Improving quality of life for people with meritorious services to the revolution

In recent years, caring for people with meritorious services to the revolution has been a consistent policy of the Party and State, showing respect and gratitude to people with meritorious services to the revolution as well as deeply demonstrating the nation’s principle of ‘when drinking water, remember its source’.

Youth union members visit and present gifts to Heroic Vietnamese Mother Nguyen Thi Phoi in An Nhon Tay commune, Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: NDO/Bui Anh Tuan)
Youth union members visit and present gifts to Heroic Vietnamese Mother Nguyen Thi Phoi in An Nhon Tay commune, Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: NDO/Bui Anh Tuan)

The 73rd anniversary of the Wounded and Fallen Soldiers Day (July 27, 1947 - 2020) is also the third year in which the whole political system has implemented the Secretariat’s Directive No.14-CT/TW, dated on July 19, 2017, on strengthening the Party’s leadership in the work to support people with meritorious services to the revolution.

With the specific goals set out in Directive No. 14, in recent times the implementation of preferential policies for people with meritorious services to the revolution and their relatives has been paid due attention by Party committees, authorities, the Fatherland Front, the socio-political organisations and people nationwide. Many important results have been achieved.

To date, the whole country has over 9.2 million people with meritorious services, of which nearly 1.4 million people are entitled to monthly preferential allowances. The preferential policies for each type of person with meritorious services to the revolution are fully prescribed, covering almost all aspects of social life. Every year, the state budget also spends tens of trillions of VND in preferential allowances for people with meritorious services to the revolution; especially on the occasion of the Lunar New Year and Wounded and Fallen Soldiers Day.

Along with the full participation of ministries, branches, unions, localities and people of all strata in the work of caring for people with meritorious services to the revolution, the labour, war invalids and social affairs sector has also accelerated the progress in considering and certifying people with meritorious services to the revolution; and strengthened the inspection and implementation of preferential policies for them in order to fully, promptly and properly target beneficiaries of the policies.

In particular, the focus is on resolving outstanding records in the direction of expanding the scope of activies in sectors, districts, communes and people. More than 6,700 outstanding records from 2017 to 2019 have been reviewed and resolved. The documents that need to be supplemented and completed continue to be considered and resolved, while unqualified records have been concluded and rationally explained to those affected and their relatives.

In addition, movements showing respect and charitable activities have also been widely deployed in all localities in order to mobilise all resources in the society and community, along with the State, to take better care of the material and spiritual lives of people with meritorious services and the families of people with meritorious services to the revolution.

However, besides the achieved results, the implementation of preferential policies for people with meritorious services to the revolution still has certain limitations. Many cases have not been confirmed, many remains of martyrs have not been found, and a number of cemeteries and monuments honouring fallen soldiers have yet to be repaired or upgraded. At the same time, the mobilisation and allocation of resources to implement preferential policies for people with meritorious services to the revolution are still limited; many of them are still living in difficult circumstances, especially those in remote and far-flung areas; and the situation of false declarations and profiteering policies remains complicated.

Directive No. 14 sets out the goal that all families of people with meritorious services will have a higher standard of living than the average living standard of people in their residential areas by the end of 2020. In order to achieve this goal, in the coming time, it is necessary to further strengthen the role of the party committees, the Fatherland Front and socio-political organisations; improve the capacity, effectiveness and efficiency of state management over the work; enhance the responsibility of heads of agencies and units to seriously and effectively carry out the work for people with meritorious services; and well perform the work of inspection, examination and supervision to promptly detect, prevent and strictly handle violations in the implementation of laws and policies towards people with meritorious services to the revolution.

The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs should focus on institutional improvement, basically and comprehensively amending the Ordinance on preferential treatment for people with meritorious services to the revolution in accordance with the spirit of Directive No.14; completing settlement of outstanding dossiers of requests for certification; completing the housing support for people with meritorious services in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Decision No.22/2013/QD-TTg dated April 26, 2013; and accelerating the search and procedures for identifying the remains of missing martyrs.

Wounded and Fallen Soldiers Day (July 27) has been a great national holiday over the past 70 years and is an opportunity for Vietnamese people to express their deep gratitude to heroes, martyrs, wounded and sick soldiers, Heroic Vietnamese Mothers and policy beneficiary families for their great sacrifices and contributions to national independence and reunification.

It is also a time when the whole country strives to fulfil the objectives set out in the Secretariat's Directive No.14. This is a political task of the Party and State, but also the responsibility and moral obligation of all Vietnamese people to continue lighting the fire of gratitude for people with meritorious services to the revolution.