Social Security as a Lever for Economic Development

 

The state and party has paid attention to ensuring social security along with economic development over the past years. Last year, the province focused on helping people who enjoy social security policies, paying salary and offering subsidy for persons who sacrificed or contributed to revolution as well as low-income ones. Besides, the province also granted thousands tons of rice for flood-hit people; reduced and exempted irrigation fees and gave preferential loans to poor and ethnic minority households. The total subsidised loans were estimated at VND735 billion in 2009.

 

The province expanded social insurance service to local people. Up to 202,380 people buy compulsory social insurance. The province also concentrated on adjusting minimum salary for laborers and subsidy for persons who sacrificed or contributed to revolution. The social subsidy helped improve local labourers’ living condition. The provincial People’s Committee instructed local agencies to join hands with enterprises to adjust income for labourers, build and improve labour relations, contributing to boost production activities in the context of price hikes.

 

The province has spent dozens of billions of VND to support 1.5 million who contributed to the national revolution. The success of the province’s social security is expressing the solidarity. This not only proves the local party members’ vanguard role but also the national solidarity spirit. Last year, provincial agencies mobilised VND3.5 billion for charitable activities in 2009. In the year, the province collected VND2 billion to help districts to build houses of gratitude and also offered loans for job training.

 

The southern province carried out a poverty production programme which concentrates on investment development, grant of subsidised loans for job training and helping poor people to get access to cultural and healthcare services. Last year, around 43,000 poor households were given preferential loans worth VND350 billion, 130,580 were provided with health insurance cards and 120,000 received fees reduction and exemption valued at over VND1 billion; thousands of poor pupils got support to buy textbooks and particularly 971 poor households got housing assistance in line with the government’s Decision 167.

 

In addition, the province actively carried out suppotive policies to help poor and disabled people. To date, most of local districts and towns have approved the project to support the disable and provided health insurance cards and preferential loans for education and training.