At the recent post-Lunar New Year work conference, Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung noted and mentioned the urgent need to amend Decree No. 20/2021/ND-CP regulating social assistance policies for social protection beneficiaries.
Minister Dao Ngoc Dung said that the social assistance level is very low, only 360,000 VND/month, how can we live?
It is true that a disadvantaged person who needs social assistance does not know how to live on 360,000 VND/month. Because this amount is only enough to buy about 10 bowls of pho in Hanoi (the lowest price is 35,000 VND/bowl).
And it is only equal to 24% according to the rural poverty line for the period 2021 - 2025 (1,500,000 VND/month) and equal to 20% of the basic salary increased from July 1, 2023 (1,800,000 VND/month).
This level of support only partially supports the minimum essential needs of those subjects such as food, clothing, electricity and water...
Not knowing how to live because we live on the same level, but when comparing with salary policies and poverty reduction policies, the social assistance and social subsidy standards are not only very low but also very outdated.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the country currently has about 3.3 million social protection beneficiaries receiving monthly benefits and about 400,000 beneficiaries in the group of caring for people with severe mental illness, people with extremely severe disabilities, lonely elderly people with no support, and unable to take care of themselves.
Thus, in total, there are about 3.7 million people receiving monthly subsidies, with an expenditure of about 28,000 billion VND/year, including subsidies, care support, and health insurance.
Recently, the Government also issued Resolution 88/NQ-CP in 2023 assigning the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to research and advise the Government to raise the subsidy standards for social protection groups.
There have been two options proposed to solicit opinions from ministries, localities and the Ministry of Finance: 500,000 VND/month (estimated budget expenditure is 37,000 billion VND/year) and 750,000 VND/month (54,000 billion VND/year).
Of course, both of these options are not ideal for beneficiaries of subsidies and assistance because they are still far from the poverty line as well as the basic salary, cost of living...
However, this is an effort because the resources to ensure the increase in subsidies for social protection beneficiaries must be consistent with the budget capacity as well as the ability to increase the budget. And it is also an acceptable answer to the question "how to live" of Minister Dao Ngoc Dung.
Although, to be honest, I am still not confident enough to say that "no one will be left behind" is the very humane goal that all of our subsidy and assistance programs aim for the disadvantaged groups in society!
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