Nhu Van Nam, DeputyHead of Bac Giang’s board for ethnic minority affairs, said the boardwill promote the implementation of ethnic-targeted policies, includingProgramme 135 initiated by the Government that aims to assist mostdisadvantaged areas nationwide.
Support will beprovided to impoverished households in 62 underprivileged communes andtowns in the districts of Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam, Yen The and LangGiang.
Relevant agencies will help ethnics shift toimproved sources of livelihood and provide concessional loans for theirproduction activities. Meanwhile, infrastructure facilities and watersupply stations in rural areas will be built, Nam said.
For the rest of this year, the ethnic minority affairs board willliaise with other agencies to monitor the implementation ofethnic-targeted programmes, projects and policies while calling for moreinvestment in these communities.
It will alsosubmit blueprints for sustainable poverty alleviation, human resources,job development and law dissemination in ethnic communities to theprovincial People’s Committee, he added.
In thefirst six months of this year, Bac Giang spent 70 billion VND (3.25million USD) on carrying out Programme 135 under which communalauthorities offered production aid to 52 communes and 85 hamlets andvillages in disadvantaged areas.
Low-income familiesin 62 rural communes and towns were supported with more than 3 billionVND (139,500 USD) while four concentrated water supply stations werebuilt in Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam and Yen The districts.
About 760 households were helped to shift their livelihoods and 752others received 11.28 billion VND (517,000 USD) of concessional loansprovided by the Bank for Social Policies to develop productionactivities.
According to Bac Giang’s portal, theprovince was home to more than 1.6 million people in 2014 with 21 ethnicgroups. Ethnic minorities accounted for about 12.4 percent (more than200,500 people) of the local population. The most populous ethnicminority groups are the Nung, Tay and San Diu.-VNA