To make breakthrough changes in mass mobilization work, the Lam Dong provincial Party Committee has established the Steering Committee for Coordination Programs between the province’s armed forces and political and social organizations in implementing mass mobilization activities (Steering Committee 502 in short). This committee aims to mobilize resources to assist the local population.

Pooling resources to help people

These days, Ro Ong Pol in Pang Tieng hamlet of Lat commune, Lac Duong district could not hide his happiness since his family has been given donations to build a house by Steering Committee 502 and Steering Committee 655 of Lac Duong district.

 

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Steering Committee 502 assists locals in Lam Ha district, Lam Dong province in agricultural production.

According to leaders of the People’s Committee of Lat commune, the mass mobilization program in the commune, running from May to late 2024, is the largest program of its kind to date, attracting the participation of various forces, including the Army Academy, agencies of the provincial party committee and people's committee, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, Red Cross Society, veterans' associations, women's associations, youth’s organizations, and Lac Duong district’s Party Committee, authorities, and people. Forces have well collaborated  to disseminate the Party’s guidelines and State’s policies and laws; provided seedlings and livestock and farming techniques for locals; presented scholarships and built houses for the poor and policy beneficiary families. The total cost of the above-mentioned activities was more than VND 1.3 billion.

According to Secretary of the Party Committee of Lat commune Nguyen Xuan Quang, the majority of the population in the commune belongs to ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands region, and they are facing many difficulties in their lives. This mass mobilization program aims to improve locals’ material and spiritual life, strengthen the grassroots political system, maintain national defense and security, and help Lat commune complete all criteria of an advanced new-style rural area.

The mass mobilization programs have been held in many localities across Lam Dong province, serving as an effective and practical collaboration model. The activities have made positive changes in localities, improved local people’s living standards.  In 2023, under the direction of Steering Committee 502, six concentrated mass mobilization campaigns were held in six communes of six districts in Lam Dong province. Nearly VND 20 billion (approximately USD 870,000), six times higher than that of 2022 was mobilized to support the construction of 45 houses (each valued at VND 50-80 million); provide facilities for hamlets’ meeting halls; offer free health examinations, medicines, and gifts to the poor; organize training courses on science and technology transfer for farmers; establish strawberry cultivation and silkworm farming models; handed over 200 gifts to the poor.

Effectiveness of a model

Steering Committee 502 was established under the Decision No.502-QD/TU dated January 23, 2008, by the Lam Dong provincial Party Committee. Over the past 16 years, the steering committee has played a central role and made a significant contribution to mass mobilization work. Notably, it has helped address shortcomings in carrying out the work by bringing together various forces to maximally mobilize resources for mass mobilization activities.

Talking about this model, Deputy Secretary of Lac Duong district’s Party Committee Ya Tiong said that it is clear that more units joining the event will create a combined strength and generate greater outcomes.

While carrying out the program, Steering Committee 502 understands the importance of mobilizing resources outside the province for mass mobilization activities. Agencies and units in the province serve as bridges to call on units outside the province to support mass mobilization activities. For example, Ho Chi Minh City’s Party Committee, Military Region 7, and many localities and businesses in the region have actively participated and donated funds to support the construction of schools, infirmaries, rural roads.  

According to Head of the provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Board Pham Thi Phuc, to accelerate the progress of mass mobilization projects, since 2023, the steering committee has organized activities in different localities within the province instead of one locality.

During the implementation of the coordination program, the Lam Dong provincial armed forces serve as the main advisory unit and the core coordinator among the participating forces. According to Political Commissar of the Lam Dong provincial Military Command and Deputy Head of Steering Committee 502 Senior Colonel Nguyen Van Son, over the past years, the Lam Dong provincial Military Command has pro-actively provided advice and proposed appropriate measures, developed detailed plans, and played a leading role in implementing the work according to the direction of the provincial Steering Committee 502.

“With experience, deep commitment, and a sense of responsibility, the province’s troops have taken the lead and fulfilled challenging tasks, while actively supporting other forces, contributing to enhancing the effectiveness of mass mobilization activities in the localities. They have made important contribution to socio-economic development in difficult areas and remote regions, thus improving people's lives, and enhancing national defense and security in the South Central Highlands,” said Col. Son.

Translated by Tran Hoai