The Culture - Social Committee of Nghe An Provincial People's Council reviews social protection policies

On the afternoon of October 27, the Culture - Social Affairs Committee of Nghe An Provincial People's Council held a meeting to review two draft resolutions submitted to the 33rd Session (special session) of the Provincial People's Council, including: Draft Resolution regulating support policies for a number of social protection beneficiaries in addition to the Government's social assistance policy and Draft Resolution on allocating regular expenditure funds from the central budget to implement the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in 2025.

Báo Nghệ An•27/10/2025

Attending the meeting were comrade Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, representatives of leaders of the Provincial People's Council's committees and representatives of relevant departments: Health, Finance, Justice, Agriculture and Environment.

Trial Session _1 — Scene of the meeting to review the draft resolution submitted to the 33rd Session (special session) of the Provincial People's Council organized by the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Affairs Committee. Photo: Minh Quan

Ensuring humanity and feasibility in policies to support social protection beneficiaries

The Draft Resolution regulating support policies for a number of social protection beneficiaries in addition to the Government's social assistance policy, drafted by the Nghe An Department of Health , aims to replace Resolution No. 30/2021/NQ-HDND and Resolution No. 03/2024/NQ-HDND of the Provincial People's Council. The goal of the resolution is to continue to improve social security policies and provide timely support to vulnerable groups in society, contributing to stabilizing people's lives.

According to the draft, the groups of subjects supported include: People with congenital disabilities whose parents are elderly; people with severe mental disabilities, from poor or near-poor households, with caregivers aged 70 or older; children received, cared for and raised at SOS Children's Village Vinh.

The draft also reduces the age of caregiving parents from 75 to 70 years old to comply with the provisions of the Law on Social Insurance 2024 and the practical situation; at the same time, applies a new social assistance standard of VND 500,000/month (increased from VND 360,000/month).

Trial Session _2 — Mr. Nguyen Van Nam - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Health reported a summary of the Draft Resolution regulating support policies for a number of social protection beneficiaries in addition to the Government's social assistance policy in Nghe An province. Photo: Minh Quan

The estimated implementation cost is over 1 billion VND/year, balanced from the provincial budget. According to the appraisal report of the Department of Finance, this source of expenditure does not put much pressure on the local budget, and is completely feasible in the current conditions.

At the meeting, the Provincial People's Council delegates suggested that it is necessary to continue reviewing and clarifying the scope of beneficiaries to avoid duplication or omission, especially the group of disabled people and lonely elderly people who have not yet benefited from the current policy. Regarding administrative procedures, although the draft stipulates that the time for processing records is reduced from 15 days to 10 days, some opinions said that, in the context of population data and information systems being digitized, this time limit is still long; it is necessary to study and shorten it further to create maximum convenience for the people.

Concluding this content, the leader of the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Affairs Committee affirmed that this is a special policy with profound humanity, demonstrating the province's concern for vulnerable groups, contributing to ensuring social security and stabilizing people's lives. The Committee agreed with the necessity of issuing a resolution, and at the same time, requested the presiding agency to receive and complete the dossier to submit to the upcoming Provincial People's Council meeting.

Adjusting the allocation of funds to implement the sustainable poverty reduction program in accordance with the two-level government model

Also in the program, the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Affairs Committee reviewed the Draft Resolution on allocating regular expenditure funds from the Central budget to implement the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in 2025 for units and localities in the province (adjusting Resolution No. 17/NQ-HDND dated April 28, 2025).

Trial Session _4 — Ms. Vo Thi Nhung - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Environment reported a summary of the Resolution on allocating regular expenditure funds from the central budget to implement the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in 2025 for units and localities in the province. Photo: Minh Quan

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Environment - the agency assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to advise, this adjustment comes from practical requirements when Nghe An switches to a 2-level local government model (province and commune) from July 1, 2025, ending the operation of the district level. At the same time, the merger of a number of administrative units and boundary adjustments lead to changes in the decentralization of funding sources, which need to be reviewed to ensure compliance with the new situation.

At the time of review, 10 districts and towns had completed the allocation of funds to the commune level according to Resolution 17, while 10 other units had not yet implemented due to problems with administrative organization and disbursement procedures.
This draft resolution maintains the total central budget capital but adjusts the detailed allocation to the commune level, based on the criteria and norms prescribed in Resolution No. 04/2022/NQ-HDND, based on the rate of poor and near-poor households and actual needs in each locality.

Jury _3 — Ms. Luc Thi Lien - Deputy Head of the Culture - Social Committee of the Provincial People's Council spoke at the meeting. Photo: Minh Quan

Delegates agreed on the need to adjust the resolution to ensure its reasonableness, effectiveness and timeliness, and at the same time, requested the drafting agency to clarify the legal basis, adjustment principles, capital transfer mechanism and local counterpart funds. Some opinions also suggested focusing on controlling disbursement progress, supervision, payment and settlement to ensure transparency, avoid loss and duplication in implementing the program components.

Jury — Mr. Chu Duc Thai - Head of the Culture - Social Committee of the Provincial People's Council concluded the inspection contents. Photo: Minh Quan

Concluding this content, the leader of the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Affairs Committee affirmed that the adjustment is necessary and in accordance with regulations, contributing to removing difficulties in implementing the sustainable poverty reduction program for the period 2021 - 2025. The Committee requested the drafting agency to fully absorb opinions, complete the dossier, ensure quality and progress of submission at the upcoming thematic session of the Provincial People's Council.