Being embedded with Uncle Ho’s teachings, Company 74 of Army Corps 15 has frequently carried out the public relations in ethnic minority and religious areas, practically making contribution to strengthening the great national unity in the locality, defeating all plots and tricks of hostile forces, effectively executing the social-economic goals of the local area, and beautifying the qualities of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” in the new situation.

Maintaining the close-knit unity among ethnic groups and religions is the red thread throughout President Ho Chi Minh’s thought of great national unity. Being embedded with his teachings, i.e. “The public relations are crucial. Bad public relations make everything worse while the good ones lead to success”, the Company’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have frequently concerned about the public relations, considering them as the key for success; concurrently, clearly defined the responsibility of all organisations, forces, cadres, soldiers and workers for such important issue. Grasping the Corps’ cross-cutting guideline: “Company connects with districts and communes; production teams connect with villages; King workers’ households connect with the local ethnic households”, and bringing into play the tradition of “connecting with the people”, the Company’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have strengthened their leadership and direction of the public relations; effectively implemented the emulation movement of “good public relations”, building the “good public relations units” connected with other movements launched by the seniors and the locality.

Company 74 is located in the remote and border area which consists of 24 villages of 07 communes and 01 town in 03 districts of Duc Co, Ia Grai in Gia Lai province and Oyadow in Rattanaliri province of Cambodia. This is an underdeveloped area of economy, culture and society with low population density, the majority being ethnic minorities whose material and spiritual life are still in difficulty; in some main areas have existed many complicated and sensitive religious and racial issues, especially the sabotage of hostile and reactionary forces, etc., which have negatively affected the results of the Company’s public relations. To improve the effectiveness of the public relations, the Party Committee and Board of Directors have firmly held the locality and the reality of the public relations to create suitable policies and solutions. Based on the coordination with other localities, the Company has proactively built the public relations programmes and plans with detailed and focused contents; brought into play the roles and responsibilities of all levels and industries, mobilised the general power of all organisations and forces to strictly apply in all levels. Together with intensely maintaining the activities of public relations groups, “public relations teams”, and bringing into play the key roles of the public relations officers and staff, the Company has required each cadre, soldier and worker to be a good public relations soldier, who respects and understand the people, is close to and responsible for them, is imbued with the motto of “brain thinking, eyes watching, ears hearing, mouth speaking, hands doing”; always turn to the grassroots, actively and proactively follow villages, doing four-togethers with the ethnic and religious minorities; actively renovate and improve the effectiveness of twining activity and model of “connected households” with a variety of in-depth and practical contents; establish and maintain the activities of club of “4-good household pairs” to bring about practical results.

Cadres of the Company instruct ethnic people in rice cultivation

By implementing many economic-defence projects and organising residential areas, the Company has guided and helped the ethnic and religious minorities change their “thinking ways and working methods”, building a new life. Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s thought, i.e. “public relations do not mean empty words and orders”, “they are really engaged into work”, besides propagating the techniques of cultivation and breeding, holding hundreds of training classes for rubber workers, the Company has minutely made guidelines, “step-by-step instructions”, patiently changed the old “thinking ways and working methods”; helped with breeds and initial fundings for the local residents to expand the production and enrich themselves. Production teams have allotted orchards to households in accordance to the laws, creating jobs and stable income for thousands of ethnic and religious minorities. Since 2024, the Company has proactively coordinated with the localities to inspect and give support of dozens tons of foods, helping hundreds of poor and near-poor households in between-crop periods, etc.

Together with establishing the residential clusters and locations connected with projects along the bordering belts; building and improving the infrastructure including electricity, roads, schools, clinics, etc., the Company has flexibly established schools, meeting the requirements of each locality and production team. Presently, the Company has effectively maintained the operation of 11 nursery schools in national standards; partly supported the daily meals for 700 children, 50% of whom are offspring of ethnic minorities. As a result, the life of households in the project areas has been gradually improved. These residential locations have been “bright spots” in all factors, being the key part in all political, economic, cultural, social, defence and security activities in these localities.

The Company has been paying attention to attracting and recruiting workers who are in ethnic and religious minorities, assuring their income and overall improvement of their life; coordinated with the local governments to hold the situation, propagandise and encouraged the ethnic and religious minorities to take part in projects or work in the Company. Only in 2024, the Company propagandised, mobilised and recruited 194 workers and got orchards; newly trained and retrained 393 rubber workers to be skillful and able to exploit rubber latex. So far, the Company has 1,216 workers of ethnic minorities and 105 religious workers. Production groups and teams have frequently organised training and further training, given support for ethnic minority and religious workers to improve their skills, completing the assigned tasks and progresses, especially the newly-recruited workers. The development of party members and sources of cadres from ethnic minorities has been much concerned and effectively directed by the Company’s Party Committee and Board of Directors. Many cadres of the Company have been developed from workers, and promoted to non-commissioned officers, being shiny mirrors in the Company and villages.

In recent years, though facing many difficulties in operational capital, falling prices of rubber latex, and the increasing prices of inputs, the Company has paid attention to improving the life of workers, who are from ethnic and religious minorities. All units have paid enough salaries, bonuses, social and medical insurance fees to cadres, soldiers and workers, well implemented other welfare policies, paid regular visits and presented gifts on festivals and Tet holiday.

A prominent feature in the public relations of the Company is that the Company has frequently propagandised and mobilised ethnic minority and religious residents to comply with the Party’s guidelines, and policies, and the State’s law, actively work, produce, develop the economy and society, drive back the poverty and diseases, build the cultural life, maintain the political security, social order and safety in the localities. Offices and production teams have proactively coordinated and held the local situations; propagandised and mobilised ethnic minority and religious workers to accomplish their tasks; actively mobilised the local households and residents to strictly follow the Party’s guidelines and policies, the State’s law and other regulations of the localities.

In order to make the propaganda be rooted in the local residents, all units have applied various and diverse methods, combined with other community activities, visits, encouragements, cultural and performance exchanges, twining activities, etc. The units have actively propagandised and mobilised religious dignitaries, monks and religious followers to raise their patriotism and strictly follow the Party’s guidelines and policies and the State’s law, and deliberately build the “good life, good religion”. The Company has regularly coordinated with other forces to strictly propagandise and mobilise the local residents in all ethnic minority villages to struggle against and denounce criminals, not to be stipulated and taken advantage of dividing the great national unity and the people-army unity, making contribution to building the safe locality.

Every year, the Company has actively taken part in all activities held by the State and local governments with detailed work, bringing about practical effects. The Company has proactively coordinated and advised the local party committees and governments to build the Party, strengthen the grassroots political system; intensely increased more cadres and party members to attend and improve the quality of all activities of the party cells in all of the villages; proactively connected with village patriarchs and chiefs, party secretaries, religious dignitaries and reputable people in the villages to inspect and well solve the arising difficulties, effectively joined and become a key part in all campaigns in the locality.

Together, the Company has actively taken part in hunger eradication, poverty alleviation and building of new rural areas combined with the implementation of the National target programmes; paid attention to helping the local governments build and develop the systems of bridges and roads among villages and communes, the community cultural institutions, the system of high-voltage power lines to production teams and villages, etc., as the foundations for the local development; effectively conducted the programme of military-civilian medical care, providing the health check, disease treatment and giving free medicine to hundreds of thousands of people each year, contributing to improving the local residents’ health; organised many activities of preserving and bringing into play the traditional cultures, and repelling outdated unsound customs. The Company has frequently made contribution and supports several local funds such as “For the poor” fund, “Natural disaster prevention” fund, “Gratitude” fund, “Children sponsoring” fund, study encouragement fund, etc. In 2024, the Company proposed, helped build and provided 07/08 Comrade houses and Great Unity houses, 02 Gratitude houses for needy workers.

The above typical results have partly reflected the efforts that generations of cadres, soldiers and workers of Company 74 have been making every hour and day to connect to the areas, share joys and sorrows with the locals, study and follow President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings with detailed and practical actions, making contribution to the political stability, social-economic development, defence and security reinforcement, and building the stable “people’s hearts and minds posture” in the strategic area of Central Highlands.

Senior Colonel HA VAN NAM, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Company