Rise up to be worthy of tradition

Tradition of construction and development

Ngoc Son commune has a long-standing revolutionary and cultural tradition, with the first Party cell established in 1930; historical and cultural relics such as the Le Kim family temple where Uncle Ho followed his father to teach in his youth, the Phuc Xa communal house where villagers worship King Mai Hac De and many other cultural and spiritual works.

A corner of Ngoc Son village. Photo: Dinh Ha

Going through many historical stages, mergers, and name changes, on March 24, 1969, according to Decision No. 159/QD-BNV of the Ministry of Home Affairs, 41 communes of Thanh Chuong district were merged into 28 communes; Thanh Nam commune and Thanh Lam commune merged into Ngoc Son commune and the place name Ngoc Son commune appeared on the district's administrative map from here.

In the early days of its establishment, the commune encountered numerous difficulties when the resistance war against the US to save the country was entering a fierce phase, Ngoc Son was the focus of US aircraft attacks in the years 1965-1968. On April 20, 1969, the first Party Congress of the commune was held, setting out the tasks: stabilizing the organization, consolidating the ideology of overcoming the consequences of war, improving the fields, promoting production, fulfilling the obligation of providing food to the State, serving the victorious fight.

From the objectives and tasks set out by the Congress, the Farmers', Women's, Youth Union, and Elderly Associations have been reorganized and put into operation. To boost production, the Party Committee has a policy to reorganize and reorganize 4 agricultural cooperatives, innovate management work, apply scientific and technical advances to promote livestock farming; mobilize people to rebuild the school system to ensure that their children can study, and strengthen the medical station to do a good job of taking care of people's health. The Party Committee and people of Ngoc Son have made significant contributions in terms of human resources and assets in the two struggles for national liberation.

Thanks to those great contributions, the Party Committee and people of Ngoc Son commune were honored to be awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces by the Party and State (in 1998) along with 2,300 Resistance Medals and Orders awarded to individuals and families with outstanding achievements in combat and combat service; there are 15 Vietnamese Heroic Mothers...

Reaching for innovation

During the renovation period, the Party Committee and people of Ngoc Son commune continued to strive to overcome difficulties and challenges, achieving quite comprehensive achievements in all areas of life; and are developing step by step firmly on the roadmap to building new rural areas.

Ngoc Son village's appearance is getting better day by day. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

Economic development to improve people's lives is identified as the key task of the commune. Since the establishment of the commune, the Party Committee has focused on leading the promotion of production and livestock breeding, applying scientific and technical advances to intensive production, actively transforming the structure of crops and seasons, gradually shifting from intensive farming to commercial crops. The goal of rapid and sustainable economic development, through the Party Congresses of the commune, has focused on developing industry and services. From a purely agricultural, scattered and backward economy, Ngoc Son has now built a diversified economy with a relatively reasonable economic structure. Up to now, the agricultural sector accounts for 56.8%, the industrial - construction sector accounts for 24.2% and the service sector accounts for 19%; the annual growth rate is from 11-12%.

Infrastructure for the cause of industrialization and modernization has been invested in and built. Through each stage, the Party Committee, the government and the Fatherland Front have encouraged people to promote their internal strength, contribute funds and working days to build infrastructure. Especially after nearly 10 years of implementing the National Target Program on New Rural Construction, the appearance of the countryside and the material and spiritual life of the people have increasingly improved.

Localities effectively mobilize people to contribute to building rural infrastructure. Photo: Dinh Ha

The transportation system, irrigation, electricity, medical stations and cultural institutions have been invested in, upgraded solidly and spaciously; serving the needs of the people well. Residential areas are arranged and tidy, houses are built spaciously, village roads and alleys are mostly installed with lighting systems, creating a clean and beautiful village landscape.

In the first year of implementing the NTM program (2011), Ngoc Son commune only achieved 7/19 criteria, by 2018 it achieved 16/19 NTM criteria. Average income per capita increased annually, by 2018 it reached 35 million VND/person/year; the poverty rate decreased from 9.8% in 2011 to 2.9% in 2018...

Being a hometown with a rich tradition of learning, throughout the development process, the education and training career has been constantly paid attention to by the Party Committee, government and people here. The school system is upgraded and built every year, up to now there are two schools that meet national standards, three schools have achieved the title of cultural school. Many generations of Ngoc Son children have been successful and famous, contributing to the construction of the homeland such as: Writer Dang Van Ky, People's Artist Ngo Xuan Huyen, Professor - Major General Nguyen Phung Hong, Associate Professor - Major General Le Dinh De, Major General Le Thanh Hung. In addition, there are 21 doctors of science, 22 colonels in the people's armed forces and hundreds of children of the homeland who are taking on positions in Party and State agencies, enterprises...

Ngoc Son Commune Folk Song Club is active, contributing to promoting the local cultural and artistic movement. Photo: Dinh Ha

Promoting the revolutionary tradition of the heroic homeland and the achievements over the past half century, in the coming time, the locality will strive to achieve the following goals: Building a strong and comprehensive Party organization; building a clean and strong government, Fatherland Front and mass organizations; performing well the national defense and security tasks, maintaining political security, social order and safety; ensuring an average annual production growth rate of 11-13%; shifting the economic structure, by 2020 the proportion of industry and construction will be 38.4%, trade and services will account for 28.6%; average income per capita will reach 50 million VND/year.

Taking care of education and training, striving for 100% of schools to meet national standards by 2020, reducing the poverty rate to below 2%; the rate of families achieving cultural family status from 85-90%... Making the greatest effort and determination so that the commune will soon be recognized as meeting new rural standards./.