Rare story of 92-year-old man petitioning to correct pension system
(Baonghean.vn) - 92 years old, with white hair and beard, but for the past 3 years, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan (residing in K.13, Quy Hop Town, Quy Hop District) has been determined to pursue his petition to correct his own pension policy.
3 ROLLING YEARS
Mr. Pham Anh Tuan was an officer of the Quy Hop District Pharmacy Store, retired in 1971 with the title of Store Manager. 46 years later, he discovered that his retirement plan had errors.
The petition Mr. Tuan sent to Nghe An Newspaper was quite long. But in summary, in 2016, he discovered that in 1985, the authorities transferred his pension regime to his position as a regular pharmaceutical officer, from 56 VND/month to 281 VND/month; in 1987, it was reduced to 272 VND/month. Meanwhile, he held the position of Store Manager continuously for 7 years and 7 months (January 1964 to August 1971). And so, according to Circular No. 11/LD-TTBLD dated September 18, 1985 of the Ministry of Labor, he was classified as level II salary with the level of 374 VND/month. Mr. Tuan said that this transfer has resulted in his pension being lower than that of his colleagues in the same position, and he has been deprived of benefits since 1985 until now. At the same time, he said that he has sent petitions for 3 years but they have not been resolved yet.
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| The document adjusting pensions according to Decree 27 of Mr. Pham Anh Tuan clearly shows the unreasonableness. Photo: Nhat Lan |
“So many years of being disadvantaged without knowing. Now that I know, I can't correct my mistakes..."
Although Mr. Tuan is old, he is still healthy and clear-minded, only his hearing is a bit weak. He confided: “For so many years I was deprived without knowing. Now that I know, I cannot correct or restore my mistakes. Sad. So sad…”. According to many documents and papers, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan’s request to “return the position in the file from 1985 and the lost benefits” has been checked and verified by all levels and sectors.
With the People's Committee of Quy Hop district, to clarify Mr. Tuan's petition, the district Social Insurance agency, relevant departments and offices were summoned to organize a dialogue with Mr. Tuan and his relatives; at the same time, they collected documents and files to check, verify and come to the conclusion that Mr. Tuan's petition was well-founded. On May 29, 2017, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district sent Document No. 380/UBND to the Provincial People's Committee, in which it clearly reported the incident and requested the Provincial People's Committee to direct the relevant departments and branches to check, review and adjust the pension for Mr. Pham Anh Tuan in accordance with regulations.
From Document No. 380/UBND of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district, the Provincial People's Committee directed the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to inspect and verify. On August 25, 2018, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs issued Document No. 3002/LĐTBXH-LĐ to report to the Provincial People's Committee and respond to Mr. Pham Anh Tuan's request. Accordingly, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs determined that in 1985, when implementing Decree 236-HDBT on supplementing and amending a number of policies on war invalids and social affairs, the Department of Labor - Invalids of Nghe Tinh did not rank the salary correctly with Mr. Tuan's position; since 1994, when implementing Decree No. 27-CP on adjusting pension and allowance levels for social policy beneficiaries, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has adjusted the position of Store Manager correctly with a salary of 346 VND/month. Therefore, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan's benefits were affected from 1985 to 1994; from 1994 to present, his retirement regime was not affected.
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| Mr. Pham Anh Tuan. Photo: Nhat Lan |
Also in document 3002/LĐTBXH-LĐ, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs affirmed that the request of Mr. Pham Anh Tuan and the People's Committee of Quy Hop district to adjust the pension from 1985 to 374 VND/month was baseless.
Regarding errors in job titles and salary levels, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs cited Document No. 91/BHXH-QLC of 2001 of Vietnam Social Security on adjustments to cases discovered due to policy errors for beneficiaries before October 1995, with the regulation: "The adjusted subsidy level of the subject is implemented from the date of the decision, no back pay for subjects adjusted up or no recovery for subjects that must be adjusted down".
Disagreeing with the content of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs' response, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan continued to send a petition to many levels and sectors. Therefore, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has twice sent a document to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs requesting consideration and direction in resolving Mr. Pham Anh Tuan's case. The provincial Social Insurance also responded to Mr. Pham Anh Tuan's petition and reported this content to the Provincial People's Council, including the information that "when there is a response document from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Nghe An Provincial Social Insurance will implement the direction of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs...".
UNDERSTANDING?
According to Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs' claim that the 1985 error was corrected in 1994 is incorrect, because the 1985 salary adjustment slip clearly stated the reason for the conversion adjustment according to Decree 27/CP; if the error was really corrected, his salary should have been adjusted to 374 VND/month, not 346 VND/month... At the same time, he said that the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs' citing of document No. 91/BHXH-QLC of Vietnam Social Security to reject the remedy for his material loss of benefits is unfair.
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| Pham Anh Tuan's daughter presents the incident. Photo: Nhat Lan |
If the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs at this time discovers that there were mistakes in 1985 regarding Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, it must correct them.
Considering the content of Mr. Pham Anh Tuan's petition and studying related documents and materials, there are concerns. This is shown right in the salary adjustment document of Mr. Pham Anh Tuan dated May 5, 1994. Because the reason for the adjustment is clearly stated: "Convert salary according to Decree No. 27". In 1994, it should be noted that the time of implementing Decree No. 27/CP, adjusting pension and allowance levels for social policy beneficiaries, in which there is a very clear provision that all pensioners like Mr. Pham Anh Tuan are entitled to an increase of 20% of their current salary. Therefore, if the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs at this time discovered that in 1985 there were mistakes regarding Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, it must correct the mistake; at the same time, it must continue to adjust Mr. Tuan's salary in accordance with the spirit of Decree No. 27/CP, that is, increase by 20% according to the corrected salary level. In reality, the adjustment form does not show that, it only adjusts from 281 VND to 346 VND/month. But I'm afraid that is not accurate!
The salary adjustment is controversial. While the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs affirmed that the increase to 346 VND/month in 1994 was a correct correction for the title of Store Manager; Mr. Pham Anh Tuan defended the view that it should be 374 VND/month to be correct. Objectively, the arguments of both sides are not really convincing. The reason is that they have not determined which rank the position of Store Manager of Quy Hop District Pharmacy Store is classified into in Circular No. 11/LD-TT in 1985 (in Circular No. 11 in 1985 guiding the salary scale for civil servants and public employees in the state sector, the position of Store Manager has 4 ranks). Regarding this content, to achieve consensus, in our opinion, it is necessary to review the salary regime for cadres with the same title of Pharmacy Stores in the same period in the province as a basis for resolution.
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| Mr. Pham Anh Tuan and his relatives on the day of receiving the Party Badge. Photo: Nhat Lan |
According to the regulations in Document No. 91/BHXH-QLC of Vietnam Social Security, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan's material losses due to policy violations will not be paid back. To resolve this issue, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs sent a document to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs asking for instructions in December 2017; in April 2019, it sent a document asking for instructions for the second time. However, after nearly 2 years, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has not responded.
Regarding this issue, I think the case of Mr. Pham Anh Tuan needs to be considered and resolved. Because the disadvantages that led to his loss were caused by the mistakes of the state agencies.
It is necessary to discuss further that the mistake of the state agency happened more than 30 years ago, so to clarify it is complicated; besides, policies have changed over time, so it is difficult to propose a solution that can reach the consensus of the petitioner. However, an immutable principle is that when a citizen has a petition, it needs to be considered and resolved thoroughly, in accordance with the law. For a citizen who is 92 years old, 70 years old in the Party like Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, it is even more necessary to be careful to verify and clarify to ensure a reasonable and sympathetic resolution!
