Regulations on benefits, localities temporarily suspend
Mr. Nguyen The Vy - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Cam Thuy commune (Cam Lo district) has worked in the locality for many years, and received regional allowances from 2005 to 2013. From 2014 to 2023, his regional allowance payment of nearly 17 million VND was suspended.
According to Mr. Vy, although current documents still ensure this right, the locality has temporarily stopped paying due to changes in the allowance coefficient.
A similar situation occurred to teacher Tran Van Lan at Cam Nghia Primary and Secondary School (Cam Lo District). From 2005 to 2013, Mr. Lan received an allowance of about 2.1 million VND each year. However, from 2014 to 2023, the allowance under this regime has been reduced for no apparent reason, causing the teacher and colleagues to wonder.
In Cam Lo district alone, statistics show that more than 3,500 commune-level cadres, civil servants and educational institutions in Cam Chinh, Cam Nghia, Cam Thanh, Cam Tuyen and Cam Thuy communes have not received enough regional allowances from 2014 to 2023, with an amount of 7.3 billion VND.
When will there be funding to pay?
According to Mr. Le Anh Chuong - Head of the Department of Finance - Planning of Cam Lo district, the payment of regional allowances to communes in disadvantaged areas in the locality has been carried out from 2005 to 2013. However, since 2014, due to changes in allowance coefficients according to decisions of the Ethnic Committee and the Prime Minister, some communes have had their allowance coefficients cut or adjusted. Specifically, Cam Chinh and Cam Nghia communes were reduced from 0.2 to 0.1; Cam Thuy commune was completely cut off; Cam Tuyen commune kept the coefficient of 0.2 and Cam Thanh kept the coefficient of 0.1.
By 2021, according to Decision No. 861/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister, Cam Lo district no longer has communes eligible for regional allowances. However, according to Official Dispatch No. 1719 of the Department of Home Affairs in December 2023, the regulations on regional allowances are not affected by Decision 861. This means that the subjects are still entitled to allowances according to the old regulations.
Determining that the payment of regional allowances is the legitimate wish of workers and to the right subjects, the People's Committee of Cam Lo district has directed specialized agencies to review and synthesize to have detailed reports on the funding source to be paid. However, due to limited local funding, Cam Lo District People's Committee has proposed that the Provincial People's Committee consider and supplement funding to pay to those who are lacking allowances from 2014 to 2023.
According to the leader of the Quang Tri Department of Finance, the regional allowance payment fund is built annually based on the local budget estimate. With regional allowances in Cam Lo district, the Department has advised the Provincial People's Committee to provide enough funding for 2024. However, with the shortfall from 2014 to 2023, the district needs to proactively use local budgets to pay. Regarding the proposal to supplement funding to pay allowances from 2014 to 2023, when the Provincial People's Committee has a direction, the Department of Finance will balance and consider implementation.
