Decision No. 33/2007/QĐ-TTg on support policies for migrants to implement settlement and farming for ethnic minority groups during the period of 2007-2010

Pursuant to …;

Policy to support migration for settlement and farming for ethnic minority groups during the period 2007-2010

period from 2007 to 2010 for ethnic minority compatriots

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Action Program of the Government implementing the Resolution of the 7th Plenary Session of the 9th Central Committee on ethnic affairs;

Considering the proposal of the Minister, Chairman of the National Ethnic Minorities Committee,

DECISION:

Article 1. Issuing the policy to support migration for settlement and farming for ethnic minority groups during the period 2007-2010.

1. Objectives

a) General objectives

The policy to support migration for settlement and farming for ethnic minority groups aims to create conditions for households of ethnic minorities who still practice shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles to have stable housing with sufficient conditions for production development, improving material and spiritual life, eradicating hunger and reducing poverty, contributing to forest protection, environmental protection, and maintaining political stability and social order and safety in localities.

b) Specific objectives

By 2010, strive to achieve the following goals:

- Complete the settlement and farming for households of ethnic minorities who still practice shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles throughout the country;

- 70% of concentrated settlement points (villages, hamlets) have essential infrastructure works suitable to the overall planning, including: roads, electricity, small irrigation systems, classrooms, kindergartens, community houses, and other essential works;

- 100% of households of ethnic minorities practicing shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles are organized for settlement and farming according to the plan, having housing, residential land, production land, water for daily use... as stipulated; among which: over 70% of households have access to electricity and clean drinking water;

- In settlement points, there will be no households suffering from hunger, and the number of poor households (according to the poverty standard defined in Decision No. 170/2005/QĐ-TTg dated July 8, 2005 of the Prime Minister) will decrease by 2-3% annually.

2. Scope of application

This policy applies to the implementation of settlement and farming for households of ethnic minorities who still practice shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles in difficult areas as defined in Decision No. 30/2007/QĐ-TTg dated March 5, 2007 of the Prime Minister on the list of administrative units in difficult areas.

3. Applicable Subjects

Households of ethnic minorities practicing shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles that meet all three criteria below:

a) Not having stable production land under their right of use as prescribed by the State;

b) Unstable place of residence, far from populated areas, moving residences according to production locations;

c) Not yet benefiting from similar support policies of the State as prescribed in Decision No. 190/2003/QĐ-TTg dated September 16, 2003, Decision No. 120/2003/QĐ-TTg dated June 11, 2003, Decision No. 134/2004/QĐ-TTg dated July 20, 2004, and Decision No. 193/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 24, 2006 of the Prime Minister,...

4. Principles

a) Arranging settlement and farming must be consistent with the Overall Plan for Socio-Economic Development, the Overall Plan for Population Distribution of the locality; consistent with customs, traditions, and culture of each ethnic group; at the same time, the most reasonable and economical investment and construction infrastructure options must be selected;

b) State capital should be concentrated on investment and priority support for communities and direct support for households of ethnic minorities who still practice shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles to stabilize production and living conditions in new settlement and farming areas;

c) Each household may only benefit from the policy prescribed in this Decision once during the period 2007-2010;

d) Integrate funds from various programs, projects, and other policies in the area to implement settlement and farming for households of ethnic minorities practicing shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles.

Article 2. Specific Support Policies

- Other essential projects based on local needs;

a) For concentrated settlement and farming points: the state budget supports the construction of essential infrastructure works, including: compensation, land clearance, leveling residential land,开荒平原土地，开垦生产用地；建设交通道路、电力、小型水利设施、生活用水系统、教室、幼儿园和社区活动室等，以及根据实际需要建设其他必要工程；

b) For interwoven settlement and farming points: the state budget supports the village budget at a rate of 20 million VND per household, to be used for compensating local residents whose residential and production land is requisitioned and transferred to the resettled households according to regulations, with the remainder used for upgrading the village's essential infrastructure;

c) Support for community development officers at concentrated settlement and farming points, including: medical staff and agricultural and forestry extension workers (two people); the level of support is equivalent to the salary grade 1 of civil servants as stipulated in Decree No. 204/2004/ND-CP dated December 14, 2004 and Decree No. 94/2006/ND-CP dated September 7, 2006 of the Government; the duration of support is 3 years starting from when the households move to the new settlement and farming points;

d) Support for applying scientific and technological knowledge, new seeds for production in the first three years, 30 million VND per village or hamlet (concentrated settlement and farming points) annually.

2. Direct support for households practicing shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles to settle and farm

a) Allocate residential and production land according to the minimum area specified in Decision No. 134/2004/QĐ-TTg dated July 20, 2004 of the Prime Minister on some support policies for production land, residential land, housing, and drinking water for poor households of ethnic minorities with difficult living conditions;

b) Provide an average of 15 million VND per settled household to build housing, develop production, purchase food for the first six months after relocation, and ensure water supply; the specific amount and purpose for each household shall be determined by the provincial People's Committee;

c) For interwoven settled households, provide 1 million VND per household to build a foundation;

d) Support for relocating households from old residences to new settlement and farming areas (based on actual costs when preparing the project).

After being organized for settlement and farming, households practicing shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles will enjoy current policies applicable to local residents and can borrow from the Social Policy Bank to develop production and improve living standards as prescribed.

3. Funding sources: the central government budget provides targeted support to the local government budget to implement the settlement and farming support policy as prescribed in this Decision.

4. Management Mechanism

a) Central budget support with specific targets for local budgets in annual plans (recorded as a separate item);

b) Management mechanisms for investment and construction of infrastructure projects for settlement schemes shall be implemented according to the management mechanisms for investment and construction of infrastructure under Program 135 for the period 2006-2010.

5. Implementation period: from 2007 to 2010.

Article 3. Implementation

1. Responsibilities of Central Ministries and Sectors

a) The Committee for Ethnic Minorities:

- Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to guide localities in building plans and settlement schemes for households of ethnic minority groups engaged in shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles for each year and the entire phase;

- Aggregate plans (projects) for settlement schemes of provinces and submit them to the Prime Minister for approval;

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance in allocating funds to implement settlement schemes;

- Take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to inspect and supervise the implementation of support policies for settlement schemes for households of ethnic minority groups during the 2007-2010 period and settlement schemes in localities; report periodically every six months and annually to the Prime Minister (to be sent concurrently to the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Finance, Agriculture and Rural Development, Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs) on the results of implementing this Decision;

b) The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

- Review plans (projects) for settlement schemes for households of ethnic minorities throughout the country submitted by the Committee for Ethnic Minorities to the Prime Minister;

- Take the lead and coordinate with the Committee for Ethnic Minorities and the Ministry of Finance to propose sources of central budget support for local budgets annually to implement settlement schemes for households of ethnic minorities throughout the country, to be submitted to the competent authority for approval;

c) The Ministry of Finance:

- Coordinate with the Committee for Ethnic Minorities and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to propose sources of central budget support for local budgets annually to implement settlement schemes for households of ethnic minorities throughout the country, to be submitted to the competent authority for approval;

- Guide financial mechanisms for implementing settlement work for ethnic minorities;

d) The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall take the lead in guiding localities to review, adjust, and supplement the planning for resettlement and population arrangement, including settlement points, to align with the overall socio-economic development plan of the locality and agricultural extension services, forestry promotion, and production development in areas with settlement schemes;

e) Central-level ministries and agencies shall guide and direct localities to prioritize the implementation of programs and projects managed by their respective ministries and sectors in areas with settlement schemes to enhance the effectiveness of settlement schemes;

2. Responsibilities of Provincial People's Committees:

a) Promote and mobilize households of ethnic minorities engaged in shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles to settle down, change production habits, apply advanced technologies in production, increase income, and stabilize living conditions;

b) Direct organizations and communities in project areas to actively participate in settlement activities;

c) Develop plans and settlement projects for households of ethnic minorities for the 2007-2010 period and annual plans, to be submitted to the Committee for Ethnic Minorities no later than the beginning of the second quarter of 2007 for consolidation and submission to the Prime Minister;

d) Conduct surveys, establish, approve settlement projects; implement investments to build essential infrastructure for concentrated settlement points (new villages, hamlets) and improve infrastructure for villages receiving households engaged in shifting cultivation and nomadic lifestyles within the scope of settlement;

e) Mobilize resources from the people, economic, political, and social organizations in the locality to implement plans and projects for settlement; integrate various sources of funding, policies, programs, and projects in the locality to enhance the effectiveness of settlement projects and ensure sustainable settlement;

f) Allocate funds in the local budget annually for surveys, investigations, and establishment of settlement projects;

g) Strengthen management, inspection, and supervision during the implementation of settlement projects to ensure quality, prevent waste, loss, and corruption; prioritize funding for those benefiting from other policies, programs, and projects in the settlement area to enhance investment effectiveness;

h) Promote agricultural, forestry, and industrial extension services and guide the development of agricultural and forestry production linked to forest protection contracts for households within the scope of settlement;

i) Improve the organizational structure of grassroots political systems at locations where settlement has been organized (villages, hamlets) and leverage the role of these organizations in economic and social activities to contribute to early stabilization and socio-economic development, and improve the livelihoods of ethnic minorities;

j) Report periodically every six months and annually on the implementation of settlement policies, plans, and projects to the Committee for Ethnic Minorities for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister;

Article 4. This Decision takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 5. THE MINISTERS, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL MINISTRIES, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL AGENCIES, AND CHAIRMEN OF PROVINCE AND CITY PEOPLE'S COMMITTEES DIRECTLY UNDER THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING THIS DECISION./.