As many as 600 outstanding young people are set to be recruited to work as vice chairmen of communal People’s Committees in 62 poor districts nationwide, said Home Affairs Deputy Minister Nguyen Tien Dinh at a meeting to launch the project yesterday.

Dinh said the selection, training and dispatching of qualified candidates to communes would start from May 2011.

Candidates must be in good health, display enthusiasm for their work, and have graduated from university.

Young people from provinces where there are poor districts or from ethnic minority groups will be given priority.

Home Affairs Minister Tran Van Tuan stressed the need to select candidates devoted to working with communal leaders and improving local people’s lives.

Nghe An Province People’s Committee Chairman Ho Duc Phoc said although poor districts were in dire need of enthusiastic young leaders, they must possess professional knowledge.

Following their selection, the candidates would attend a three-month training course, Phoc said only university graduates in the field of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, land use management should be selected and trained.

Quang Ngai provincial Home Affairs Department Director Tran Van Thanh said communal people’s committees must help selected candidates find jobs and make them a regular staff of districts or provinces after completing their duties at communal people’s committees.

He stressed the need to know ethnic languages and knowledge of local customs, otherwise selected candidates would face a lot of barriers in places to where they would be dispatched.

Tuan said selected candidates would enjoy the same benefits afforded to deputy chairperson at commune level.

It was the responsibility of district or provincial authorities to help young officials find jobs after completing their terms at communal people’s committees, he added.

The project to select 600 outstanding young people is being implemented in 600 communes out of a total of 894 in 62 poor districts.

The project will be carried out in two phases, with the pilot stage from May 2011 until December 2012, focusing on selection, training and dispatching qualified candidates to communes.

In the 2012-17 period, focus would be put on supervising the implementation of the project in poor localities.

Source: VNS