Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh said that in 2019, there were 24,000 ethnic minority households in need of residential land and 42,000 households in need of production land.
At the question-and-answer session on the afternoon of June 6, many delegates asked Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh to answer about the implementation of policies for ethnic minorities; the difficulties that make many households "not want to escape poverty", migrating to many places.
Regarding the current situation of ethnic minorities lacking production materials, delegate Duong Tan Quan (Ba Ria - Vung Tau delegation) mentioned the lack of residential and production land for ethnic minorities leading to spontaneous shifting cultivation, nomadic living, and deforestation. This has been a burning issue for many years but has not been completely resolved. He asked the Minister to inform him about the advantages, difficulties, and solutions in the coming time.
Responding, Minister Hau A Lenh said that the lack of residential and production land for ethnic minorities is a huge problem. In 2019, the demand for residential land of ethnic minorities was more than 24,000 households and 42,000 households needed land for production. After calculation, the Ethnic Committee submitted to the Government a target of solving 60% of residential land for people by 2025, the rest will be solved in the period of 2026-2030. The first phase will focus on the most difficult areas, where ethnic minorities have not received policy support.
Delegate Duong Tan Quan (Ba Ria - Vung Tau delegation). Photo: National Assembly Media
Regarding production land, statistics show that many places have land funds to support the construction of concentrated residential arrangement models, but there are also places that no longer have land funds; ministries, branches and localities are slow to implement policies. "We will review to have land funds to grant to people," said Mr. Lenh.
Also concerned, delegate Tran Van Khai (Ha Nam delegation) said that production land for ethnic minorities is lacking and slow to be resolved. Meanwhile, the allocated land often lacks water and infrastructure, so they cannot produce and have to abandon it. "There is a situation of encroachment, sale, and transfer when they are allocated land. What is the cause and responsibility of which organization or individual? What contents does the Minister plan to include in the Land Law project to fundamentally resolve this situation?", Mr. Khai questioned.
Minister Hau A Lenh said that the Committee and authorities at all levels are focusing on resolving the issue for households that have never been granted land and do not have land to live on. He admitted that there are some cases where land for living and production has been granted but then transferred, sold and disputes have occurred. Localities are responsible for reviewing this issue. "The central government issues laws and support policies, inspects and supervises, while localities implement and are responsible," said Mr. Lenh.
According to him, in the draft revised Land Law, the Ethnic Committee has sent a document to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment requesting policies on residential land and living land for ethnic minorities suitable to the reality of each region; creating conditions for them to directly engage in agricultural production.
Regarding the implementation of policies for ethnic minorities , delegate Vu Thi Luu Mai (Deputy Chairwoman of the Finance and Budget Committee) said that through the Minister's response, the implementation of the national target program for ethnic minorities is very good. However, Ms. Mai said that in reality, it is not like that.
The Government's report shows that the instructions are slow, incorrect, disbursement is poor, capital mobilization is not good, and the National Assembly must extend the implementation time. The reasons given by the Ethnic Committee are the weather, Covid-19, and international fluctuations. "I request the Minister to clarify the subjective reasons and the Minister's responsibility?", Ms. Mai questioned.
Delegate Vu Thi Luu Mai (Vice Chairwoman of the Finance and Budget Committee). Photo: National Assembly Media
According to her, the use of capital is not stable when in addition to the very low disbursement (only 4,600 billion VND, 51%), a large part is disbursed for seminars and training. Ms. Mai cited that the gender equality seminar cost 64 billion VND, marriage counseling cost 102 billion VND, and workshop inspection cost 88 billion VND; but building a grassroots network only cost 38 billion VND. "I would like to ask the Minister to let me know whether such implementation is reasonable or not?", Ms. Mai asked.
In response, Mr. Hau A Lenh said that he "had taken responsibility before the Government" for the slow implementation of the guiding documents for the implementation of the national target program. However, Mr. Lenh explained that since February 2021, ministries and branches have only developed guiding documents. By the end of 2022, the documents will be basically completed. The implementation process has also been slow. "Last year, the Government took responsibility before the National Assembly, then directed ministries and branches to actively focus on implementation, and so far it has been basically completed," Mr. Lenh said.
Ms. Mai's question about low disbursement was not answered by Mr. Lenh, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue asked Mr. Lenh to clarify this issue.
The Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee said that the workshops that Ms. Mai reported were part of a communication program hosted by the Vietnam Women's Union. "We will review and report to the delegates together with the Vietnam Women's Union," said Mr. Lenh.
Not satisfied, Ms. Mai raised a sign to argue. She said the Minister replied that by the end of 2022, he would complete issuing documents guiding the implementation of the national target program, "but in reality, that is not the case."
She cited the Government's April 2023 report stating that the Ethnic Committee has not yet completed issuing documents on the socio-economic development program for ethnic minorities; some guidance contents are contrary to the Law on Public Investment. "The Minister needs to be more thorough when providing information to voters and delegates," Ms. Mai suggested.
She also said the National Assembly requested to increase investment spending and reduce regular spending, including seminars and conferences, because resources are limited. "I hope the Minister will pay attention to how, while resources are limited, products can reach ethnic minorities who are still facing many difficulties," said Ms. Mai.
Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh answered questions on the afternoon of June 6. Photo: National Assembly Media
Sharing the same concern, delegate Mai Van Hai (Deputy Head of Thanh Hoa Delegation) said that the implementation of a number of projects and the disbursement of capital for the national target program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas still face many difficulties and problems. "What is the reason for this situation and what is the solution?", he asked.
Minister Hau A Lenh said that what Mr. Hai asked was also a concern of many delegates because the program is large, located in many difficult areas, and some policies from the past are still in effect. "The most worrying thing is the implementation process on the ground, because there are projects that need to be implemented to each village and household," said Mr. Hau A Lenh. Therefore, the documents this time will be decentralized to the maximum for local authorities to decide, and central agencies will urge and inspect.
Mr. Hau A Lenh said that since 2017, the Ethnic Committee has submitted a proposal to develop the Ethnic Law. After 2 terms, the Committee has organized many workshops and reported to the Standing Committee of the 13th National Assembly. However, the ethnic field is related to many different fields, so to ensure the development of a suitable, unified law that does not overlap with other laws, it takes time to research.
"The law will be an important legal basis for policy making. However, to build it, we need to do thorough and fundamental research because this field is not specialized law," said Mr. Hau A Lenh.
The Minister said that implementing Conclusion 65 of the Politburo, the National Assembly Party Delegation assigned the task of studying the Law on Ethnicities in this term, with the Ethnic Council presiding over the study. The Ethnic Committee will transfer the previous research file for coordination in implementation.
Delegate Pham Van Hoa (Vice President of Dong Thap Lawyers Association) asked the Minister to explain the causes and solutions for the situation of ethnic minorities not wanting to escape poverty. "Although the locality has created favorable conditions for land production, housing, and life support for people to stay on the land and keep their houses, it has not been effective. What is the solution to keep the people and limit spontaneous migration?", Mr. Hoa asked.
Minister Hau A Lenh said that there are many communities with very good conditions and resettlement arrangements, but they still leave. The main reasons are economic and customary.
Not satisfied, Mr. Hoa pressed the debate button, asking the Minister to clarify the mentality of ethnic minorities not wanting to escape poverty, because this happens in many places. Migration leads to deforestation, causing very serious consequences. "Apart from land and housing allocation, propaganda, are there any other solutions, because many ethnic minority families, despite being allocated land and housing, still migrate freely, and even though they do not enjoy any support policies, they still go to new places," Mr. Hoa said.
Delegate Pham Van Hoa (Deputy of Dong Thap delegation). Photo: National Assembly Media
Minister Hau A Lenh said the Ethnic Committee is not the official agency to assess this cause, but "this phenomenon of not wanting to escape poverty is real". The reason is that they escaped poverty but their actual life is very difficult. According to the new criteria, escaping poverty is a household with an average monthly income per capita of 1.5 million VND, near-poor is 1.6 million VND. People are afraid that when escaping poverty, they will not be able to enjoy social security policies.
"We need to help people feel more secure, understand the policies of the Party and State, and voluntarily apply to leave poverty," said Mr. Lenh, saying that the poverty reduction criteria system depends on the country's conditions and needs to be calculated more appropriately so that people who have escaped poverty can feel secure that they will not fall back into poverty and can live.
Meanwhile, Delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu (Director of Hanoi Medical University Hospital) said that during his trips he met many ethnic minorities who were illiterate. "Has the Ethnic Committee conducted any survey on this situation and has any solutions to solve it?", Mr. Hieu asked.
Responding, Minister Hau A Lenh admitted that about 15% of ethnic minorities cannot speak or write Vietnamese fluently, although the Party and State have had many policies. Among them are people who have become blind again and have not been able to go to school. "This is a matter of great concern," Mr. Lenh shared, and said that he will coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training to eliminate illiteracy for ethnic minorities.
Delegate Duong Tan Quan (doctor at Ba Ria - Vung Tau Hospital) asked the Minister to explain the difficulties in classifying communes and villages of ethnic minorities in mountainous areas, especially when 2.4 million people are no longer covered by state health insurance.
Minister Hau A Lenh said that the demarcation of ethnic minority areas is carried out in two phases, the first phase according to mountainous and highland areas, the second phase according to the level of development. Since 1996, investment policies for the development of ethnic minority areas have been implemented according to three development zones and Resolution 120 assigned the Government to determine specific criteria.
"There are 2.1 million people who are not receiving continued insurance support from the State. This is a very big problem. The Government has assigned the Ministry of Health to amend regulations and add disadvantaged ethnic minority groups to continue to enjoy the State's policy of purchasing health insurance," said Mr. Lenh. Regarding policies on education, health, agriculture, and labor and employment, ministries and sectors are amending them to submit to the Government.
After some delegates questioned, the National Assembly Chairman asked Minister and Chairman of the Ethnic Committee Hau A Lenh to prepare content and answer delegates at the working session tomorrow morning.
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