Doan Tung (Thanh Mien) struggled to reach the advanced new rural area finish line

Many missed appointments

In 2014, Doan Tung commune was the first locality in Thanh Mien district to reach the new rural area goal. Not satisfied with the results achieved, the commune continued to mobilize all resources to complete the criteria, striving to reach the advanced new rural area goal in the period of 2015-2020. However, due to overlap and confusion between the tasks of building advanced new rural areas and building type V urban areas, Doan Tung missed this opportunity.

According to Chairman of the People's Committee of Doan Tung Commune, Nguyen Anh Tuan, after reaching the new rural area, the commune only focused on the task of becoming a type V urban area because at this time there were no instructions related to building an advanced new rural area. In 2018, the central government issued a specific document with this instruction. After comparison, the locality found that the criteria for a type V urban area and an advanced new rural area had many similarities. In 2019, the commune focused on reviewing and self-assessing its eligibility to reach the advanced new rural area.

"Realizing that Doan Tung is qualified to reach the finish line, we asked for the opinion of superiors to complete the procedures. However, the district instructed that Doan Tung is building a type V urban area, so there is no need to build an advanced new rural area. This is also the reason why the locality did not reach the finish line in the 2018-2020 period despite meeting the requirements," said Mr. Tuan.

In 2021, Doan Tung commune was again assigned by Thanh Mien district to complete the advanced new rural area. However, during this period, the criteria set has changed a lot. Compared to the new criteria set, Doan Tung still has 2 criteria that have not been met: healthcare and production organization. These are two small criteria that do not require large resources for investment, so Doan Tung is confident that it will complete the advanced new rural area in 2022. However, in August 2022, the Government issued a document stipulating that communes recognized as advanced new rural areas must meet 4 conditions: completing the national criteria set for the period 2021 - 2025, no basic public debt, people's satisfaction rate with the results of building advanced new rural areas and no complications in security and order. This change has caused Doan Tung to continue to miss the advanced new rural area because the commune still has public debt and people have complaints beyond the level.

High determination

Despite many difficulties and challenges, the Party Committee, government and people of Doan Tung commune have always persevered with the goal of reaching the advanced new rural area by 2024. From 2015 to now, this locality has invested 962 billion VND to complete the criteria of type V urban area and advanced new rural area. In which, the commune focuses on upgrading and renovating key traffic routes and implementing urban beautification. The fields of education, environment, culture, health... have many positive changes. Urban space is continuously expanded thanks to the synchronous planning of many new residential areas.

"The new rural appearance in Doan Tung commune is increasingly renewed and modern. Village roads and alleys are spacious and clean, and people's lives have many positive changes. This achievement is due to the great contribution of the masses," said Mr. Tran Van Dung, Pham Lam village. It is known that in recent years, Doan Tung people have donated thousands of square meters of land and more than 10 billion VND for the commune to complete the advanced criteria.

In 2023, the total income of the whole commune is estimated at 744 billion VND, an increase of 95.6 billion VND compared to the previous year. The poverty rate decreased from 1.72% to 1.5%. The local economic growth is always maintained at 15%/year. The average income per capita is 80 million VND/year (4 million VND higher than the model new rural standard). Schools at all 3 levels maintain the title of national standard, of which 2 schools meet level 2 standards. The quality of primary health care is increasingly improved, the rate of people participating in health insurance is over 95%.

With its strengths in industry, services and trade, Doan Tung commune has always been a typical example of Thanh Mien in the new rural construction movement. By April, this locality had completed 19 criteria for advanced new rural areas. "Under the strong leadership and direction of the Party Committee, the government and the solidarity of the people, we are ready to reach the advanced new rural area goal this year. In the coming time, we will strive to build Doan Tung into a town before 2025; the poverty rate will decrease to less than 1%, the average income per capita will reach 87 million VND/year..." said Mr. Tuan.