Housing support for meritorious people: Humane and meaningful policy

Immediately after reaching the target of the Program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses for poor and near-poor households earlier than the target set by the Government, Thai Nguyen province continues to make efforts to implement the Project to support people with revolutionary contributions and relatives of martyrs in housing. The province strives to complete the Project's target by June 15, 2025.

The new house of Mr. Ly Van Canh's family (82 years old, in Lang Den hamlet, Trang Xa commune, Vo Nhai) is under construction. Photo: Vu Cong

Visiting the home of Mr. Ly Van Canh (82 years old, in Lang Den hamlet, Trang Xa commune, Vo Nhai) in mid-May, we witnessed the urgent working atmosphere of the construction team. Looking at the new house gradually taking shape, Mr. Canh was very excited.

Talking to us, Mr. Canh said: I joined the army in 1962, fought in many battlefields, the most fierce of which was Khe Sanh battlefield, Huong Hoa, Quang Tri province. In 1988, I was discharged from the army and returned to my hometown. I had no fields or gardens, and my family's life depended only on my retirement salary. Now the children have grown up, got married and live on their own, only my wife and I depend on each other, because we don't have the means, so we still have to live in a dilapidated level 4 house. Building a house is very hard at over 80 years old, but with the support of the State and local authorities, my family tries to save more to rebuild the house to be sturdy and shelter from the rain and sun.

According to Ms. Chu Thi Sen, a cultural officer of Trang Xa commune, Mr. Canh's family is one of six households with revolutionary contributions receiving support under Decree No. 131/2021/ND-CP dated December 30, 2021 of the Government detailing and implementing the Ordinance on preferential treatment for people with revolutionary contributions. Among the households receiving support this time, 4 households built new houses and received support of 60 million VND/household; 2 households repaired their houses and received support of 30 million VND/household.

Implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, through reviewing families of people with revolutionary contributions and martyrs' relatives in need of housing support, in Vo Nhai district, there are 56 households requesting support for new construction and house repair. Of these, 12 households need to build new houses, with a total requested support cost of 720 million VND; 44 households need to repair houses, with a total requested support cost of 1.32 billion VND.

Implementing the Prime Minister 's direction on prioritizing the allocation of resources to support housing for martyrs' relatives (to be completed before July 27, 2025) and people with revolutionary contributions (to be completed before September 2, 2025), along with the directive documents of the Provincial People's Committee, Vo Nhai district is making efforts to speed up the progress of housing support for families of people with revolutionary contributions and martyrs' relatives.

According to Mr. Nguyen Anh Thong, Head of the Economic - Infrastructure and Urban Department of Vo Nhai district: By May 23, 2025, Vo Nhai had completed support for 5 households, including 1 household building a new house and 4 households repairing their houses. At the same time, 40 households started construction, including 9 households building new houses and 31 households repairing their houses. Currently, there are 10 households that have not started construction, including the family of Ms. Tran Thi Nhat, in Truc Mai hamlet, Lau Thuong commune, who has submitted a request to withdraw from the list of financial support for people with revolutionary contributions because she moved in with her son and did not build a new house. For households that have not started construction, Vo Nhai is determined to complete the housing support target according to the approved Project by June 15, 2025.

Implementing the Program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses for poor and near-poor households, many families in Vo Nhai district have been supported to build new houses. Photo: Vu Cong

Over the years, people with revolutionary contributions and martyrs’ relatives in the province have been regularly cared for and assisted by the Party, the State and local authorities through many support programs and policies. However, through actual review, there are still some households in particularly difficult circumstances such as temporary, degraded, dilapidated housing, at risk of collapse and the ability to improve their housing is very difficult.

In parallel with the goal of eliminating temporary and dilapidated houses throughout the province, on February 28, 2025, the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province issued Decision No. 609/QD-UBND approving the Project to support people with revolutionary contributions and martyrs' relatives with housing.

According to the preliminary report of the People's Committees of districts and cities, the whole province has 134 households of people with revolutionary contributions currently living in damaged, dilapidated houses in need of support (including 27 households needing to rebuild, 107 households needing support for repairs). The funding for the Project comes from the central budget, local budget support and other legal sources, along with contributions from households. The total cost of implementing the policy is 4.83 billion VND.

From experience in implementing the Program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses, these days, local Party committees and authorities in the province have actively participated in reviewing, guiding, and supporting policy families and meritorious people who are eligible for housing support.

During the implementation process, many households faced economic difficulties, lack of people, old age, poor health, local authorities, organizations and unions mobilized people to support with materials and working days, ensuring the projects were completed on schedule...

Implementing the Program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses for poor and near-poor households, as of April 15, 2025, Thai Nguyen province has completed the elimination of temporary and dilapidated houses for 1,838 households, reaching 100% of the plan (building 1,221 new houses; repairing 617 houses); reaching the target ahead of schedule according to the target set by the Provincial Steering Committee (before April 30, 2025) and reaching the target 8 months ahead of the deadline set by the Prime Minister before December 31, 2025. The total budget mobilized by the province to implement the Program is nearly 195 billion VND.

In the 2021-2024 period, the province has supported the construction and repair of 4,175 houses for poor and near-poor households; contributing significantly to reducing the poverty rate according to multidimensional poverty standards from 6.14% in 2022 to 2.04% in 2024.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/xa-hoi/202505/ho-tro-nha-o-cho-nguoi-co-congchinh-sach-nhan-van-y-nghia-2e501bc/