After one month, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Vietnam Youth Union
Central Committee have received 145 applications for the project to recruit 600
young vice chairs for 62 poor districts in Vietnam.

Candidates are mainly university graduates in the fields of
agriculture and forestry, construction, natural resources, land management,
economics and information technology.

Some post-graduates who are studying in Australia, New Zealand
and the US
called the Ministry of Home Affairs asking whether they can participate in the
selection.

“The opportunity for all of you, both at home and abroad, is
the same. The most important thing is your voluntary spirit, said director of
the project to select 600 commune-level vice chairs Vu Duc Minh.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Nguyen Tien Dinh confirmed
that the project doesn’t discriminate between in-service universities and
normal universities, and it gives priority to those who can speak the languages
of the major ethnic minorities in the areas where they serve.

The US$10.25 million project to recruit university graduates
of less than 30 years old as vice chairs of 600 communes in Vietnam was approved by the Prime
Minister early this year.

To be recruited as vice chairs of commune-level People’s
Committees, candidates must meet the following criteria: be less than 30 years
old, hold a university diploma, be a member of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth
Union or the Communist Party of Vietnam, have a good health and good morals.

They must commit themselves for at least five years of
working in poor communes. If they make outstanding achievements or have great
initiatives, the minimum period will be three years.

Priority is given to candidates from provinces with poor
districts, ethnic minority people or those who can speak the languages of the
ethnic minority groups, those who have completed military services and those
who are experienced in administration.

The Ministry of Home Affairs will set up project management
units from central to local levels, with the central unit to be in charge of
recruitment. The Ministry will train future cadres for two months. After that,
they will be put on probation at communes for one month.

They will enjoy the same benefits accorded to deputy
chairpersons at commune level. In addition, the young intellectuals will be
given free accommodation and entitled to a permanent residence status in the
commune where they work.

Through this project, the Prime Minister allows poor
communes to increase the number of the People Committee’s members from 3 to 5,
including 1 chairperson, 2 deputy chairpersons and 2 other officials.

The project will be implemented in 600 out of 894 poor
communes in Vietnam.
Each commune will have a vice chair who is recruited under this project.

The project will be carried out in two phases. In the first
experimental phase (2011-2012), it will be implemented in five provinces – Cao
Bang, Dien Bien, Nghe An, Quang Ngai and Kon Tum. Around 100 vice chairs will
be assigned to work in 100 out of 185 communes in these provinces.

The second phase will be carried out in 2013-1014.

A survey at 680 communes of 62 poor districts in Vietnam
shows that only 31.18 percent of commune officials are college or university
graduates. Communes need well-trained officials to implement the policies for
hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and economic-social development.

Tat Dat