Minister of Agriculture and Environment Trần Đức Thắng addresses lawmakers’ concerns over merging the three programmes into a single framework. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI - The Government’s plan to merge three national target programmes into one drew broad debate at the 15th National Assembly’s ongoing 10th session in Hà Nội on December 5, with deputies insisting that the move will not diminish support for ethnic minority and mountainous communities.

In a plenary discussion on the investment policy for the national target programmes on new-style rural development, sustainable poverty reduction and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas through 2035, deputy Vương Thị Hương from Tuyên Quang Province said extending the disbursement deadline to the end of 2026 is critical to allow localities to complete assigned tasks and relieve pressure on capital allocation.

Pointing to the deteriorating state of many general hospitals in ethnic community and mountainous areas, where facilities often lack functional rooms and basic equipment yet remain ineligible for funding under the current programme, Hương argued that sweeping healthcare improvement requires the policy framework to explicitly cover upgrades, renovations, repairs and equipment procurement for these hospitals.

Deputy Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà from Quảng Ninh Province urged more appropriate special mechanisms for production development projects, calling for streamlined administrative procedures and fewer conditional hurdles. She proposed the Government establish only broad principles, criteria and support frameworks while delegating appraisal, approval and implementation authority to provincial and communal administrations to better match local conditions.

Hà advocated direct cash transfers to poor, near-poor and recently escaped-poverty households through a registered task-based system tailored to forestry livelihoods, noting that afforestation projects with two- to three-year cycles should receive payments upon registration and verified completion.

She further recommended the draft resolution on the merger explicitly permit integration of local budgets, other legal capital sources and funding from separate projects into the national target programme, backed by flexible coordination mechanisms.

Addressing lawmakers’ concerns over merging the three programmes into a single framework, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Trần Đức Thắng said the move demonstrates the Government’s resolve to meet the Party and State’s goals of improving living standards for all people, especially those in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

The merger will not cut existing policies or narrow beneficiary coverage, Thắng said, adding it will instead sharpen focus and prioritise resources for ethnic minority and mountainous regions, which remain Việt Nam’s most impoverished areas. VNA/VNS