Decision No. 74/2008/QD-TTg On certain support policies for solving residential land, production land, and employment for poor ethnic minority people with difficult living conditions in the Mekong Delta region for the period 2008-2010

Pursuant to …;

On some support policies for solving residential land, production land, and employment for

 ethnic minority poor people with difficult living conditions in the Mekong Delta region during the period of 2008-2010

 ______________________________________________

PRIME MINISTER

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

Pursuant to 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 clean water for households of ethnic minority poor people with difficult living conditions;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Planning and Investment.

DECISION:

Article 1. Implementing some support policies for solving residential land, production land, and employment for households of ethnic minority poor people with difficult living conditions in the Mekong Delta region during the period of 2008-2010 (the Region) to create conditions for these households to develop production, improve and stabilize their lives.

1. Objective: By 2010, all households of ethnic minorities in the Region will have residential land; over 80% of households in the poverty category with difficult living conditions will have production land, employment, and stable income; over 50% of laborers within working age will be trained in vocational skills.

2. Objectives and scope of application:

a) Objectives: Households of ethnic minority poor people identified according to current criteria managed by the People's Committee of communes and wards at the time of December 31, 2007, but without land or not having sufficient production land as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 2 of this Decision; without residential land, with difficult living conditions but not yet benefiting from state support policies regarding residential land and production land; laborers within working age needing capital to learn trades, change professions, go abroad for labor export, or need capital for additional agricultural production and business activities in rural areas;

b) Scope of application: Households of ethnic minority poor people with difficult living conditions who have been residing stably for more than one year in the provinces of Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Hau Giang, An Giang, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Dong Thap, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Long An, and the city of Can Tho.

3. Principles and purposes of use:

a) Principles:

- Directly allocate land to households belonging to the target group mentioned in Point a, Clause 2, Article 1 of this Decision for production or residence (for production land, the provincial or municipal People's Committee shall find the land fund and only allocate to households with production needs and agricultural production experience);

- Provide direct cash to households lacking production land but without a need for production land and wishing to switch to non-agricultural activities or to households needing production land but where localities do not have remaining production land funds to allocate; funding provided through vocational training institutions (belonging to various economic sectors) based on the number of registered vocational training participants and annual vocational training plans for these groups approved by district-level People's Committees and above in the plan for 2009-2010;

- Directly provide loans to laborers within working age who wish to create additional jobs locally. For those going abroad, only vocational training support and loans are provided to individuals aged between 16 and 35 years old;

- Support must ensure transparency, fairness, and democracy through local authorities and mass organizations, conducting evaluations at the grassroots level based on legal provisions and state policies;

- Each individual (mentioned in Point a, Clause 2, Article 1 of this Decision) can benefit from each policy only once.

b) Purpose of use:

- Households receiving production land and residential land must directly manage and use the land for its intended purpose, without transferring, mortgaging, selling, or leasing it for ten years from the date of allocation by the State. During this period, if a household relocates, they must return the allocated residential and production land to the local authority;

- Laborers supported with part of the cost for vocational training and career transition must use the funds for their intended purpose through local vocational training institutions or in conjunction with vocational training and employment support policies at enterprises.

- Community houses for villages and hamlets;

1. Regarding residential land:

a) Based on the land fund, residential land quota, and local budget capacity, the provincial or municipal People's Committee may consider and decide to allocate land to households of ethnic minority poor people in accordance with local conditions and customs;

b) The average support amount for purchasing residential land for households without residential land is 10 million VND per household (of which: the central budget supports 8 million VND, and the local budget supports 2 million VND).

In places with suitable conditions, local authorities organize land leveling, infrastructure construction to allocate land or build concentrated residential areas to provide housing for eligible recipients under this regulation.

2. Regarding production land:

a) The standard production land quota for each household is based on the average of the locality and depends on the remaining land fund at the locality, but at a minimum, it is 0.25 hectares of single-crop paddy field or 0.15 hectares of double-crop paddy field or 0.5 hectares of hill or pond land for aquaculture;

b) Households that do not meet the production land quota specified in this Decision or do not have production land but have a need for land for production, local authorities base on the requirements, labor capacity, and potential for production development of each household to create a land fund to directly allocate to each household for production or allocate through organizations such as cooperatives or production cooperatives for collective economy;

c) The support amount for each household to obtain production land does not exceed 20 million VND per household, of which the central budget provides 10 million VND per household and can borrow credit up to 10 million VND per household under a pledge loan scheme for five years with zero interest rate. Depending on the land price in each locality, the provincial or municipal People's Committee will submit to the same-level People's Council for consideration and decision to support households of ethnic minority poor people with larger land areas.

d) Agricultural companies, forestry companies, forest protection boards, cooperatives assigned the task of organizing production for households of ethnic minority groups shall be supported by the central budget at an average rate of 10 million VND per hectare for land clearance, road construction, power grid investment, small water conservancy projects, or capital contribution to cooperatives. For households supported with capital contributions to cooperatives or production groups, during a minimum period of five years, such households shall not have the right to withdraw their capital from the cooperative or production group.

3. For households and workers changing industries:

For households that do not need production land or are located in areas where there is no production land available for support, they will be supported with money to create job opportunities and change industries.

a) For households with labor but no interest in vocational training but requiring capital to purchase agricultural tools and machinery to provide services to agricultural households in the Region or needing capital to engage in other industries to increase income, the central budget will support a maximum of 3 million VND per household and provide credit support under a guarantee scheme up to a maximum of 10 million VND per household over a three-year period, with an interest rate of 0%.

b) For workers who wish to learn a trade to become factory workers or to work abroad, the central budget will support vocational training costs for each worker up to a maximum of 3 million VND per worker. The level of support depends on the specific trade and actual training duration.

In addition to the above support levels, localities may decide on additional support levels based on their own financial capacity.

c) Workers going abroad for work, in addition to the support for vocational training before departure, can also borrow up to 20 million VND per person under a guarantee scheme. The amount and term of borrowing will depend on the actual ability and requirements of each individual.

d) Households and workers changing industries, in addition to enjoying the policies mentioned above, will also enjoy preferential policies related to vocational training as stipulated by current regulations.

đ) Support will be directly provided in cash to eligible individuals through the signing of contracts between representatives of those benefiting (local authorities, social organizations at commune or ward level) and training institutions according to the standards set out in this Decision.

e) In cases where workers have been supported with capital for vocational training or industry conversion, but after training do not participate in labor, they will not be entitled to support policies for loan-based job search or stable living support as stipulated in this Decision.

4. Loan Conditions:

a) Households and workers eligible for loans to develop production or change industries must fall within the categories specified in this Decision and must have specific production and business plans confirmed or assisted in preparation by local authorities or social organizations at commune or ward level; for workers going abroad, in addition to confirmation by local authorities, they must also have confirmation from enterprises authorized to operate in the export labor market.

b) Loans from the Social Policy Bank will be provided through a guarantee scheme by mass organizations. Borrowers will not pay interest during the loan period. Each household may take out one or multiple loans, but the total amount borrowed cannot exceed the prescribed limit; administrative fees for loan procedures will be waived. Loan procedures and terms will be determined by the Social Policy Bank.

Article 3. Land Fund and Capital Sources

1. Production Land and Residential Land:

The production and residential land fund allocated to poor ethnic minority groups in place includes land reclaimed by the state according to planning, land recovered from businesses and forest management boards currently managed but used inefficiently; land leased or lent by the state, unused land, land recovered from businesses using it for improper purposes or already dissolved, reclaimed land, restored land, donated land, purchased land, voluntarily transferred land... Recovery must comply with the Land Law and current regulations.

2. Implementation Capital:

a) The central budget will ensure funding for localities and the Social Policy Bank to implement expenditures and loans according to the support standards set out in this Decision and provide management cost support at 0.5% of the total investment capital for localities facing budget difficulties.

b) Local budgets must ensure a minimum financial support of no less than 20% of the total support funds and mobilize other legitimate sources of support to allocate the remaining capital to beneficiaries under this Decision and proactively arrange funds for land measurement and issuance of land use rights certificates for ethnic minorities.

For localities facing budget difficulties (receiving supplementary balance transfers from the central budget), the central government will provide additional support: 20% for localities receiving more than 70% of their 2007 balanced budget supplementary transfers from the central government; 15% for localities receiving between 50-70%; 10% for localities receiving less than 50%.

Article 4. Implementation

1. Provincial People's Committees in the Mekong Delta region are responsible for directly and comprehensively directing and implementing this Decision.

a) Publicly announce criteria, target groups, and direct the creation of detailed lists of poor ethnic minority households with difficult living conditions in the locality, approve annual support funding plans for solving housing and production land issues, and industry conversion, to be submitted to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, and the Ethnic Minorities Committee by August 30th each year for consolidation and presentation to the Prime Minister for decision in the following year's budget plan; initially, in 2008, provincial people's committees in the region should focus on resolving the most difficult cases of poverty; the remainder will continue to be resolved in 2009 and 2010.

b) Direct relevant departments and levels in the locality to coordinate with social organizations, training institutions, and enterprises within the area to effectively implement this Decision.

c) Direct the integration of funds to implement the policies of this Decision with programs, projects, and other policies in the locality; organize the effective implementation of comprehensive and integrated support policies on the same territory to accelerate poverty reduction and improve the living standards for ethnic minority groups in the Region;

d) Support and direct the People's Committees at lower levels to create favorable conditions for the Social Policy Bank to carry out lending and debt recovery;

đ) Regularly inspect the implementation to ensure that it is carried out according to purpose and target; prevent loss and corruption from occurring;

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to compile plans and allocate additional targeted funds annually for localities; provide capital and management fees for the Social Policy Bank within the annual state budget plan and estimate, report to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision by the National Assembly. Regularly monitor and inspect the implementation of this Decision, report to the Prime Minister any issues arising for resolution;

In the second quarter of 2011, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries, sectors, and localities in the Region to report on the comprehensive assessment of the results of implementing this Decision;

3. The Ministry of Finance shall provide capital and management costs for the Social Policy Bank according to the progress of implementation; direct the work of monitoring, supervising, and strictly inspecting the provision of capital to the correct targets, preventing loss and corruption from occurring;

4. The Social Policy Bank shall guide the loan procedures and processes, prepare disbursement plans and submit them to the Ministry of Finance; regularly report to the Prime Minister on the results of implementing this Decision; also send reports to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance;

5. The Committee for Ethnic Minorities shall cooperate with relevant ministries and sectors to guide the implementation of this Decision; regularly inspect and supervise the implementation of this Decision; regularly report to the Prime Minister on the results of implementing this Decision;

6. Relevant ministries and sectors shall, within their functions and responsibilities, be responsible for inspecting and supporting localities in effectively implementing the policies stipulated in this Decision;

Article 5. This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. Any policy contents specified in other decisions, if offering lower support levels than this Decision, shall be implemented according to this Decision;

Article 6. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of agencies under the Government, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta Region are responsible for enforcing this Decision./.