Eradicating the new wave of tyrannical landlords.

(Baonghean) - Life is always moving forward, and society should ideally be more civilized, but here and there, remnants of the tyrannical landlords and oppressors of the past still linger.

The other day, following the incident in which officials in Nhon Son commune, Ninh Son district, Ninh Thuan province, forced residents to buy old cows to profit from the government's vocational retraining policy for poor ethnic minorities, a journalist lamented: Life is always moving forward, society should be more civilized, but here and there, remnants of the old-fashioned tyranny and oppression still linger, especially in rural areas today. He then cited several specific cases, such as commune officials "embezzling" chickens intended for the poor in Quang Nam and district officials taking policy-supported goats to their own homes in Thanh Hoa last year and the year before, as typical "witnesses and evidence." And now, the story in Ninh Thuan.

The image is for illustrative purposes only.

Here's the whole story: The government had a policy to support poor people in changing occupations by giving each household 20 million VND to raise breeding cows. Instead of giving the money directly to the people, the Vice Chairman of Nhon Son commune colluded with some cattle traders to buy 20 cows at 20 million VND each and then distributed them to the people. If they were young calves or heifers, it wouldn't be a big deal. But these were all old, sick, and diseased cows. Even the most expensive cows on the market would only cost around ten million VND each. With twenty cows, the commune officials pocketed hundreds of millions of VND. It's truly a case of making a profit of that much on any business. When the people realized they had been cheated, they protested, but were threatened with having their government's vocational retraining benefits cut. The commune's Farmers' Association also voiced its objections, but they were brushed aside.

Previously, also in Ninh Thuan province, the authorities of Phuoc Vinh commune, Ninh Phuoc district, forced 55 ethnic minority households to accept cows that the commune had already ordered. The people protested but could not overcome the commune's will. Not only did they oppress and extort money from innocent people, but commune officials also gave the green light to extremely immoral and inhumane actions such as refusing to issue death certificates, not allowing the use of hearses, and not providing funeral music in Luong Phong commune, Hiep Hoa district, Bac Giang province. This was simply because the deceased owed taxes on agricultural land, contributions to national defense and security, flood relief, child protection funds, gratitude funds, education promotion funds, spring festival funds, etc., totaling over 1.7 million VND. Then there are the cases of falsifying documents to claim benefits, embezzling money from policy beneficiary families, the elderly, victims of Agent Orange, or forcing living people to die to collect survivor's benefits, or bringing the dead back to life to collect pension payments... These incidents, which have occurred regularly for many years, all stem from the wrongful acts of abuse of power and authority by officials and civil servants at the commune level.

That's true, but saying those things are remnants of the past isn't entirely accurate. There was a time, not so long ago, when such embezzlement and corruption didn't exist. The old, outdated practices have been largely swept away. Now, new and different methods of harassment, extortion, and oppression of the people, unlike those of the village chiefs and district officials of the past, can't be considered remnants. The old regime didn't have policies to support the poor like it does now, so the extortion and corruption were limited to small amounts like a meal, a chicken, or a few pennies, not as substantial as today. Therefore, it's possible that a new class of "powerful figures" has emerged and formed in the countryside. What's concerning is that these individuals are at the grassroots level, where we have a very comprehensive monitoring system from the Party committee and government to various political and social organizations.

We also have a fairly detailed system of legal documents and regulations to curb the abuse of power and harassment by public servants. We also have inspection, auditing, and internal affairs agencies specializing in checking and handling such violations from the central to local levels. In addition, there are annual self-criticism and criticism sessions… yet they still have the opportunity to act with impunity, acting as if they know no one is above them. Thus, it can be seen that within this seemingly strict system of inspection and supervision, within these regular political activities, there are still loopholes and gaps that allow corruption and wrongdoing to flourish. Are these loopholes and gaps unknown, or are they known and seen but ignored, leading to a "everyone gets off scot-free" situation? To clearly understand the causes of this situation, we need to look directly at the issue, speak honestly, and discuss everything thoroughly; only then can we truly understand the root cause. Because there are many things that everyone sees and knows the truth about, but no one is willing to speak up, so everything remains unchanged…

It's time for practical programs and plans to rectify and reform the operation of the public administration at the commune, ward, and town levels. Otherwise, even the best policies and guidelines of the Party and State will be distorted by a team of officials who are both incompetent and dishonest. In this case, it's not a case of "the house leaking from the roof," but rather a house with holes in the foundation. We need to patch things up, starting with eradicating the new form of powerful local figures in the countryside.

Buddha Mountain