Some well-off provinces are included in the list of localities petitioning for national rice relief to provide locals with food for the upcoming Tet holiday.

Among the 15 provinces on the list are Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Nghe An, which all suffered devastating losses from storms and floods in 2013, particularly from Haiyan late last year.

According to Thai Phuc Thanh from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, the provinces are appealing for more than 28,000 tons of rice in total.

Among them, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Nghe An in the north-central region are appealing for the largest amount, 5,200, 4,300, and 4,200 tons respectively.

However, some provinces that have fared relatively well in recent years such as Ha Nam, Phu Yen, dubbed “the central region’s granary,” and Khanh Hoa, home to resort city Nha Trang, also want “a piece of the cake.”

Though leaders of these provinces acknowledged their province’s economic strides and high tourist revenues, they all pointed to the large numbers of poor households—particularly those of ethnic minorities—and huge annual spending as reasons for the appeal.

They also consider receiving rice from the government an annual tradition and a special gift for Tet from the government to the poor.

Khanh Hoa province enjoyed an 8.3% rise in its GDP in 2013 compared to 2012 and earned over VND11,335 billion (US$535 million) in budget revenue, up 16% compared to 2012. The percentage of the province’s poor households dropped to 4.26% in 2013, lower than the country’s average rate of 7.8%. However, the province appealed for 550 tons of rice this year. Its leaders cited tough budget collection as the reason for the appeal.

In the past few days, some newspapers listed Binh Thuan among the appealing provinces. As Binh Thuan, home to Mui Ne resort town, enjoys high tourism revenues and other economic achievements, including the export of “thanh long” (dragon fruit), the news came as a surprise and drew criticism from a number of citizens.

However, its Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs affirmed that they didn’t send any such appeal.