Lesson 1: Worthy of being the "extended arm" of the Party and the State
Village and hamlet cadres are the closest to the people, directly communicating, mobilizing and implementing the Party's policies and resolutions, the State's policies and laws to the people. As the "locomotive", setting an example in every action, the village and hamlet cadres have gathered and gathered the strength of Party members and the people. They have become the nucleus of solidarity, unification of will and action to effectively carry out political tasks, economic development, and poverty reduction at the grassroots level.
Affirming the nuclear role
During her 12 years as Secretary of the Yen Son Village Party Cell, Thanh Xuong Commune (Dien Bien District), Ms. Tran Thi Suat has always been trusted by party members and local people, who have followed her advocacy and guidance. Whatever is difficult, she sets an example. When the locality launched the new rural construction movement, she mobilized party members and local people to contribute working days, money and land.
In the past 5 years, Ms. Suat and the village's mass organizations have promoted, mobilized and together with the people contributed more than 1,000 working days, over 100 million VND, to build nearly 1km of concrete road; cultural house yard, village cultural gate. Thereby, contributing to bringing Thanh Xuong commune to the advanced NTM standard.
Mr. Ngo Minh Cuong, Chairman of Thanh Xuong Commune People's Committee commented: Over the past years, Ms. Suat has made significant contributions to the development of the locality, especially in building new rural areas and reducing poverty. When the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, she "went to every alley, knocked on every door" to participate in disease prevention and control, contributing to limiting the spread of the disease. Most recently, in the citizen identification card campaign, she actively promoted and mobilized people to implement it. Not only Ms. Suat, the team of village and hamlet cadres in the commune have promoted their leading and exemplary roles in all areas of life and have been trusted by the people.
Ta Lo San village, Sen Thuong commune (Muong Nhe district), about 70km from the district center, is the northernmost point of Dien Bien province, bordering Giang Thanh district, Yunnan province (China). With an important position in national defense and security, the role of the "locomotives" in Ta Lo San village is very important in bringing the Party's policies and the State's laws to the people, especially related to social security policies and maintaining national borders.
Mr. Po Xuan Muoi, Head of Ta Lo San village, shared: I always strive to educate and persuade my children and villagers to strictly follow all policies of the Party and laws of the State; not to listen to bad people. Carrying out the movement of the whole people participating in protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security, I propagate and mobilize villagers to establish self-management teams for security and order in border areas, and households to register for "self-management of border lines and national border markers".
Mr. Muoi also set an example by leading the way, mobilizing people to develop the economy, reduce poverty, protect and develop forests; contributing to the positive changes of Ta Lo San village. The old mud-walled houses of the Ha Nhi people have been replaced by wooden houses, brick houses, and sturdy corrugated iron roofs; 100% of the village roads are concreted; the mobile network (Viettel) has 4G coverage. In particular, thanks to good forest protection, Ta Lo San village enjoys the largest amount of forest environmental service payments in the province, with some households receiving more than 100 million VND/year.
Currently, the province has 1,413 Party cell secretaries and 1,430 village, hamlet, block and residential group leaders. With a sense of responsibility for the community, the team of village and hamlet-level cadres - the "people who carry the prison and the whole village" - have become a special bridge between the Party, the government and the people. Despite the difficulties and hardships, they still lead the people to agree to effectively carry out political tasks every day, contributing to the common development of the locality, contributing to building a strong grassroots government.
Aging village cadres
Most of the village and hamlet cadres in the province are elderly and are showing signs of aging as the next generation is not interested in the common work of the village and hamlet. For example, Ms. Doan Thi Cuong, Secretary of Party Cell 1, Muong Ang Town (Muong Ang District), is 76 years old this year, but still shouldering her daily duties because there is no one to replace her.
Muong Ang town has 10 party cell secretaries and heads of residential groups and villages. However, the youngest is over 50 years old, while the oldest is nearly 80.
Mr. Vu Van Duc, Vice Chairman of Muong Ang Town People's Committee, said: Taking on the position of cadres in villages and hamlets, they only receive monthly support with a very small allowance for non-professional cadres. If we consider the economic benefits of the working hours, that amount is nothing, while the work is full of challenges for the responsibility of the leader. If they do not have enthusiasm, they will easily get discouraged. The only thing that helps them to stay strong is their belief in the Party and the trust of the people.
Noong Het Commune (Dien Bien District) has 14 villages and hamlets, of which 80% of the village and hamlet cadres are elderly. Of which, the majority are from 50 to 70 years old, with very few under 40 years old. For example, Mr. Dao Duc Dong, Secretary of the Hop Thanh Village Party Cell, is 62 years old; Mr. Tran Van Ca, Secretary of the Village Party Cell 24, is 72 years old; Mr. Lo Van Thuong, Head of Bong Village, is 68 years old this year...
Mr. Dao Duc Dong, Secretary of the Hop Thanh village Party Cell, confided: “I have been the Party Cell Secretary for many years. Although I am very dedicated, due to my old age, I can talk well but my hands are weak and my legs are slow, so I really want someone to replace me. But finding a young person is very difficult because the current village Party Cell has mostly elderly members.”
Assessing the village and hamlet cadres in the commune, Mr. Vu Van Binh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Noong Het commune frankly said: The village and hamlet cadres in the commune are mostly old, especially the Party cell secretaries. They are very enthusiastic but it is difficult to operate systematically because they are not trained in new professional knowledge, skills to update social trends, and some people are not in good health.
“Old bamboo” but “shoots” have not yet grown is a concern of many local Party committees and authorities. According to research in many localities in the province, the average age of the village and hamlet cadres is currently about 50 - 70 years old. For example, in Tuan Giao town (Tuan Giao district), the youngest person is nearly 50 years old, the oldest person is over 70 years old; Dien Bien Dong town (Dien Bien Dong district) has only 2 young people but they are nearly 40 years old, the rest are on average 55 - 70 years old; Muong Dun commune (Tua Chua district) the elderly account for 80%... These figures show that the “aging” of village and hamlet cadres is widespread. This is a challenge in improving the quality of life, leadership capacity, and fighting strength of grassroots Party cells. This situation requires localities to have fundamental and synchronous solutions to overcome.
Lesson 2: Still have concerns
Source: https://baodienbienphu.com.vn/tin-tuc/chinh-tri/218511/giai-%E2%80%9Cbai-toan%E2%80%9D-gia-hoa-can-bo-thon-ban
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