Rice aids poor Dien Bien households

Ha Noi -- More than 15,000 poor households in Dien Bien Province, one of the poorest areas in Viet Nam, have received 2,382 tonnes of free rice drawn from the national reserve due to currently being in-between crops.

Over two days, the Dien Bien Phu People's Committee allocated nearly 3 tonnes of rice to poor people, said Pham Quang Hung, deputy head of the social affairs and policy department under the Labour, War- Invalids, and Social Affairs Agency.

Distribution will be carried out between February 20 and March 14 during which time each household will receive 30kg of rice. The total number of beneficiaries has been estimated at about 80,000 people, Hung added.

In January, the Vietnamese government decided to provide 22,800 tonnes of rice to 13 provinces including Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Kon Tum, Binh Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Phu Yen, Dak Lak, Cao Bang, Nghe An, Quang Ngai, Lao Cai and Ha Tinh to support the poor during the Lunar New Year festival.--VNS