Nearly 820 TNXP files are waiting for consideration of war invalids' benefits

20-year backlog of cases

Ms. Dao Thi Lien in Quynh Thuan commune (Quynh Luu), was a former Youth Volunteer Force who participated in the routes from Hung Nguyen, Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan. “Back then, as soon as there was an announcement, we were excited to leave, leaving with only time to say goodbye to our parents and then leave without knowing whether we were alive or dead. During the fierce days on the 42nd dike section through Hung Nguyen district, we felt life and death at a close distance many times, when we rushed into the shelter, when the bomb exploded right next to the shelter, making us faint, many comrades sacrificed beside us.

Nghe An Youth Volunteers transport ammunition to the battlefield. Photo: Archive

So, when we got home after days on the road, my teammates and I felt extremely lucky, without even thinking about applying for policies from the Party and State in the future.

Until the year 2000, we were informed to declare and complete the documents to enjoy the war invalids policy. At that time, the procedure only required 2 witnesses and a Party history, Resistance Medal, Youth Volunteer Card and declaration to be complete. Thinking that it would definitely be approved, many of my brothers and sisters and I waited eagerly,” Ms. Lien shared.

Ms. Tran Thi Nguyet - Vice President of the Association of Former Youth Volunteers of Quynh Luu district (left) visits members. Photo: My Ha

After several years without any response, Ms. Lien and many of her comrades went to the District Association of Former Youth Volunteers to grasp the situation and were instructed to supplement the valid personal records of the witnesses, as well as a valid personal record according to Circular 17/2004/TT-BLDTBXH dated November 17, 2004 on the implementation of the subsidy regime for war invalids and those who enjoy the same policies as war invalids. However, many people could not supplement it because, according to them, a long time had passed and the old unit had been disbanded. So they continued to wait until now.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Nguyet - Vice President of the Youth Volunteer Association of Quynh Luu district, the district previously had 39 sets of documents, but now after screening and supplementing according to the requirements in Circular 17/2003/TTLT-BLDTBXH-TU Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and Decision 408, there are only 22 valid sets of documents left.

“Most of these people are over 70 years old, some are 80 years old, they have been waiting for their files for nearly 20 years and many of them have given up because they cannot find enough documents to supplement their files. However, according to the requirements of Decision No. 408/QD-LDTBXH dated March 20, 2017 of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs promulgating the process of handling backlog of requests for confirmation of meritorious people, I am afraid that not many people will be approved to enjoy the policy,” said Ms. Nguyet.

The Association of Former Youth Volunteers awarded Certificates of Merit to outstanding individuals. Photo: Cong Kien

In Nghi Loc district, where there were previously 82 sets of documents that were considered to be backlogged over the years, there are now only 29 sets of documents left and 2 sets of documents that are regularly reviewed according to Circular 28/2013/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BQP dated October 22, 2013. Those 2 sets of documents are of Ms. Cao Thi Phuong in Nghi Phuong commune and Ms. Vo Thi Vinh in Nghi Long commune.

Profile of Ms. Cao Thi Phuong. Photo: Khoi Nguyen

Ms. Cao Thi Phuong joined the Youth Volunteer Force from February 1968 to February 1975 in Unit XK 302 - P27, performing the task of building roads and filling bomb craters for vehicles to pass through at Cam Bridge on National Highway 1A. She was injured while on duty. She had a certificate of injury issued by the Cu Chinh Lan Youth Volunteer Force of Nghe An Province on February 10, 1975. "This is a case where we think she will be entitled to the policy for war invalids, because she has complete documents. But we do not understand why her file is still pending until now," said Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung - Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghi Loc District.

According to Mr. Dung, 29 backlog files from different periods have now been added to resolve the regime as war invalids for former Youth Volunteers. These files do not have the required injury certificates as stipulated in Decision 408 on resolving backlog files for war invalids and sick soldiers, so it is very difficult to get them approved.

Keep waiting?

Nghe An Provincial Youth Union presents gifts to former Youth Volunteers. Photo courtesy of Thanh Quynh

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Chau - Head of the Department of Meritorious People, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: “In the process of reviewing and confirming war invalids for people participating in the Youth Volunteer Force, complete dossiers are dossiers with legal documents according to the regulations of the documents stipulating the time of making the request dossier. For example, the dossier requesting confirmation of war invalids according to Circular 17/2003/TTLT - BLDTBXH - Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union stipulates that there must be one of the old documents proving that they are Youth Volunteer Force: Team member card; certificate of completion of tasks in the Youth Volunteer Force; certificate of merit; cadre's resume; party member's resume stating that they are Youth Volunteer Force. And dossiers that can be completed are dossiers that are missing one of the documents proving that they participated in the Youth Volunteer Force and need to be supplemented for consideration. However, the reality is that currently about 60% of former Youth Volunteer Force return to their hometowns to get married and have children, because of family circumstances, none of their children go to work, so there is no Personal or husband and children's resumes to supplement the profile, so many people are still confused about what valid documents to use to supplement instead.

According to Document No. 328/HD-BCĐXNNCC dated June 12, 2017 on the guidance on the process and procedures for handling pending applications for confirmation of meritorious people of the Steering Committee for confirmation of meritorious people of Nghe An province, the application that can be completed for consideration and settlement is the application that lacks some documents and procedures according to regulations but can be completed and supplemented for recognition. For this application, it is necessary to clarify what types of documents need to be supplemented, which agencies issued them, or what points need to be verified in order to conclude whether the application is eligible or not eligible for confirmation and settlement.

According to Official Dispatch 757/SLĐTBXH-NCC dated March 15, 2019 of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs on the Guidance on the implementation of handling the backlog of TNXP files requesting confirmation of policy beneficiaries, such as war invalids, for cases of injuries that are eligible for consideration but due to incomplete procedural records, instructions are provided to supplement and complete before applying the process of Decision 408. However, according to Decision 408, in order to be resolved as war invalids for TNXP participants who are injured while on duty, it is necessary to supplement one of the following documents and records that record them as war invalids or injured in combat, directly serving in combat, such as: including cadre records, party member records, social insurance records or other legally valid documents issued during the time of participating in TNXP. In case of injury and the injured person does not have a record to supplement, the record of the wife (husband) and children (if any) must be supplemented.

Regarding this, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung - Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghi Loc district stated: "This is a very difficult condition for the backlog of documents to be supplemented, because if the above documents were complete, the injured TNXP could have been considered for the war invalid regime according to Circular 28/2013/TTLT - BLDTBXH - BQP dated October 22, 2013 on regulations on considering the war invalid regime for those who participated in the resistance war and were injured, which has been regularly reviewed since the time of promulgation".

Up to this point, many districts are conducting physical examinations of wounds to complete the dossiers for the Youth Volunteers to send to the Department of Meritorious People for review and approval. However, according to the assessment of the functional sector, with current regulations, the dossiers for reviewing the war invalid regime for Youth Volunteers will be very "difficult to get through". Therefore, the dossiers that have been backlogged for nearly 20 years now are at risk of having to continue to supplement the necessary documents according to the current decision.