Tay Ninh's journey to effectively and sustainably reduce the poverty rate after the merger

In the context of expanding its administrative boundaries after merging with Long An, Tay Ninh still made a strong impression by reducing the poverty rate to 0.37%. Policies on housing, loans and livelihoods became a solid foundation to help people overcome difficulties and stabilize their lives.

Change thanks to social security policy

One afternoon in late September, we visited the spacious new house of Mr. Do Van Chi, in Phuoc Tan hamlet, Phuoc Chi commune, formerly in Trang Bang town, Tay Ninh province. Previously, Mr. Chi's family life was closely linked to farming and fishing, but old age and illness lasting more than 20 years have almost made him unable to work.

The old house was leaky and dilapidated, and had been destroyed by a flash flood, forcing the couple to live in a makeshift house with little money. “Without help, my wife and I would have suffered a lot, not knowing where to turn,” Mr. Chi choked up.

Mr. Do Van Chi, Phuoc Tan hamlet, Phuoc Chi commune, Tay Ninh province, had his house built by the local authorities and was given a cow for his livelihood. (Photo: VOV.VN)

The turning point came at the end of 2023 when the local government and organizations supported the construction of a solid Great Unity house for his family. In addition to a warm home, Mr. Chi was also able to borrow money to raise cows, creating a stable source of income. Up to now, the cows have bred, bringing income for him and his wife to cover expenses and medicine, making life less difficult. From "eating today and worrying about tomorrow's meal", his family now has a solid roof and a livelihood to rely on.

In a heartfelt story, he recounted the arduous journey of his life to clearly see the changes thanks to the local poverty reduction policy. “Thanks to the State's help, my wife and I suffered less, had food and clothes, and no longer had to worry about poverty like before. The State just gave us another cow, so the old couple had more means of livelihood, and could make a living for themselves, because the children had all moved out and had nothing to worry about. Thanks to the State's care, the family suffered less, otherwise we would not have had a house like this before," Mr. Chi said.

Similarly, in Tan Tap commune, we met Mr. Phan Van Ut. In his newly built house next to a shrimp pond of more than 7,000 square meters, he excitedly told about his family's journey out of poverty. Mr. Ut recalled that more than 10 years ago, life was extremely difficult. Shrimp farming at that time was very difficult due to erratic weather and constant epidemics. While large enterprises applied high technology, manual farming households like his family were always worried, even having years of empty hands because they had no capital to reinvest.

The turning point came when his family was supported by the local government to access preferential loans from the bank. With capital, Mr. Ut boldly renovated the pond, applied new techniques to shrimp farming in the direction of selling technology, and managed the environment better. Now life is stable, the family economy is getting better and better. Currently, shrimp farming has become the main livelihood, helping his family stabilize and grow, no longer in the situation of continuous losses like before.

"The local government has created conditions for the family to access loans to raise shrimp. Thanks to hard work, life has become more stable and they were able to repay the loan a few months ago. In this area, people only know how to raise shrimp, not anything else, so if they work hard, life will be temporarily stable," Mr. Ut shared.

Synchronized solutions and post-merger orientation

The stories of Mr. Chi and Mr. Ut are two of thousands of typical examples showing the effectiveness of the sustainable poverty reduction program that Tay Ninh is implementing. The consolidation of administrative boundaries brings new development opportunities but also poses many challenges.

Mr. Truong Tan Dat, Deputy Director of Tay Ninh Department of Agriculture and Environment, said that the province's poverty reduction work has recorded remarkable results. If at the beginning of the term, the whole province had more than 8,300 poor households, by the beginning of 2025 this number was only more than 3,000 households. It is expected that by the end of this year, the rate of poor and near-poor households in the whole province will decrease to 0.32%. The lives of poor households have been comprehensively improved: 100% have health insurance; 96% of children go to school at the right age; nearly 99% of households have access to clean water. More than 173,000 households have received loans with a total cost of over 7,200 billion VND; 924 temporary houses have been replaced with solid roofs.

To continue implementing the goal of hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the new context, Tay Ninh will focus on 6 key groups of solutions: Prioritizing support for communes with high poverty rates; synchronously implementing social security policies; accelerating capital disbursement; strengthening inspection and guidance at the grassroots level; promoting propaganda to enhance people's self-reliance; and innovating the emulation movement "helping each other escape poverty sustainably".

In many rural areas in Tay Ninh, households that once struggled in dilapidated houses now have solid roofs. (Photo: VOV.VN)

“The Department will strengthen inspection and guidance for post-merger communes to properly implement the goals set by the Central Government. At the same time, it will step up propaganda to raise awareness and responsibility for poverty reduction. The province identifies this as an important task to create momentum for sustainable development... Therefore, it will continue to promote the spirit of mutual love and affection, ensuring that the poor fully enjoy welfare policies so that they can rise up on their own, without waiting for support from society," Mr. Dat added.

With impressive results in the 2020-2025 term, Tay Ninh has not only successfully reduced poverty but also created a solid foundation for comprehensive development. With the support of the government and the efforts of the people, the goal of "no more poor households" by 2030 is closer than ever.

According to VOV.VN
https://vov.vn/kinh-te/hanh-trinh-giam-ty-le-ho-ngheo-hieu-qua-ben-vung-cua-tay-ninh-sau-sap-nhap-post1233397.vov

Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/hanh-trinh-giam-ty-le-ho-ngheo-hieu-qua-ben-vung-cua-tay-ninh-sau-sap-nhap-216603.html