Many mountainous communes and ethnic minority communes "fall" from the new rural standards

"Falling" NTM standards

According to the report of the Steering Committee for New Rural Development in Quang Nam province, from 2010 to present, 130/193 communes in Quang Nam province have been recognized as meeting the new rural standards. Of these, nearly 100 communes have been recognized as reaching the new rural standard in the period 2016-2020. In addition, 4 district-level units in Quang Nam province have also met the standards and completed the task of building new rural areas, reaching a rate of 22.2%.

However, when compared with the set of criteria for building new rural areas in the 2021-2025 period, the whole Quang Nam province had up to 89 communes that had met the new rural standards from 2021 onwards but could not maintain the new rural standards. Not only did the new rural standards "fall" due to some increased indicators and criteria (due to the new set of criteria), but the old criteria also "fell" from the standards.

The reason is that, after achieving the NTM standards, mountainous communes and ethnic minority communes are no longer entitled to social security benefits such as health insurance, rice support for students, benefits for officials, civil servants, and students, etc., which directly affects people's lives, leading to a decrease of nearly 50% in the standard target compared to before.

In fact, the current average income per capita of mountainous and ethnic minority communes in Quang Nam is only about 30 million VND/year. Meanwhile, according to the NTM standard criteria for the 2021-2025 period, the average income per capita must reach 48 million VND/year or more. Thus, on average, each year, mountainous and ethnic minority areas must increase their income by 9 million VND/person. Therefore, it is difficult for mountainous and ethnic minority communes that have reached the NTM target to maintain this criterion in the 2021-2025 period.

Not only in Quang Nam, the decline in criteria and "falling" from the NTM standard when applying the NTM assessment criteria for the 2021-2025 period is a common reality in many provinces in the South Central Coast and Central Highlands regions.

In Dak Nong province, currently, 40/60 communes have been recognized as meeting NTM standards. Of which, in the 2016-2020 period, 30 communes in the province were recognized as meeting NTM standards. Through the assessment of NTM commune criteria for the 2021-2025 period, 24 communes in Dak Nong province have "failed" the NTM criteria. Notably, when applying the NTM criteria for the 2021-2025 period, in Dak Nong province, there are 2 communes, Truc Son and Cu K'nia, Cu Jut district (Dak Nong), which only met 13/19 criteria and are at risk of having to revoke the decision to recognize the commune as meeting NTM standards.

Previously, in 2019, Truc Son commune (Cu Jut district) was recognized by the Dak Nong Provincial People's Committee as meeting the new rural standards according to the set of criteria for new rural communes for the period 2016-2020. By 2020, Cu K'nia commune (Cu Jut district) was also recognized by the Dak Nong Provincial People's Committee as meeting the new rural standards according to the set of criteria for new rural communes for the period 2016-2020. However, according to the set of criteria for new rural communes for the period 2021-2025, by the end of 2023, Truc Son commune and Cu K'nia commune only met 13/19 criteria.

Faced with that reality, the People's Committee of Dak Nong province has issued a document to Truc Son commune and Cu K'nia commune, stating that by August 2024, if these localities do not meet the criteria, their decision to recognize NTM will be withdrawn.

The Dak Nong Province Office of New Rural Development Coordination assessed that the reason why many communes “fell” in the criteria was because the time of recognition of meeting the new rural standards only met the minimum level as prescribed. Meanwhile, the set of criteria for new rural communes in the 2021-2025 period all required higher criteria than the previous period…

Should we adjust the policy of building new rural areas?

After 14 years of implementing the National Target Program, the whole country now has 6,239 communes recognized as meeting the NTM standards. The face of rural and mountainous areas has changed significantly. However, it is easy to see that the communes reaching the NTM standard are mostly in the plains and midlands. The rate of communes in mountainous and ethnic minority areas reaching the NTM standard is still low due to socio-economic conditions and low starting points. In addition, applying the new set of criteria, the risk of communes in mountainous and ethnic minority areas reaching the NTM standard is also present.

After so many years of implementation, the National Target Program on New Rural Development has revealed many points that are not really suitable. For example, the plains, mountainous areas, and ethnic minority areas have different starting points for building new rural areas. Along with that, the regions also have uneven natural conditions, socio-economic conditions, and development speeds. However, the set of criteria for building new rural areas is applied uniformly throughout the country.

Besides, the investment level for communes to reach the NTM target is also equalized from the lowlands to the mountains, which causes great difficulties and pressure on communes in disadvantaged areas, especially difficulties in the process of completing the NTM criteria set.

In order for the National Target Program on New Rural Development to have a truly positive and strong impact in rural and mountainous areas, it is necessary to adjust the implementation method and investment limits in a timely manner. It is possible to divide the criteria set in New Rural Development into 3 different sets of criteria to apply to 3 groups of communes in the plains, disadvantaged communes and especially disadvantaged communes. It is also possible to keep the same set of criteria applied nationwide, but divide it into 3 different investment limits.

If this can be done, then communes in mountainous areas and ethnic minority areas will have the opportunity to reach the NTM finish line on time and maintain the NTM criteria through the stages without fear of "falling" the standard and also to escape the situation of having to continue "wearing the coat of poverty".