Solidarity and wholeheartedly following the Party to make revolution are precious traditional values of the people in the highlands of Bac Kan. Imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings on “solidarity, great solidarity - success, great success”, in recent years, Bac Kan province has always focused on building a great national unity bloc, creating social consensus to carry out many difficult and complicated tasks.
One of the contents that people are particularly interested in recently is the rearrangement and merger of administrative units at the commune and provincial levels, a major policy of the Party that is being implemented synchronously throughout the country. It attracted even more attention when the Party Central Committee approved the policy of merging Bac Kan and Thai Nguyen, two provinces that used to be one before being separated in 1997.
Since the separation of the province, despite the difficult starting point, Bac Kan has made positive developments. However, the information about the merger, in which the provincial capital is located in Thai Nguyen city, has made many people worried: Will Bac Kan become a remote area again? How will investment in socio-economic development be affected?
According to the Bac Kan Provincial Fatherland Front Committee, through grasping the public opinion situation, it shows that many concerns come not only from the people but also from the staff and civil servants. In that situation, the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee promptly deployed propaganda and explanation activities.
Thanks to doing a good job of information and listening, when collecting opinions from voters in the whole province on the project of merging the two provinces, the consensus rate reached 99.07%; in which 53 units recorded 100% of voters agreeing.
To create real consensus, Bac Kan province has innovated information and propaganda work, making strong use of social networking space as a “two-way” channel connecting people with the government. The electronic information page and Facebook group “Bac Kan Front” with more than 6,300 followers is an example.
The Fatherland Front at all levels has also proactively established Facebook groups, fanpages, and Zalo groups for cadres to effectively promote the network from the province to the commune. This is the channel to receive feedback and at the same time orient public opinion quickly and flexibly, contributing significantly to the work of building a great national unity bloc.
According to the Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Bac Kan province, Do Thi Minh Hoa, through grasping the ideological situation and thoughts of the people, the Front at all levels has contributed to creating consensus among union members, association members and people of all walks of life; actively contribute to the process of refuting wrong and hostile views; protecting the Party’s ideological foundation; strengthening the close relationship between the Party, the State and the people.
The consensus is not only reflected in major policies such as administrative mergers but also very clearly in the implementation of infrastructure development projects, typically the Cho Moi - Bac Kan city expressway project. The route is 38km long but up to 1,500 households are affected and many civil works and infrastructure have to be relocated.
According to Vice Chairman of the Cho Moi District People’s Committee Tran Manh Cuong, although supporting the policy of building the expressway, it is understandable that people are still worried and hesitant because the relocation is related to land, houses and livelihoods. Initially, the progress of site clearance was very slow due to problems with procedures, property valuation, and resettlement support policies. Faced with that situation, the provincial leaders went directly to the grassroots to grasp, dialogue and resolve difficulties. Sincerity, persistent advocacy combined with flexible and practical policies have helped people feel more secure and reach a higher consensus.
Bac Kan province has promptly issued many important decisions such as Decision No.19/2024/QD-UBND regulating compensation, support and resettlement; Decision No.41/2024/QD-UBND allowing compensation of 80% of the value of existing assets, even if they do not meet technical standards. In addition, the compensation value for crops and aquatic animals is applied according to Decision No.24/2024/QD-UBND, helping to shorten the appraisal and payment time.
In rural areas, the issue of livelihood after relocation is a major concern. According to Nguyen Van Minh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Bac Kan province, many households do not want to leave their farmland.
Therefore, the province has issued a flexible support mechanism allowing people to receive money, buy land and build houses themselves if they wish to resettle on the spot, instead of rigidly applying concentrated resettlement areas which are often far from residential areas and difficult to attract people to live. Thanks to that, the progress of site clearance has had a positive change, ensuring sufficient conditions for project construction on schedule.
Creating consensus among the people is a continuous task, decisive for the sustainable development of Bac Kan. The Resolution of the 12th Provincial Party Congress, 2020-2025 tenure, emphasised: “Promoting the strength of great national unity, mobilising resources for rapid and sustainable development”. Consensus is not only the result of mass mobilisation work, but also a prerequisite for the successful realisation of local political tasks.
One of the solutions to promote solidarity and consensus among the people that Bac Kan focuses on is promoting the role of social criticism. Since the beginning of the 2020-2025 term, the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee has provided social criticism on many draft documents, valid opinions have been recorded, and the draft has been revised to improve the quality of the documents when issued, gaining the consensus and support of the people.
According to Ms. Do Thi Minh Hoa, the Front at all levels always attaches the goal of gathering, uniting, and creating consensus among the people to all plans, programmes of coordinated action, responding to emulation movements, and campaigns. From there, promote the strength of the great national unity bloc in implementing political tasks, developing the socio-economy and ensuring national defence and security.
With appropriate and effective methods, the great national unity bloc in Bac Kan is increasingly consolidated. The role of the Fatherland Front Committee and mass organisations is strongly promoted through innovation in content and methods of operation and focusing on the grassroots, listening to people’s opinions and thoughts.
The awareness of the entire political system and all classes of people about promoting the strength of great national unity is constantly improving, creating a solid foundation for Bac Kan to continue to develop rapidly and sustainably in the new period.
