Persistent in changing people's way of thinking and doing

The Central Highlands is home to 47 ethnic minorities with cultural characteristics and nuances from different ethnic groups and localities. It is also an area with great potential and value in terms of economy, culture, society, defence, security, and foreign affairs for the Central region and the whole country. Over the years, thanks to the attention and investment of the Party and State, the material and spiritual life of the ethnic minorities have been considerably improved. However, due to several reasons, this area still has multiple difficulties and inadequacies, especially the ethnic minorities’ low intellectual level, long-established and outdated customs, etc. Therefore, changing the people’s way of thinking and doing, especially that of ethnic minorities, has been identified by the Corps as a task of top importance that requires effort and perseverance in implementation. Bearing that in mind, right from the early years of establishment, having experience in determining the development model, it chose rubber as the strategic trees as they are not only suitable for climatic and soil conditions there, but, more importantly, they are also suitable to the farming practices of ethnic minorities to create long-term stable incomes and improve people's living standards.

Over 37 years, along with the expansion of production models, the Corps has always persevered with the policy of prioritising the recruitment of ethnic minority workers and closely combined labour recruitment and production development with raising people's intellectual level. This is both a political responsibility of the Corps and a job of profound social and humanistic significance. However, due to the long-standing nomadic lifestyles and farming practices and activities that depend entirely on nature, it is not easy to bring people to work at the Corps with new lifestyle and working methods that require discipline, science, productivity, quality, and efficiency. Therefore, generations of its cadres and soldiers have persistently mobilised, set examples, directly guided, and persuaded the ethnic minorities through the well-off lives of the Corps’ workers. It has also focused on training and fostering to raise the levels of awareness, science and technology, and working skills for local ethnic minorities; dispatched technical staff to each village and hamlet to guide people in farming techniques, support them with funds and seeds, help them develop their family economy, build cultural life, etc. Under the motto of “Development and expansion of production in parallel with attraction of labour and construction of residential areas”, along with rubber and coffee plantations that have been expanded, the local people’s villages and hamlets have been widened and renovated. In the past, many families only knew how to clear forests for farming, but, currently, they have switched to long-term industrial crops to have stable jobs and increasingly high living standards. Multiple households became wealthier with monthly income of tens of millions of dong. The rate of poor households in its stationing area has decreased from more than 60% to less than 10%. So far, the percentage of ethnic minority employees working in the Corps has reached over 52%. More than 70% of the total area of ​​its plantation has been assigned to the local ethnic workers. Its companionship has not only contributed positively to the improvement of local people's living standards, but, more importantly, fundamentally changed their working style, way of family economic development, and their mind for education, health care, and environmental sanitation to contribute to developing human resources for building cultural villages and hamlets, alleviating poverty and backwardness, consolidating the increasingly solid local political base, and strengthening the people's trust in the Party, State, and Army.

Inaugurating and handing over traffic road to the locality

Accompanying localities in socio-economic development

Due to the characteristics of tasks, most of its units station in large regions, mainly in remote, isolated, border areas and resistance bases with sparse population, low living standards and intellectual level, underdeveloped infrastructure, thin and weak political bases in many places, that is easy to be taken advantage of by hostile forces. This requires the Corps to pay regular attention to mass mobilisation work and help the people in sustainable hunger eradication and poverty reduction. To do that, the core factors are to promote production and business development in association with building infrastructure and ensuring social welfare in each company, unit, and locality, and build residential areas in association with socio-economic development and new rural area construction. Based on the master plan of the Defence Economic Zone and the projects implemented, it has developed specific plans and deployed appropriate policies to adjust labour appropriately in each production sector and area in association with the processes of industrialisation, modernisation, and rural industrial development in ethnic minority areas; concentrated resources on building socio-economic infrastructure in association with national defence and security; and attached its growth to that of the Central Highlands and the entire country. Along with the investment of the State and local authorities, it has maximised the endogenous human and material resources from the contributions of its employees with affection and responsibility to generate resources, forces, and synergy for this work. At the same time, it has effectively implemented programs and projects invested by the State; actively participated in hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and new rural construction through practical works and tasks, such as repairing and renovating infrastructure, allocating residential and production land, and erasing bamboo cottages in the area. So far, the socio-economic infrastructure system built by the Corps has become the foundation for local development.

Besides, it has always associated improving production and business efficiency with the stability of workers' lives. It has focused on directing the development of plans for production and business, investment, and product costs relevant to the market and resources of the units; making a breakthrough in administration, and management of planning with sustainable growth targets; stepping up the application of advanced science and technology in production; and strengthening product management from plantations to processing factories to improve product quality, enhance brand, and closely follow the market to promote its products.

In the past years, abnormal weather and climate conditions, Covid-19 pandemic’s complicated developments, shortage of labour force, difficulties in recruitment and training, unstable selling price of rubber products, sharp increases in prices of supplies, raw materials and fertilisers for production, and high costs incurred have badly affected its financial situation, while its liabilities, despite being reduced, still account for a large proportion, posing the high pressure of payment. To overcome such situation, its Party Committee’ Standing Commission and Command have closely followed the superiors’ undertakings, balanced resources, forecasted the market, and proactively proposed appropriate solutions to remove difficulties; led and directed the good implementation of corporate governance and financial management; actively developed and implemented early plans with relevance to the requirements and characteristics of the units; improved the capacity for management, direction, and operation of production; strictly maintained regulations on product management and consumption; strengthened the work of management, processing, and preservation; and actively grasped the market to proactively sell its products in a timely and effective manner. At the same time, it has regularly reviewed and adjusted the economic and technical targets to suit the actual situation; strengthened inspection, supervision, thrift practice, and cost reduction; and synchronously implemented measures to prevent loss and make full use of raw materials to lower product costs, improve labour productivity and efficiency of production and business, and ensure income for employees. In 2021, its production output reached over 111% of the plan; meanwhile, the average income of its employees was VND 7.2 million/month/capita.

Besides, the Corps has actively joined hand with the localities in assuring social welfare; maintained the effective operations of more than 100 preschools and more than 300 classes; supported nearly 7,000 children in physical development, including more than 2,000 children of ethnic minorities; and actively participated in preserving and promoting traditional cultural values and repelling outdated customs. Its hospital and 11 clinics of the units have actively participated in developing the community health system, effectively implemented the combined military-civil medicine program, conducted medical examination and treatment, and provided health consultations for tens of thousands of people each year, that has contributed to improving the quality of health care for the people. At the same time, they have regularly assured policies, especially those for ethnic minorities and religious people; visited and presented gifts to policy families, children with disabilities, and needy families, etc.

Associating production and business with the consolidation of a strong all-people defence and building of a solid “people’s heart-and-mind posture” in localities.

Basing on the Party and State’s undertakings and the task of socio-economic development on the border belt, the Corps' Party Committee and Command consider sedentary cultivation, settlement, hunger eradication, and poverty alleviation as important content to contribute to maintaining political security on the border areas. Therefore, it has actively participated in building strong local political bases; proactively coordinated with local Party committees, authorities, and armed forces in effectively preventing and combating illegal border crossing and missionary activities; firmly grasped the situation to promptly detect and fight against acts of incitement and sabotage by hostile forces; and ensured political security, social order, and safety to build safe and strong stationing areas.

In particular, the effective operation of creative models and methods in mass mobilisation and propagation, especially the model entitled linking workers' households with local ethnic minority households, has disseminated the Party's guidelines and undertakings to every citizen, family, hamlet, and village, thereby strengthening the solidarity among the ethnic groups, and building a solid “people’s heart-and-mind posture” in localities.

With its responsibility to the Party, State, and Army and the affection and attachment to the people of the Central Highlands, generations of cadres, soldiers, and employees of Corps 15 have always persevered, innovated, and been creative in production and business to strengthen national defence and security potentials in the area and contribute to realising the aspiration of a sustainable development for the Central Highlands.

Senior Colonel HOANG VAN SY,  Commander of Corps 15