beginning of the year, the Provincial New Rural Development Office directed localities to register communes that meet the standards of New Rural Development and advanced New Rural Development this year. Immediately after registering with the district and province, localities began to specifically review each criterion in order to find solutions for implementation as soon as possible.

"Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the implementation of the National Target Program for building new rural areas in localities will continue to face certain difficulties this year. Therefore, localities need to clearly define their goals from the beginning of the year. During the implementation process, they need to take advantage of the support of the people and resources from higher levels."

Mr. Nguyen Van Hang emphasized.

Regarding district-level units, currently in the province, there are two localities on track to complete the New Rural Area program: Hoang Mai town and Nghi Loc district. Accordingly, in 2020, the province completed the verification in Nghi Loc district. According to the plan, the province will soon verify Hoang Mai town and the Central Steering Committee for New Rural Areas will assess Nghi Loc district.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu inspects the progress of new rural construction in Nghi Loc (Photo: Delegation visiting a model of agricultural production in greenhouses in Khanh Hop commune). Photo: Xuan Hoang

In addition to the three model new rural communes previously selected by the province: Quynh Doi (Quynh Luu), Son Thanh (Yen Thanh), and Kim Lien (Nam Dan), this year Nam Nghia commune (Nam Dan) has been added to the list. With the province's new support policies, along with the support of all sectors of the population and the active involvement of all levels and branches, it is hoped that Nghe An will achieve its planned goals in 2021.

According to Resolution 24/2020/NQ-HĐND of Nghe An province on some support policies in building new rural areas in the period 2021 - 2025: For communes in 10 mountainous districts, the support level is 2,800 tons of PCB40 cement/commune. For communes in the remaining districts, the support level is 2,000 tons of cement/commune. For villages and hamlets in mountainous areas of Zone III and villages and hamlets in 27 border communes that register and commit to participating in building villages and hamlets that meet the standards of new rural areas, the support level is 150 tons of cement/village/hamlet.
Communes that meet the new rural standards will be rewarded 500 million VND/commune; communes that meet the advanced new rural standards will be rewarded 600 million VND/commune; and communes that meet the model new rural standards will be rewarded 700 million VND/commune to build welfare facilities, with the commune acting as the investor.