The Government has perfected mechanisms and policies at the highest and most responsible level to deeply express gratitude to those with merit and families with meritorious services.

On the afternoon of July 24, at the Government headquarters, the Government Standing Committee chaired byPrime Minister Pham Minh Chinhorganized a meeting of 50 delegatesmeritorious personrepresenting more than 9.2 million meritorious people nationwide on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27, 1947 - July 27, 2021). Also attending the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, Minister, Head of the Government Office Tran Van Son, Minister of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung.

Right before the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Decree 75/2021/ND-CP stipulating the levels of allowances, subsidies and preferential regimes for people with revolutionary contributions. Accordingly, the mechanisms, policies and preferential regimes for people with revolutionary contributions are higher than before.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister and delegates were moved to listen to the wounded and sick soldiers representing the meritorious people of the whole country speaking, sharing their thoughts and feelings for the country, the people, the Party, Uncle Ho, and the revolutionary cause of the nation.

Do a good job of gratitude

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung said that over the past 74 years, following Uncle Ho's teachings, the Party, State and people have always paid attention to, cared for and done well the work of repaying gratitude to those who have rendered service to the revolution and their relatives. The system of policies and laws to favor those who have rendered service has been increasingly improved and is suitable to the country's socio-economic conditions.

The National Assembly Standing Committee has issued Ordinance 02/2020 on preferential treatment for people with revolutionary contributions, effective from July 1, 2021, with many new points aimed at improving preferential treatment and expanding the number of beneficiaries of preferential treatment for people with revolutionary contributions. Recently, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed and issued Decision No. 1142/QD-CTN on gift giving on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day.

According to the Minister, the movements "All people take care of families of war invalids, martyrs and people with revolutionary contributions" and support the "Repaying gratitude" fund are increasingly developing widely and receiving the support and response of society. From 2016-2020 alone, the Central Fund for Repaying Gratitude mobilized more than 16.8 billion VND, the Local Fund for Repaying Gratitude mobilized nearly 5,600 billion VND. The movement to donate savings books nationwide reached more than 61,650 books with a total cost of nearly 103.5 billion VND. Nearly 39,000 new gratitude houses were built and more than 24,650 gratitude houses were repaired, worth more than 2,265 billion VND.

Compatriots and Fatherland will beengraved

Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his emotion at meeting and talking with delegates who have rendered meritorious services to the revolution and relatives of martyrs on the occasion of the War Invalids and Martyrs Day. On behalf of the Party and State leaders, the Prime Minister expressed his deepest gratitude and appreciation to the veteran revolutionaries, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, Heroes of the People's Armed Forces, wounded and sick soldiers, relatives of martyrs, and those who have rendered meritorious services to the revolution.

“Not only today, gratitude associated with responsibility is always a concern in the thoughts and actions of leaders at all levels, among the people, and this is also a fine cultural tradition of our nation. What have we done, are doing and will do to ease the pain of war, to spread patriotism, to continue writing the heroic history of the nation, to inspire people to overcome difficulties and challenges?”, the Prime Minister emotionally shared.

According to the Prime Minister, the war has left us but the pain still exists. Millions of children left their youth, their dreams, their aspirations underground. Referring to the lyrics of musician Xuan Hong: "Mother's tears are gone because of crying for her children, one by one, forever", the Prime Minister said that those very touching verses and music still cannot fully describe the sacrifices and losses of heroes, martyrs, meritorious people, previous generations, countless mothers who lost their children, wives who lost their husbands, children who lost their fathers, countless people who left a part of their body on the battlefield...

The Prime Minister shared that the wounded and sick soldiers he had met at the care centers in Ha Nam, Bac Ninh, etc. and many comrades at the meeting all had wounds that still hurt every time the weather changed. Many comrades and teammates had sacrificed, and many have not yet been identified or their remains have not been found. Many comrades have returned, but the after-effects of Agent Orange still affect future generations. Even in peacetime, the armed forces still have to witness loss and pain, and there are still comrades who have sacrificed and been injured while performing their duties of protecting the Fatherland and for the peace, security and safety of the people.

“Everywhere on this land of Vietnam is engraved with the noble sacrifice for the independence of the nation and the unification of the country. Every time we go to the martyrs’ cemeteries, we look at the long list of martyrs’ names, hometowns, plus or minus years of birth and death, and we are silent because many of them are only in their twenties… We are sad when we watch the trucks carrying martyrs’ remains covered with red flags with yellow stars returning to their homeland,” the Prime Minister said.

The Head of Government emphasized that a unified, independent and peaceful country was built by those noble sacrifices. That is why, during his lifetime, Uncle Ho affirmed: “Those young men are national heroes. The people and the Fatherland will never forget such beloved children”. That is the tradition of “remembering the source of water when drinking water” of our nation.

Caring for the health and material and spiritual life of people with meritorious services has always received special attention and is an important and regular political task of the Party, the State and the entire political system. We value, cherish and care in the best possible conditions for Vietnamese heroic mothers, heroes of the People's Armed Forces, people with meritorious services, families of martyrs and war invalids. Policies are always being improved and priority is given to allocating resources to specifically care for people with meritorious services. Currently, more than 9.2 million people with meritorious services (accounting for about 10% of the population) enjoy preferential policies. Thousands of Vietnamese heroic mothers are being cared for. The living standards of families of people with meritorious services are guaranteed to be equal to or higher than the average level of the local population, in the difficult conditions of the country.

The movement of gratitude under the leadership of the Party, the management of all levels of government, the support of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations has spread throughout the country with many practical and meaningful programs, mobilizing contributions from the entire population to the "Gratitude Fund" up to thousands of billions of VND, programs to give houses of gratitude, gifts to war invalids or scholarships to children of policy families...

The Party and the Government not only pay attention to July 27, but also pay attention to policies for people with meritorious services, which are always given regular and consistent attention, while directing Party committees and authorities at all levels to effectively organize the Party's policies and the State's policies and laws. The Government has effectively implemented the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the Secretariat's Directive on continuing to strengthen the Party's leadership over people with meritorious services and policy families.

Accessinspiration for future generations

“The Government will inherit and promote the achievements of previous terms. The Government always pays attention to solutions to perfect mechanisms and policies within the authority of the Government and the Prime Minister at the highest and most responsible level, showing deep gratitude to those with merit and policy families. For issues beyond its authority, the Government will review, synthesize, and report to competent authorities for resolution,” the Prime Minister stated.

In the recent past, the Government has assigned the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to continue to urgently complete the policies under construction for promulgation as soon as possible. In the coming time, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to continue to comprehensively review policies related to people with meritorious services, policy families and propose solutions to remove obstacles quickly and effectively, suitable to the situation of the country. The spirit is to pay attention to reviewing, not to miss any policy subjects. The Ministry of Education and Training will continue to educate the younger generation about the sacrifices of previous generations for the independence and freedom of the nation, for the peace of the people. At the same time, it is required that localities coordinate with relevant agencies and organizations to continue to pay more attention to the work of gratitude, embellishing and renovating martyrs' cemeteries.

At the same time, the Government requested relevant agencies to mobilize social resources to search, collect, apply technology and science to store and identify DNA of martyrs' remains...

“The delegates attending today are typical representatives of those who have contributed to the country, and are the ones who inspire today’s and future generations. I know that many of you are wounded by war. But with the spirit of Uncle Ho’s soldiers, you in particular and all wounded soldiers across the country in general always make constant efforts to continue to dedicate and contribute to the homeland and the country, no matter what the circumstances. Despite your injuries, old age, and weak health, you still have a will and a heart towards the country,” the Prime Minister expressed.

The Head of Government stated that our country is going through a difficult period due to the COVID-19 pandemic with new variants that are very dangerous, unpredictable and difficult to predict. Many examples of resilience, patriotism, sharing, solidarity, and overcoming difficulties and challenges are a source of inspiration for each citizen, inspiring the next generation so that we can promote the achievements of previous generations and together defeat the pandemic. While successfully fighting the pandemic, we must also develop the economy and society, but the most important thing now is to focus on fighting the pandemic nationwide, putting the health and lives of the people first and foremost.

Recently, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized that “Our country has never had such a foundation, potential, position and international prestige as it does today”. This assessment was affirmed by the 13th National Party Congress and the majority of the people agreed and supported. The result is the crystallization of national spirit, patriotism and the efforts of our entire nation, the entire Party, the entire army and the entire people, including the contributions of Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, heroic martyrs, wounded soldiers and families with meritorious services to the revolution.

According to the Prime Minister, the emotions of the July days will forever linger in each of us about the sacrifices of generations, to build our country "increasingly more dignified and beautiful" as Uncle Ho always wished.