Ensuring rights of ethnic minorities in India and policy implications for Vietnam

ific provisions 
on benefits that State employees and 
workers of other professions should enjoy. 
In addition to general protective 
provisions for ethnic minorities specified in 
the law, within the scope of general 
distribution, the Indian Government has 
also established a system of low-cost shops 
and issued purchase cards to ensure basic 
living needs for ethnic minorities and the 
poor. The low-cost shops mainly provide 
basic necessities for life and important 
household items for ethnic minorities. 
For vulnerable groups in society, the 
Indian Government has also issued a special 
social security regime. For example, 
farmers who are old and incapable of 
working to meet their minimum needs of life 
are provided with subsidies; poor homeless 
farmers can receive the Government’s 
housing subsidies to obtain basic living 
conditions; the education for poor children 
will be funded by the central government 
and the state government; poor ethnic 
minorities are beneficiaries of the cheap 
food policy [3]. 
To address the basic food issue for 
ethnic minorities in border areas and 
backward tribal areas, especially to 
eliminate the situation of children dying 
from hunger and malnutrition, the Indian 
Government has promoted the project to 
provide funding for the establishment of 
grain storage facilities, as while ensuring 
that every family in ethnic minority areas 
has 100kg of grain to be stored. In addition, 
India's rural poverty reduction policy has 
provided each family in obsolete ethnic 
minority areas of the country with USD 150 
per year. 
The special above-mentioned poverty 
reduction projects in India have 
significantly reduced the prevalence of poor 
households in India from 44.5% in 1980 to 
36.0% in 1990, and only 26.1% in 2000 [5]. 
3. Policy implications for Vietnam 
Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country with the 
existence of ethnic, religious and linguistic 
Pham Thanh Hang 
81 
minorities. The country’s Party and State 
always ensure the practice of human rights 
in general and the rights of ethnic 
minorities in particular as a measure of 
social development and improvement [13]. 
Firstly, to ensure an appropriate 
proportion of ethnic minority representatives 
to participate in the State’s political system. 
The Constitution of India always sets out 
clear regulations to ensure the actual 
political rights of ethnic minorities (for 
example, setting a certain percentage of 
employment in government agencies and 
priorities in the exams for promotions for 
ethnic minority staff). 
To ensure the political rights of ethnic 
minorities, Article 16 of the 2013 
Constitution of Vietnam states “Everyone is 
equal before the law. No one will be 
discriminated in political, civil, economic, 
cultural or social life” [14]. The 2015 Law 
on Election of Membership in National 
Assembly and People's Councils (Articles 8 
and 9) of the State also stipulates the equal 
participation of ethnic minorities in the 
election of and running for membership in 
the National Assembly, People's Councils 
at all levels [15], etc. Accordingly, the State 
also clearly specifies that the proportion of 
people from ethnic minorities running for 
the membership in the National Assembly 
is at least 18% of the total number of people 
on the official list. The proportion of people 
from ethnic minorities running for the 
membership in people's councils at all 
levels is determined in line with the specific 
situation of each province. 
However, in the time to come, the State 
needs to continue ensuring an increase in 
the proportion of deputies from ethnic 
minorities participating in the political 
system and State affairs through the 
concretisation of standards based on the 
specific principle of right and interest 
distribution, which can promote the role 
and responsibilities of ethnic minorities in 
the country's political affairs. 
Secondly, to effectively implement 
education development projects in ethnic 
minority areas. The Indian Government 
has succeeded in addressing the education 
of ethnic minorities through various 
measures such as providing financial 
support, improving facilities for schools, 
implementing a wide range of projects on 
education in rural and ethnic minority areas, 
founding scholarships and educational 
incentives, enhancing the promotion of 
education universalisation. 
Regarding the field of education for 
ethnic minorities, Article 61 of the 2013 
Constitution of Vietnam stipulates “The 
State shall prioritise the educational 
development in mountainous and island 
areas and regions with extremely difficult 
socio-economic conditions” [14]. The 
2018 revised Law on Education (Articles 16 
and 60) specifies that the State shall 
prioritise investments in universalising and 
developing education in mountainous and 
island areas and regions with extremely 
difficult socio-economic conditions. 
Although, in the recent years, the State 
has made great efforts in developing 
policies as well as legislation on the 
education for ethnic minorities and initially 
achieved certain results, there are still many 
limitations. The lessons of India will help 
Vietnam to gradually improve the education 
in ethnic minority areas, reduce the dropout 
Vietnam Social Sciences, No. 1 (195) - 2020 
82 
rate and improve the graduation rate of 
ethnic students. In addition to ensuring the 
proper implementation of provisions in 
legal documents, the Vietnamese State 
needs to promote the implementation of 
projects and establish key investment funds 
for education in order to achieve the short-
term goal of universalising education in 
ethnic minority areas and the long-term 
goal of raising the knowledge level of 
ethnic minorities. 
Thirdly, to promote employment policies 
for ethnic minorities. In Vietnam, although 
the State has issued many priority policies 
for ethnic minority areas, especially in terms 
of labour and employment, post-training 
employment still exposes limitations. The 
reason is that ethnic minorities mainly reside 
in a scattered manner with the low level of 
socio-economic development and quality of 
(physical and non-physical) human 
resources. Moreover, the language barrier 
leads to the people’s limited access to 
information and they mainly work in 
agricultural and forestry sectors which are 
affected by natural disasters and harsh 
climate. The above-mentioned factors cause 
the shortage of jobs, especially among young 
people, to be ever-more serious. In 2018, 
there were about 313,000 young people in 
rural areas who were jobless or lack of jobs. 
Many of them, including those from ethnic 
minorities, have to face difficulties after 
graduating from high schools [17]. 
To overcome the unemployment and 
create more job opportunities for people 
from ethnic minorities, Vietnam needs to 
implement a number of measures such as: 
(1) The State clearly stipulating the 
employment rate for ethnic minorities and 
particularly for the selection and recruitment 
of official servants, it is necessary to specify a 
reasonable percentage for ethnic minorities; 
(2) Establishing vocational training and 
fostering centres for young people from 
ethnic minories in mountainous areas to 
improve their qualifications and working 
skills and enhance their ability to find jobs 
themselves; (3) Continuing to boost the 
implementation of two national target 
programmes on sustainable poverty reduction 
and new-style rural development, in which 
special attention should be paid to 
vocational training and employment support 
for ethnic minorities; (4) Expanding the 
labour market and providing employment 
opportunities to ethnic minorities through 
the business networking programme. The 
expansion of the network connecting 
vocational training schools for ethnic 
minorities and domestic and foreign 
enterprises helps the majority of students 
(mostly at the elementary and intermediate 
levels) to be introduced to work in 
enterprises after graduating. This request-
based training model has been initially 
implemented successfully in some 
mountainous provinces in Vietnam such as 
Ha Giang and Dien Bien; (5) Implementing 
policies to support the labour export in 
ethnic minority areas with extremely 
difficult conditions. The State focuses on 
supporting people from ethnic minorities 
with initial funding sources such as training 
funds, travel expenses and others to create 
additional employment sources for ethnic 
minorities in foreign countries. 
Fourthly, to complete social security 
policies in ethnic minority areas. Article 
58 in the 2013 Constitution of Vietnam 
Pham Thanh Hang 
83 
states “the State shall invest in the 
development of the protection and care of the 
people's health, provide health insurance for 
the entire people and exercise a priority 
policy of health care for ethnic minorities, 
highlanders, islanders and people living in 
extremely difficult socio-economic 
conditions” [14]. Article 4 of the 2009 Law 
on Medical Examination and Treatment 
stipulates the State's policies on medical 
examination and treatment for ethnic 
minorities with the priority over allocating 
budgets to meet the people's basic medical 
examination and treatment needs. [18]. 
The State should continue to finalise 
policies and laws on social security to 
basically solve issues on the development of 
ethnic minorities. Policies and legislation on 
sustainable social security for ethnic 
minorities in Vietnam should first focus on 
investing in policies on training and 
developing human resources; building 
infrastructure (electricity, roads, schools and 
stations) in association with the economic 
development; providing free medical 
examination and treatment; insurance; caring 
for the elderly, etc. Notably, for people of 
ethnic minorities who have lost their land, it 
is necessary to pay attention to supporting 
policies on residential and production lands 
(including short-term and long-term support 
plans) to ensure minimum living needs for 
the people. In ethnic minority areas with 
extremely difficult conditions, it is necessary 
to review policy beneficiaries and develop a 
set of evaluation criteria to have special 
support levels (in human, financial and 
material affairs), thereby helping people 
improve their lives. The supporting policies 
should pay attention to the mechanism of 
advocating private sector and mobilising all 
resources for poverty reduction and social 
security in ethnic minority areas of Vietnam. 
Fifthly, to promote the socio-economic 
development associated with the rational 
exploitation of resources in ethnic minority 
areas. In order to achieve the goal of rapid 
and sustainable development in ethnic 
minority areas, the State needs to 
synchronously implement socio-economic 
development investment policies, pay 
attention to the exploitation of resources 
(land, water and forests) in a rational 
manner and the protection of environment 
and ensure a harmonious relationship 
among economic interests, social interests 
and national security. 
In Vietnam, ethnic minority areas often 
have advantages in forest and land resources 
for developing agricultural and forestry 
production zones. However, because all 
resources are limited, we will have to pay a 
high cost in case of overexploitation. 
Therefore, in the process of exploiting 
advantages and strengths of ethnic minority 
areas, one shall not overlook the protection, 
regeneration and development of forest and 
land resources in association with 
environmental protection. In this way, ethnic 
minorities can rise to enrich themselves based 
on the strengths of the area that they are 
living in, as while ensuring a sustainable life 
and peace of mind to live with the natural 
resources, protect the resources and get rich 
from them. 
4. Conclusion 
The appropriate resolution of ethnic issues 
is particularly important for the national 
Vietnam Social Sciences, No. 1 (195) - 2020 
84 
security and social stability. India and 
Vietnam are both countries with diverse 
ethnic groups. Both the countries are faced 
with the issue of protecting the national 
sovereignty and territorial integrity and 
solving national issues in a rational and 
harmonious manner. Through the 
Constitution and other laws, the Indian 
Government has granted certain privileges 
to ethnic minorities to promote the 
development of ethnic minorities in various 
aspects of life. Lessons learnt from India is 
the practical basis for Vietnam to orient the 
development and improvement of ethnic 
policies, gradually narrowing the gap, 
improving the quality of life and promoting 
inclusive development of the minorities. 
Note 
1 
This paper was published in Vietnamese in: Khoa 
học xã hội Việt Nam, số 8, 2019. Translated by Vu 
Xuan Nuoc, edited by Etienne Mahler. 
References 
[1] Saez Lawrence (1999), “India’s Economic 
Liberalization, Interjurisdictional Competition and 
Development”, Contemporary South Asia, No. 8. 
[2] World Bank (1998), Reducing Poverty in 
India: Options for More Effective Public 
Services, Washington D.C. 
[3] 任 大 鹏 (2002), 印 度 的 农 业 和 农 村 发 
展 政 策, 世 界 农 业, (11). 
[4] 王 晓 丹, 印 度 的 农 村 建, 中 国 社 会 科 学 
院 院 报, 7/11. 
[5] 财 政 部 农 业 司 赴 印 考 察 团, 印 度 (2006), 
农 村 问 题 放 首 位, 中 国 财 经 报, 15/6. 
[6] 俞 文 岚 主 编 (2002), 2000-2001 年 度 印 度 
发 展 报 告, 昆 明, 云 南 省 社 会 科 学 院 
出 版 社. 
[7] 贾 娅 玲 (2007), 印 度 少 数 民族 政 策 及 其 
对 我 国 的 启 示, 湖 北 民 族 学 院 学 报, (2). 
[8] 田 建 明 (2006), 印 度 是 怎 样 帮 扶 少 数 
民 族 发 展 的, 中 国 民 族 报, 08/12. 
[9] 朱 昌利 (1988), 印 度 少 数 民 族 社 会 经 济 
发 展 问 题, 南 亚 研究, (2). 
[10] 朱 超 (2006), 印 度 农 村 建 设 中 的 金 融 
支 持 及 对 中 国 的 启 示, 中 州 学 刊, (5). 
[11] 常 永 才 (2002), 边 远 民 族 地 区 双 语 扫 
盲 项 目 的 开 发, 印 度 部 落 案 例 研 究, 民 
族 教 育 研 究, (1). 
[12] https://www.worldatlas.com, retrieved on 15 
February 2019. 
[13]  
anh-chinh/item/1560-quyen-cua-cac-dan-toc-
thieu-so-trong-phap-luat-quoc-te-va-phap-luat-
viet-nam.html, retrieved on 10 March 2019. 
[14] https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Bo-may-
hanh-chinh/Hien-phap-nam-2013-215627.aspx, 
retrieved on 8 February 2019. 
[15] https://thukyluat.vn/vb/luat-bau-cu-dai-bieu-
quoc-hoi-va-dai-bieu-hoi-dong-nhan-dan-2015-
44f08.html, retrieved on 15 March 2019. 
[16] https://luatvietnam.vn/giao-duc/luat-giao-duc-
dai-hoc-sua-doi-nam-2018-169346-d1.html, 
retrieved on 20 February 2019. 
[17] 
toc/7958/Nhieu-giai-phap-giai-quyet-viec-lam-
cho-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so, retrieved on 5 
March 2019. 
[18] https://thukyluat.vn/1819A/luat-kham-benh-
chua-benh-nam-2009/tag.html, retrieved on 5 
March 2019. 
[19]  retrieved on 10 
February 2019.