Authorities of northern Bac Giang province will continue making efforts in the last half of 2015 to implement policies designed to benefit ethnic minority people by improving their material and spiritual life, a local official said.

Nhu Van Nam, Deputy Head of Bac Giang’s board for ethnic minority affairs, said the board will promote the implementation of ethnic-targeted policies, including Programme 135 initiated by the Government that aims to assist most disadvantaged areas nationwide.

Support will be provided to impoverished households in 62 underprivileged communes and towns in the districts of Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam, Yen The and Lang Giang.

Relevant agencies will help ethnics shift to improved sources of livelihood and provide concessional loans for their production activities. Meanwhile, infrastructure facilities and water supply stations in rural areas will be built, Nam said.

For the rest of this year, the ethnic minority affairs board will liaise with other agencies to monitor the implementation of ethnic-targeted programmes, projects and policies while calling for more investment in these communities.

It will also submit blueprints for sustainable poverty alleviation, human resources, job development and law dissemination in ethnic communities to the provincial People’s Committee, he added.

In the first six months of this year, Bac Giang spent 70 billion VND (3.25 million USD) on carrying out Programme 135 under which communal authorities offered production aid to 52 communes and 85 hamlets and villages in disadvantaged areas.

Low-income families in 62 rural communes and towns were supported with more than 3 billion VND (139,500 USD) while four concentrated water supply stations were built in Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam and Yen The districts.

About 760 households were helped to shift their livelihoods and 752 others received 11.28 billion VND (517,000 USD) of concessional loans provided by the Bank for Social Policies to develop production activities.

According to Bac Giang’s portal, the province was home to more than 1.6 million people in 2014 with 21 ethnic groups. Ethnic minorities accounted for about 12.4 percent (more than 200,500 people) of the local population. The most populous ethnic minority groups are the Nung, Tay and San Diu.-VNA