Positive changes in implementing ethnic policies

In recent years, Cao Bang province has been allocated capital from the central budget to implement many ethnic programs and policies to invest in socio-economic development. In particular, Cao Bang province has paid special attention to solving urgent needs for residential land and production land among ethnic minorities and mountainous areas.

Cao Bang provincial leaders surveyed the current situation of mixed agricultural land and production land of local people in Thanh Cong commune, Nguyen Binh district. Photo: Le Tuan.

Cao Bang province has nearly 95% of the population being ethnic minorities, most of the communes, wards and towns of the province have extremely difficult socio-economic conditions. People's lives mainly depend on agricultural and forestry production, so the effective implementation of the policy of supporting residential land and production land is of special importance, not only contributing to poverty reduction and improving the lives of people but also having significance for the goal of stabilizing the population, limiting spontaneous migration, and ensuring security and order in the province's ethnic minority areas. Therefore, in the period of 2021 - 2025, Cao Bang province has simultaneously and effectively implemented 10/10 component projects of the National Target Program 1719.

In particular, from 2021 to present, to implement Project 1 under the National Target Program 1719, in Plan No. 2015/KH-UBND dated August 8, 2022 of the Provincial People's Committee on implementing the National Target Program 1719, Cao Bang province strives to support 360 households with residential land and 1,167 households with production land during the 2021-2025 period. Accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to preside over and coordinate with the Ethnic Committee, relevant departments, branches and localities to organize the review, comparison and identification of poor ethnic minority households; poor Kinh households living in communes and villages with special difficulties in ethnic minority and mountainous areas lacking or not having residential land, not having agricultural land and in need of support for residential land and agricultural land.

Therefore, localities in Cao Bang province have reviewed eligible subjects and those in need of support for residential land and agricultural land in the area, sent them to the Provincial Ethnic Committee for synthesis, appraisal, and submission to the Provincial People's Committee for consideration and decision. However, in the condition that over 90% of the total natural area of ​​the province is rocky mountains, rivers and streams; agricultural land accounts for only 1.4% of the natural land area, it is very difficult to arrange land funds to support production land for households in need.

Mr. Nong Duc Thuan - Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department of Quang Uyen district said that through a survey, Quang Uyen district has 9,576 ethnic minority households, of which 1,566 households lack production land, 22 households lack residential land. Notably, the whole district has 115 Mong ethnic households, all 115 households lack production land, of which 3 households lack residential land.

Lack of residential land and production land has made it impossible for ethnic minorities to "settle down" and also difficult to "settle down". Therefore, the poverty rate in the district is still quite high. From the above difficulties, in recent times, Quang Uyen district has been flexible in implementing policies to support residential land and production land for ethnic minorities by mobilizing communities, brothers, and clans to help each other with residential land, production land, reclaiming and improving some areas of upland and hilly land to create a land fund for people. In addition, the district also supports money for ethnic minorities to learn a trade, change their profession, export labor, and contract and protect forests so that people can develop their economy.

Assessing the effectiveness of ethnic policies in the province, Mr. Be Van Hung - Head of the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Cao Bang province said that previously, in the period of 2016 - 2020, to implement the policy of supporting residential land and production land for ethnic minorities according to Decision No. 2085/QD-TTg dated October 31, 2016, statistics from localities showed that the whole province still had more than 960 ethnic minority households in need of support for residential land and over 3,660 households in need of support for production land.

To help the locality overcome some of the difficulties as well as support residential land and production land for ethnic minorities, promote the disbursement progress of Project 1 under the National Target Program 1719, on October 11, 2024, the People's Committee of Cao Bang province issued Document No. 2722 to the Provincial People's Council for consideration and promulgation of a Resolution regulating land policies for ethnic minorities in the province. The promulgation of this policy also aims to specify the new provisions of the Land Law 2024". This is a positive move, gradually removing the difficulties that districts in the province are facing.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/chuyen-bien-tich-cuc-trong-thuc-hien-chinh-sach-dan-toc-10293891.html