This information received great attention from many people with meritorious services across the country, especially those who are old, have reduced health and have dependents living with them.
Many people believe that although the increase is not really large, it is still a practical source of encouragement, helping them feel more secure in their old age life.
Mr. Nguyen Bach Dang (86 years old, residing in Ninh Binh) is currently receiving two allowances including war invalid allowance and Agent Orange allowance, with a total amount of more than 8.1 million VND per month. According to Mr. Dang, the current allowance is enough for him and his wife to cover their daily life in their hometown.
My wife does not have a pension, only a social pension allowance of 500,000 VND/month. With more than 8.6 million VND, the couple can comfortably spend on living expenses and socializing in the countryside, but they cannot save much to save for their children and grandchildren or implement private plans in their old age," Mr. Dang shared.
He said that after paying for medicine, food, and funeral expenses, each month he and his wife only have about 1-1.5 million VND left, depending on the time.
If the standard allowance increases by an additional 8%, he expects to receive an additional VND 653,000/month. This amount of money helps him feel more secure in taking care of his old age life with his wife.
According to Mr. Dang, when the allowance increases, he will set aside a sum to save, taking his wife on trips once a year to enjoy his old age.
He also plans to deduct about 300,000 VND/month to support village activities when needed, and also buy more milk and nutritional food to take care of the health of the couple.
Assessing the proposal to increase allowances after two years, Mr. Dang said he was very excited and grateful.
For me, increasing as much as possible is precious. This shows that the State still remembers the efforts and losses of soldiers in the war," he said.
However, Mr. Dang also expressed his desire for the State to pay more attention to cases that are receiving low allowances.
I have many younger comrades but their health has seriously declined, while the allowance level is less than 5 million VND/month. I hope the State can consider increasing the allowance level for these cases separately to about 15% so that they can feel secure in their lives," Mr. Dang proposed.
Sharing the same joy, Mr. Nguyen Van Lan (78 years old, residing in Ninh Binh) said that his current allowance is only more than 4.7 million VND/month. With old age, reduced health and having to take care of his wife living with him, this amount is almost surplus after paying for medicine and daily living expenses.
If I only live alone, with 4.7 million VND, I still have enough to cover living expenses. But when there are more dependents, I must add at least about 1.5 million VND to be enough. Currently, almost every month my wife and I have to ask our children for additional support," Mr. Lan said.
If the proposal to increase the subsidy standard is approved, Mr. Lan is expected to receive an additional nearly 400,000 VND per month. However, according to him, this increase is still not really guaranteed for life as Agent Orange sequelae become more and more severe with age.
However, Mr. Lan still felt happy and touched by the concern of the Party and State for people with meritorious services.
When the allowance increases, I also save some of the monthly electricity and water bills, and become less dependent on my children. We are very grateful that the Party and the State always remember the wartime soldiers, leaving no one behind," Mr. Lan expressed.
He also hopes that the adjustment of allowances can be implemented more regularly to suit the reality of life and the increasingly declining health of people with meritorious services.
I just hope that the allowance will be adjusted to increase once a year because the older the age, the more diseases and difficulties there are," Mr. Lan worried.
