Nurturing 'red seeds' in highland villages and hamlets.

Focus on expanding resources.

Leading us on a tour around the tree-lined, concrete roads of the village, Party Secretary Luong Thi Xuan of Ke Bon village, Chau Hanh commune, said: "The village has 236 households and 998 people of the Thai ethnic group. Many villagers work far away, so mobilizing them to participate in movements and even training and developing potential Party members is difficult. However, for the past three years, the Party branch has successfully recruited new Party members every year..."

Where do the recruits come from? “From students who have finished 12th grade or graduated from college or university and returned to the locality, and first and foremost from members of local mass organizations. To have a source, we must create vibrant emulation movements for the masses to participate in, thereby selecting individuals to train and recruit. In addition, the 64 party members in the branch must uphold the spirit of pioneering and exemplary conduct in their lifestyle, behavior, and activities in the village so that the people can see the role of the branch and the role of party members, thereby having the motivation to strive to join the Party,” said Luong Thi Xuan, Secretary of the Ke Bon Village Party Branch.

Thanks to this, in 2020, the Party cell of Ke Bon village admitted 2 new party members; in 2021, it admitted 1 new party member; and in 2022, it recommended 3 outstanding individuals for the Party to consider for membership.

Party Secretary of Ke Bon village, Luong Thi Xuan. Photo: KL

“Chau Hanh is a commune near the district center, surrounding Tan Lac town. The commune's Party Committee has 16 subordinate branches, including 11 rural branches. Besides the difficulties caused by many laborers leaving for work elsewhere, the issue of educational level is also a limitation in recruiting Party members in the area. Because students and those with qualifications often leave for work after graduation, some good, capable, and responsible individuals who want to join the Party are hindered by not having graduated from junior high school, thus not meeting the criteria,” said Lang Van Hong, Secretary of the Chau Hanh Commune Party Committee.

Leaders of Quy Chau district visit and present gifts to Party member Vang Van Thich (70 years of Party membership) in Chau Thang commune. Photo: Ke Kien

Faced with this reality, the Chau Hanh Commune Party Committee assigned responsibility to its members in charge of villages and hamlets to directly supervise Party development and expand the pool of potential members. While the entire Party Committee only admitted 5 new members in 2020 and 7 in 2021, by September 2022, 31 outstanding individuals had attended Party membership training courses, 14 new members were admitted, and 3 comrades were granted full Party membership. For the three Party branches at risk of underdevelopment, namely Hanh Tien, Dinh Tien, and Ta Soi, the three members of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee personally provided direct guidance.

As a result, the Dinh Tien Party Branch has admitted 1 new Party member and is currently training 2 outstanding individuals to join the Party; the Hanh Tien Party Branch has just completed the application for 1 new member, while the Ta Soi Party Branch has 3 individuals attending Party membership training and is currently preparing applications for 2 more.

A view of Tan Lac town (Quy Chau). Photo courtesy of Ke Kien.

Meanwhile, the Party Committee of Tan Lac town currently has 402 Party members, almost every year meeting or exceeding the target for Party membership recruitment. According to the Secretary of the Town Party Committee, Luong Thi Hanh: To ensure the quantity and quality of Party membership recruitment each year, the Tan Lac Town Party Committee issued Plan No. 10-KH/DU dated October 12, 2020, on Party member development for the period 2020-2025. This plan requires Party committees and members to consider this a crucial and ongoing task, proactively and effectively implementing the annual plan for training prospective Party members, creating a pool of Party members in various fields such as neighborhoods, cadres, civil servants, public employees, and demobilized soldiers… Priority is given to training and developing new Party members in Party branches facing difficulties in membership development, Party branches in ethnic minority areas, and Party branches with a high average age of Party members to avoid the situation of "old trees not yet sprouting new shoots." The goal is for the entire Party committee to recruit 8-10 new Party members annually, and for 100% of the heads of mass organizations in the bloc to be Party members.

Leaders of the Quy Chau District Party Committee's Organization Department and leaders of the Tan Lac Town Party Committee discussed the work of developing Party members with the Secretary of the Party branch in Block 4. Photo: KL

Thanks to the close and decisive guidance of Party committees at all levels, the number of Party members recruited in Tan Lac town has consistently met and exceeded the assigned targets each year. In 2021, the entire Party committee admitted 10 new members. In 2022, as of now, 10 new members have been admitted, with one more currently under processing. Among them, some Party branches have maintained good work in recruiting new members, including young, high-quality members.

Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy works with the Quy Chau District Party Committee. Photo: Thanh Duy

For example, the Party Branch of Block 4 has 77 party members, including 45 women. Currently, the block has a full complement of heads and deputy heads of mass organizations who are party members, with an average of one new party member admitted each year. In 2021, one new party member was admitted, a young university graduate. In 2022, one outstanding individual, Quan Le Vy, a university graduate returning to the locality and currently the Secretary of the Youth Union Branch of Block 4 and Deputy Secretary of the Youth Union of Tan Lac town, was sent to attend a Party membership training course in preparation for admission. "For young people, when we identify potential candidates, we must focus on nurturing them and assigning them tasks within the block so that they have the opportunity to train and grow...", said Mr. Lang Viet Phu, Secretary of the Party Branch of Block 4.

Outstanding young Party members from Quy Chau district at the forum "The Party with Youth, Youth with the Party". Photo: Luong Nga

A practical plan

According to the leaders of the Quy Chau District Party Committee's Organization Department, the decline in Party membership recruitment in the district stems from the fact that the district's Party Committee recruited 769/750 members, reaching 102% of the plan, but in the 2015-2020 term, only 629/750 were recruited, reaching 83.8% of the plan. The number of village and hamlet leaders, as well as leaders of mass organizations, who are not yet Party members remains high.

Quy Chau district organized a training course on professional skills for grassroots Party branch secretaries. Photo: Ha Thao

Some commune and town Party committees have not paid sufficient attention to the work of developing Party members, lacking proper supervision, inspection, and thorough understanding of potential candidates. Some Party branches have not focused on Party development. Meanwhile, the potential for Party member development in Quy Chau district remains significant. For example, annual statistics show that over 70 young people complete their military service and return to the locality. These individuals attended Party awareness training courses before enlisting, representing an important source for grassroots Party committees to develop new members.

In response to this situation, on September 28, 2020, the Quy Chau District Party Committee issued Plan No. 04-KH/HU. This plan set an annual target of admitting 130-150 or more new Party members; striving for 100% of village and hamlet leaders to be Party members by 2023, 80% of heads of mass organizations in villages and hamlets to be Party members; and 90% of cadres and teachers to be Party members. Simultaneously, it assigned specific tasks and considered this a crucial indicator for evaluating cadres and Party committees. In just one year of implementing Plan 04-KH/HU, with the decisive leadership of Party committees at all levels, Party development work in the district has seen significant progress. In 2021, the entire district admitted 152 new Party members (exceeding the set target), primarily cadres, civil servants, and Party members in rural areas.

The Party cell of Ke Mong village, Chau Binh commune, held discussions with leaders of the Quy Chau District Party Committee's Organization Department and the commune's Party Committee regarding Party development work. Photo: KL

Specifically, according to Ms. Bui Thi Giang - Deputy Head of the Organization Department of the Quy Chau District Party Committee, before implementing Plan 04-KH/HU, 71 out of 84 village and hamlet leaders in the district were Party members (84.5%). After one year of implementing the plan, 81 out of 84 village and hamlet leaders were Party members, reaching 96.4% (meeting the target of the Party Congress Resolution), and currently, 100% of village and hamlet leaders are Party members.

The work of training and recruiting new Party members has made significant progress, and the assignment of cadres and Party members to participate in activities in rural Party branches has yielded practical results. Thanks to effective recruitment efforts, Party branches in villages and hamlets have introduced many outstanding individuals to the Party. As of September 2022, the entire Party committee had admitted 137 new members.

Some Party committees have made efforts to overcome difficulties and exceed the annual targets, such as the Party committee of Chau Binh commune - the commune with the largest area and population in Quy Chau district, with many difficult villages and hamlets, limited transportation and technical infrastructure; and a large disparity in educational levels among the population, which significantly affects the work of recruiting new Party members.

However, thanks to the close attention and guidance of the Party Committee and the involvement of the political system, in 2021, the commune's Party Committee sent 11 outstanding individuals to Party membership training courses, admitted 20 new Party members, and granted full Party membership to 9 individuals. In the first six months of 2022, 17 outstanding individuals were sent to Party membership training courses, 5 new Party members were admitted, and 18 individuals were granted full Party membership, bringing the total number of Party members in the entire Party Committee to 360.

These are the "red seeds" discovered, nurtured, and trained by organizations and associations; they are exemplary individuals in economic development, leading the way in all activities, and are trusted and loved by the people. Many comrades, after joining the Party, have continuously strived to improve themselves and excel in their work, becoming leading figures in economic development, poverty reduction, and key cadres at the grassroots level. A prime example is young Party member Truong Thi Trang (born in 1990), of the Tho ethnic group - Secretary of the Chau Binh Commune Youth Union, who was honored as one of the six outstanding young Party members commended by the Nghe An Provincial Youth Union in 2022.

Outstanding young Party member and Secretary of the Chau Binh Commune Youth Union, Truong Thi Trang. Photo courtesy of Luong Nga.

After graduating from the University of Trade Unions, Trang returned home with the desire to contribute to her hometown. For six years, she served as the leader of the Chau Binh Commune Youth Union. With her dynamism, enthusiasm, and creativity, she, along with the Youth Union cadres, has consistently led the Chau Binh Commune Youth Union to the top ranks in youth and children's movements in the district. Trang herself has been honored with numerous Certificates of Merit and Commendations from various levels. Notable achievements include the title of Outstanding Young Party Member in 2019; First Prize at the District-level Excellent Speaker and Propagandist Competition; Encouragement Award at the Nghe An Provincial Excellent Speaker and Propagandist Competition in 2021; and District-level Emulation Soldier in 2021.

Mr. Kim Van Duyen, Secretary of the Chau Binh Commune Party Committee, said: "In order to create a source for Party development, the Commune Party Committee has assigned members of the Commune Party Committee to be responsible for monitoring and participating in branch meetings. Based on the assessment and analysis of the actual situation at the grassroots level, these members are tasked with discussing solutions with the branch collective to create a source for recruiting new Party members each year. At the same time, the Party branches are tasked with directing mass organizations to promote economic development, cultural exchange, arts, physical education, and sports, creating healthy playgrounds to attract, gather, and select outstanding individuals to train and recruit into the Party ranks. First and foremost, we strive to ensure that all heads and deputy heads of mass organizations are Party members."

Thanks to this, some Party branches, after many years of difficulties in Party development, now have "red seeds" (referring to promising young Party members). For example, the Party branch of Quynh 1 village, after six consecutive years without admitting any new members, admitted two new members in 2021 and one new member in 2022. Similarly, the Party branch of Ke Mong village, after two years without admitting any new members, admitted two female members in 2022: a village health worker and a deputy head of the Farmers' Association.

“For rural Party branches, developing Party members, especially young members, is very important to supplement the Party's strength. These are the key ‘nucleus’ who bring the Party's guidelines, policies, and laws of the State to the people, and at the same time, promote pioneering and exemplary roles in poverty reduction and new rural development at the grassroots level…,” affirmed Mr. Lang Van Hoe, Secretary of the Party Branch of Ke Mong village, Chau Binh commune.

Focusing on economic development is also a solution to retain labor, create a pool of candidates for Party membership, and attract new members, a priority for the Party branch of Ke Mong village, Chau Binh commune. Photo: KL

To continue effectively implementing Plan No. 04-KH/HU on Party member development for the period 2020-2025, linked with improving the quality of the Party member contingent, the Quy Chau District Party Committee requests Party committees at all levels to proactively identify and train potential members, leveraging the combined strength of the entire political system and the pivotal role of political and social organizations in nurturing and recommending outstanding individuals to participate in Party membership training courses. However, quality must be prioritized over quantity, so that each outstanding individual, after joining the Party, truly becomes a "red seed," a high-quality human resource for movements and activities at the grassroots level, especially in remote and disadvantaged villages.