Hoa Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh): Sustainable development of NTM criteria

(Baonghean) - Hoa Thanh commune today is bright with the results of new rural construction, multiplying historical and cultural traditions and strong growth in economic development, joining hands to bring the homeland to prosperity.

All people involved

Hoa Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh) implemented the construction of new rural areas (NTM) from a starting point of 12/19 criteria. With the remaining criteria, the commune focused on developing a plan to implement each criterion, at the same time consolidating and perfecting the achieved criteria; organizing the public to collect people's opinions on the new rural planning project; doing a good job of propaganda so that people understand the importance of the program; clearly defining the content, methods, and ways of doing things... All in the direction that each organization, agency, unit, each family and each person joins hands and voluntarily contributes to successfully building NTM.

Hoa Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh) prospers thanks to new rural areas. Photo: Thai Hong

Most of the commune's unfinished criteria require large investment funds. Therefore, the commune has focused on mobilizing internal resources and taking advantage of the central government's target programs, provincial and district policies and mechanisms to attract investment resources. In particular, mobilizing contributions to build the homeland from local businesses and children of the homeland working all over the country. Over the past 5 years, Hoa Thanh commune has mobilized 242 billion VND, of which people contributed over 200 billion VND to build the new rural area. In recent years, dozens of large and small projects have been invested in construction. Rebuilding the commune People's Committee office, upgrading village cultural houses, and sports areas. In addition, upgrading the Kindergarten, Medical Station; expanding the grounds of the Ca Temple to better serve spiritual and religious activities and festivals; investing in upgrading Dinh market, the main trading center of the commune.

The Ca Temple Festival (Hoa Thanh) is held annually with many exciting cultural activities. Photo by Thai Hong

With solutions that create consensus among the people, the "difficult" criteria in building new rural areas in Hoa Thanh commune have been completed. For example, the criteria for traffic roads, previously the commune's traffic system was small and narrow. The commune promoted propaganda work, raised people's awareness, and with the commune's support policy of supporting 135,000m of surrounding walls, supporting machinery for dismantling, digging foundations... for households, people in many hamlets actively participated in donating land to open roads, typically hamlets: Chu Trac, Dinh Phung, hamlet 6... Up to now, over 90% of commune roads have met standards; over 86% of canals have been concreted to standards; 100% of main roads in the fields have been hardened; basically meeting the needs of irrigation for production.

Comprehensive change

In addition to mobilizing resources for infrastructure investment, Hoa Thanh commune identifies economic development as a key task in building a new rural area. To achieve efficiency in economic restructuring, the commune focuses on completing the work of land consolidation and plot exchange; mobilizing people to contribute more than 16 hectares of agricultural land, thousands of working days, and more than 800 million VND to expand and upgrade the entire traffic and irrigation system within the fields, improve the fields, promote intensive farming; and bring mechanization into agricultural production. The commune also organizes joint ventures and partnerships with business units to produce clean rice and rice seeds, increasing production value and income for farmers. Encouraging people to develop economic models, there are currently dozens of economically effective farm and family farm models in the area.

Taking advantage of its location near the town, with National Highway 7B running through it, Hoa Thanh commune also promotes the development of industries, services, trade, handicrafts, and construction. At the same time, focusing on labor export, up to now the whole commune has 103 people working abroad, hundreds of workers working in many domestic companies and enterprises; bringing in large revenues. Thanks to that, the average income per capita in 2016 of the commune reached 30.18 million VND; the poverty rate decreased from 9.1% in 2011 to 3.4%.

People in Hamlet 3, Hoa Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh) voluntarily dismantled the surrounding wall to donate land to open a road. Photo: Thai Hong

The New Rural Movement is like a breath of fresh air that changes the material and spiritual life of local people. The cultural infrastructure system of the commune has been invested synchronously, ensuring and promoting the vibrant development of the cultural, artistic and sports movements of the commune. Up to now, the rate of cultural families has reached over 94%; 6/7 hamlets have achieved the title of cultural village; The Ministry of Culture and Sports meets standards.

The field of education and training, encouragement of learning, and encouragement of talents is of interest; 7/7 hamlets and many clans have an Encouragement of Learning Fund; primary schools and kindergartens are recognized as meeting national standards; 100% of children of school age are able to attend school; the number of students admitted to universities and colleges is always among the top in the district. The Health Station met national standards in 2012; ensuring primary health care for the people. People are generally aware of environmental sanitation, keeping the countryside clean, beautiful, and peaceful.

Hoa Thanh Kindergarten meets national standards, contributing to improving the quality of local education. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

Hoa Thanh Commune Party Committee has been recognized as Clean and Strong for 5 consecutive years; the government, Fatherland Front, and political organizations are annually recognized for completing their tasks well and excellently. Recognizing the efforts and struggles of local officials and people in the movement to build new rural areas, the Provincial People's Committee recognized the commune as meeting new rural standards in 2016.

Discussing the orientation of building a new rural commune to develop in a sustainable direction, comrade Nguyen Khac Duc - Chairman of Hoa Thanh Commune People's Committee said: Being recognized as a national standard new rural commune is a motivation for cadres, party members and people of Hoa Thanh to continue to unite, strive harder, improve the quality of criteria in a sustainable way, meet the development needs of society, build the homeland increasingly rich, towards raising the rural level of the commune to become a model new rural commune, a fairly good commune of Yen Thanh district.

Dinh Nguyet