Part 4: Active participation of all levels and sectors is needed

(Baonghean) -After the series of articles "Implementing the support regime for victims of Agent Orange" was published, Nghe An Newspaper received many responses. Not only those who apply for the regime approval find it difficult and troublesome to do this procedure, but those responsible also have many concerns and worries about this issue. Nghe An Newspaper reporters discussed with leaders of relevant sectors and organizations..

Mr. Dinh Xuan Tu - Chairman of the Association of Agent Orange Victims of Nghe An Province: Policy officials do not sympathize with victims.

According to the feedback from Agent Orange victims to the Association, policy officials are still mechanical, even do not have a specific grasp of policies and do not sympathize with victims, so there is still a phenomenon of creating difficulties and obstacles for those who go through the approval procedures. There are cases where the same type of documents can be completed by one person and the other cannot, just because they know each other or do not know each other. From there, many people have to rely on "brokers" to get things done. Many people have come to the Agent Orange Victims Association to report the situation of power abuse and harassment by officials at ward, commune, district and city levels as well as the situation of "brokers" running the Agent Orange policy. Therefore, it is necessary to add members of the Agent Orange Victims Association at all levels to the Document Review Council.

The review of preferential treatment records for Agent Orange victims by the Nghe An Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is more strict and difficult than what the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs stipulates. Reviewing the regime for Agent Orange victims is a task that cannot be scheduled for a specific time, while our province has set a deadline of December 31, 2012 for completion, but must be done when the backlog is gone. The most difficult thing now is that those who participated in the resistance in areas contaminated by Agent Orange but lost their documents cannot complete their records. This problem requires specific solutions and attention from authorities at all levels to help and create conditions for these people to complete their records for review and approval of preferential treatment.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Minh - Vice Chairman of the Association of War Veterans of Nghe An province: There are still too many pending cases.

Currently, there are many completed files that are still pending because no one dares to confirm whether they are right or wrong, but must wait for the Appraisal Council at all levels. In some districts, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs requires the submission of original documents (while it is possible to have notarized photocopies and compare them with the original documents), and these original documents are also related to other policies, so the filers are afraid of losing them and do not dare to submit them.

We request that the responsible agencies quickly review the submitted documents. If the documents are checked and anyone is found missing something, they should be called to supplement it.

Due to the lack of coordination between responsible agencies and departments, people cannot understand who is eligible and who is not, leading to a race to complete documents to enjoy preferential treatment. Due to lack of understanding, those who are eligible also have to rely on "brokers" to get work. In my opinion, the number of documents prepared by "brokers" and those documents submitted to the authorities awaiting approval is not small.

To solve this situation, departments and local authorities must coordinate propaganda so that people know who is eligible for this preferential regime, and actively participate in helping Agent Orange victims complete their application for approval. People must also clearly understand whether they are eligible for this preferential regime or not, and should not just follow the "if it works, great, if it doesn't, that's it" approach, leading to being taken advantage of and scammed by "brokers".

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phung - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs: Many districts have not done a good job of propaganda and implementation to the grassroots level, causing delays and invalid documents.

Regarding the current status of the "broker" network running the regime, it is not yet confirmed whether it exists or not, because the process of making and reviewing documents involves the participation of many related departments and agencies. In late 2009 and early 2010, according to public opinion in Dien Chau, there was a "broker" network running Agent Orange regime documents. The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs coordinated with the Provincial Police to verify that out of several thousand documents sent to the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Dien Chau district, it was concluded that 42% of the documents were invalid.

Before submitting Decision 1197 (April 14, 2011) to the province (a decision that many people consider to be stricter than in other provinces, causing disadvantages to the victims - PV), we sent delegations to learn from the experiences of other provinces and made plans to submit to the Provincial People's Committee. We invited districts and related components to attend training sessions before implementing. Due to the complicated situation of filing documents in some provinces, on May 23, 2011, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs issued an official dispatch stating that priority should be given to cancer cases and cases with medical records from 2009 or earlier. Because of this official dispatch, cases that do not fall under this category must be temporarily suspended.

Many applications submitted to the provincial Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs were rejected because the district and commune levels did not carefully evaluate them, leading to invalid applications. There were even cases where applications were submitted without being in the army.

The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has issued an official dispatch to direct and urge the Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Offices of the districts, but in the recent review (September 9, 2011), there are still 7 districts: Con Cuong, Ky Son, Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Tan Ky, Quy Hop, Que Phong that have not yet compiled the documents to send for review. The remaining 13 districts and towns sent 238 documents, of which 203 were reviewed, leaving 35 invalid documents. Many districts have not done a good job of propaganda and implementation to the grassroots level, causing delays and invalid documents.

In addition, the conditions set by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Health to review support applications for Agent Orange victims are still problematic and unreasonable, causing difficulties in reviewing applications. In the immediate future, the Department will focus on directing the resolution of cases according to the Official Dispatch dated May 23, 2011 of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. The remaining cases will be collected and reported to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for guidance on handling.

To help people avoid being scammed and "brokers" in the process of making and reviewing documents, districts, towns and cities must do a good job of propaganda, and application forms must be posted at commune and ward offices for people to easily follow. District and city levels must urge the grassroots to implement and have active coordination between sectors.

PV Group