Part 4: Extending the sowing season

From assigned tasks to opportunities for maturity

In 2015, upon graduating from professional vocational school, Sùng A Nhìa from Nậm Bó village, Pu Nhi commune, was recruited under a cadastral contract at the People’s Committee of the former Pá Mỳ commune under the Ministry of Home Affairs’ 500 Young Intellectuals Scheme. Years of staying close to the grassroots-level, traveling down to villages, resolving public tasks, and interacting with local residents helped him accumulate experience and mature step by step.

That striving process earned recognition from the organization. In 2022, Nhìa was admitted to the Party. By 2025, upon the implementation of the two-tier local administrative model, Sùng A Nhìa became a civil servant at the Economic Division of Nậm Kè commune, assigned responsibilities aligned with his professional expertise.

Sùng A Nhìa shared that joining the ranks of the Party marked a vital milestone for him; following admission, he became even more conscious of his operational responsibilities, treating each assigned task as an opportunity to learn, undergo seasoning, and achieve better outcomes.

According to Lý Văn Xuân, Deputy Head of the Economic Division of Nậm Kè commune, Nhìa possesses solid professional qualifications and has been tempered through grassroots-level practice, enabling him to grasp tasks swiftly, demonstrate a high sense of responsibility, and take initiative in carrying out duties.

From a contractual staff member, Nhìa evolved into a Party member and subsequently a civil servant. Every transition along that path is tied to the organization’s discovery, seasoning, and enablement, helping a young mass prospect gradually develop into a grassroots-level cadre reserve.

Like Sùng A Nhìa, Lò Thị Oánh from Nậm Nèn village, Nậm Nèn commune, began her striving journey through a contractual post in judicial and civil status affairs at the People’s Committee of the former Mường Nhé commune in 2015. The role enabled her to gather practical experience, stay close to the people, and progressively assert her competence. In 2019, Oánh was admitted to the Party. One year later, she passed the recruitment exam for civil servants serving the People’s Council and People’s Committee of Mường Nhé commune. Transitioning from contractual personnel, Oánh formally joined the civil service ranks, continuing to receive favorable conditions to temper herself through fieldwork.

Oánh shared that during her work, senior predecessors offered guidance and facilitated learning opportunities; following Party admission, her sense of responsibility became clearer, driving her to take initiative and fulfill assigned duties well.

In 2025, she transferred to the Office of the People’s Council and People’s Committee of Sín Thầu commune, and in June 2026, she was mobilized to the Office of the People’s Council and People’s Committee of Pu Nhi commune. Through each post and geographical jurisdiction, Oánh gained opportunities to test herself, accumulate experience, and achieve personal growth.

Party members Sùng A Nhìa and Lò Thị Oánh traversed different paths of effort, tempering, and maturity. Yet both were discovered through practical realities, admitted to the Party, and provided continuous seasoning opportunities by the organization after taking their oath.

Moving beyond merely admitting a mass prospect into the Party to continuously opening avenues for that individual to mature and contribute represents the core factor in linking Party member development with cadre cultivation.

When “seeds” become cadre reserves

From instances such as Sùng A Nhìa and Lò Thị Oánh, cultivating ethnic minority cadre sources is perceived clearly as an uninterrupted continuum: identifying active mass elements, nurturing them, admitting them to the Party, delegating tasks, delivering training, assigning postings, and structuring cadre planning.

As of June 30, 2026, the provincial Party organization counted 51,703 Party members, of whom 31,026 were ethnic minorities, accounting for 60.01%. The provincial Party organization comprises 49 subordinate party committees, 792 grassroots-level party organizations, and 888 village and residential group party cells. Ethnic minority Party members represent a dominant proportion of the provincial Party organization’s membership. This constitutes a vital resource for building on-site cadre contingents, especially across highland and border zones where profound local knowledge, language fluency, cultural understanding, and closeness to the people carry extraordinary significance.

Drawing from grassroots-level Party member reserves, planning work for ethnic minority cadres continues to receive focused attention.

During the 2020 - 2025 tenure, the number of ethnic minority cadres included in Party committee planning across all tiers remained relatively high: 2,114 out of 2,568 cadres at the commune level; 287 out of 686 cadres at the district level; and 31 out of 85 cadres at the provincial tier. Following the transition to the two-tier local administrative structure, the province continued screening, organizing, and formulating Party committee planning for the 2025 - 2030 tenure. Within this framework, ethnic minority cadres who are Party members planned for provincial committee positions number 23 out of 64, while at the commune level they account for 150 out of 407. These metrics illustrate that linking Party member recruitment with cadre pipeline building has become an increasingly pressing imperative.

For ethnic minority cadre contingents to develop sustainably, planning, training, and nurturing must be undertaken early, commencing right from the stage of identifying outstanding mass prospects. Alongside ensuring statutory standards, prerequisites, and quality in Party admissions, Party committees must continue assigning duties, forging environments for practical tempering, and extending training and proper placements so young members can maximize their competence. Consequently, Party development must be viewed as an uninterrupted progression encompassing pipeline cultivation, admission, training, utilization, and cadre planning.

Grassroots-level realities dictate that Party development must produce high-quality human resources capable of maturing and forming enduring attachments to their localities. Therefore, Điện Biên province continues renewing political and ideological education toward accessible, easily understood methods, while mobilizing the roles of cell secretaries, core Party members, prestigious figures, and mass organizations in identifying and nurturing outstanding mass elements. Candidate pools for Party development are broadened to encompass youth, students, demobilized soldiers, and active participants in grassroots-level campaigns.

Bùi Xuân Trường, Deputy Head of the provincial Party Committee’s Organization Commission, affirmed that moving forward, the province will maintain focus on cultivating candidate pools from the grassroots-level, particularly youth, students, and active mass prospects in ethnic minority regions, while elevating the quality of training, admission, and task assignment to temper young members. Concurrently, attention will be directed toward training, placement, and providing opportunities for capable individuals to mature into local cadre reserves.

Parallel to candidate cultivation, the province concentrates on employment generation, vocational training, and assisting ethnic minority youth in economic development and entrepreneurship in their homeland. When young people possess opportunities to stay rooted in their villages and communities, localities gain solid reserves to develop Party membership and construct on-site cadre ranks. The ultimate goal is ensuring the Party development journey does not culminate at the induction ceremony, but extends through continuous seasoning, dedication, and practical maturation.

Sùng A Nhìa is currently a civil servant at the Economic Division of Nậm Kè commune. Lò Thị Oánh has matured across multiple grassroots-level operational roles. Sùng A Hua, having received guidance from predecessors, is now mentoring Thào A Hù. Phùng Nải Kinh is progressively affirming his role as a young Party member within the community. Each possesses unique circumstances and developmental trajectories. Yet behind them lies the care, mentorship, task assignment, and opportunity creation provided by Party organizations.

From an outstanding mass prospect to a Party member. From a Party member to a grassroots-level village nucleus. And from those foundational nuclei, a successor cadre contingent is systematically shaped. That is the enduring value of Party development among ethnic minority compatriots: sowing seeds from the grassroots-level, tending them through organizational responsibility, and tempering them through real-world trials to build successor ranks endowed with sufficient virtue and competence to shoulder collective affairs.

Across the highland hamlets of Điện Biên, that journey presses forward. New seeds continue to be discovered, and predecessors continue guiding subsequent generations. Through this continuity, the vitality of Party organizations is extended directly from the places closest to the people.