Thành Hải Commune in Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm City in Ninh Thuận Province. The commune targets to become the province’s first exemplary new-style rural commune this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thành

NINH THUẬN — The south-central province of Ninh Thuận is boosting the development of new-style rural areas to improve the lives of people.

After implementing the national programme of building new-style rural areas for 13 years, Ninh Thuận Province has 32 of its 47 communes recognised as new-style rural communes.

A new-style rural commune must meet the programme’s 19 criteria related to infrastructure, irrigation, power and water supply, income, education, healthcare, social security, culture, environment and others.

Twelve of the 32 new-style rural communes have been recognised as advanced new-style rural communes, which achieve higher standards across all 19 criteria than new-style ones.

The province aims to have additional two to three new-style rural communes, three to four advanced new-style rural communes and one exemplary new-style rural commune by year end.

An exemplary new-style rural commune must achieve higher standards than an advanced one.

Trịnh Minh Hoàng, deputy chairman of Ninh Thuận People’s Committee, said the province will strengthen mobilising resources from its budget, loans, companies, economic organisations and communities to implement the programme.

It will focus on implementing the programme’s criteria which are difficult to achieve and maintain such as income, multidimensional poverty reduction, health insurance, environment protection and food safety.

The provincial People’s Committee has ordered all six districts and Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm City to focus on criteria which relate directly to the spiritual and material lives of people.

The districts and city should set up plans for implementing the programme, and instruct their communes to implement the plans, it said.

New-style rural communes, which aim to achieve advanced status, should complete criteria about infrastructure to meet the requirements of food markets, healthcare and schools.

They should co-operate with social-political organisations to encourage people to get health insurance so they can meet the required rate of people having health insurance.

Thành Hải in Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm City targets to become the province’s first exemplary new-style rural commune this year so it should select one of the six exemplary fields regulated under the programme to implement.

It should focus on developing agricultural production, creating jobs to improve income for people, and targeting to achieve an average income of 1.2 times higher than the regulated income of advanced new-style rural communes.

Mobilising

In 2021-23, the province mobilised more than VNĐ1.5 trillion (US$59 million) to build new-style rural areas.

The province’s border soldiers have participated in building new-style rural areas, including assisting difficult households.

Tà La Thị Nhiều’s family in Đá Hang Hamlet in Ninh Hải District’s Vĩnh Hải Commune has had a difficulty life, and the Vĩnh Hải Border Guard Station has regularly provided her family rice, money and farming techniques.

“Thanks to the support of the officials and soldiers of the Vĩnh Hải Border Guard Station, people here have a more stable life,” she said.

The station’s soldiers participate in clearing bushes, paving rural roads, explaining legal regulations to people and encouraging them to eliminate backward customs.

The programme has helped improve the appearance of rural areas and the lives of rural people.

Trần Thị Quyên in Ninh Sơn District’s Hòa Sơn Commune, a new-style rural commune, said: “I was glad when the commune was recognised as a new-style rural commune. Thanks to this, the appearance of rural areas has changed positively and the spiritual lives of people have been enhanced.”

Hamlets in the commune have built spacious cultural houses and these houses are places for meetings, cultural exchanges, art performances and sports, she said.

Rural roads in Hòa Sơn are paved and have installed electric lamps and cameras. All households in the commune have access to clean water and electricity.

Nguyễn Văn Hải, deputy chairman of the Hòa Sơn People’s Committee, said the commune will continue to take measures, set up targets and promote its potential and advantages in each area to build new-style rural areas to improve people’s income.

It will mobilise financial resources and the participation of people in implementing the programme, and target to achieve the recognition of an advanced new-style rural commune next year, he said. — VNS