Resolution 68 of the Government: Timely, humane, practical and popular decisions

Medical staff take Covid-19 test samples from people in Cham Puong village, Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district (Nghe An). Photo: Thanh Cuong

On July 1, 2021, the Government issued Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP on a number of policies to support employees and employers facing difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The subsidy of VND 26,000 billion was determined by the Government to support employees and employers facing difficulties due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, contributing to the recovery of production and business, minimizing the negative impacts of the pandemic, stabilizing production and business, ensuring the lives and safety of employees.

Support package with 4 highlights

The first, this is the Government's support package for employees and employers affected by the ongoing epidemic. Since the beginning of 2021, our country has had to deal with the third and fourth consecutive Covid outbreaks. The fourth outbreak broke out at the end of April 2021 and is continuing to have complicated developments, greatly affecting the production and lives of both businesses and people.

In the first 5 months of 2021 alone, nearly 60,000 businesses nationwide had to close, suspend operations, or dissolve, an increase of 23% over the same period in 2020.

The pandemic has reduced the resilience of businesses, including those with large capital and brands in the market, due to the prolonged impact of the pandemic. The lives of most workers have been affected by reduced income and job loss (the report on the labor and employment situation in the second quarter and the first 6 months of 2021 by the General Statistics Office said that 12.8 million people aged 15 and over nationwide were negatively affected by the pandemic. Compared to the first quarter, the pandemic has caused an additional 3.7 million workers to fall into this situation).

Therefore, Resolution 68 of the Government is a timely and appropriate decision, effective in supporting workers and businesses facing difficulties due to the pandemic.

Phan Dang Luu Beer Street - one of the most crowded places in Vinh City is deserted even though it is almost noon. Photo taken on May 8, 2021. Photo courtesy of Nguyen Chau

Monday, compared to the first support package (2020), this support package according to Resolution 68 has been expanded in scope, form and support objects. Accordingly, 12 support policies include: Policy to reduce occupational accident and disease insurance premiums; temporarily suspend contributions to the pension and death fund; support for job maintenance training for employees; support for employees who temporarily suspend labor contracts, take unpaid leave; support for employees who stop working; support for employees who terminate contracts; additional support for children; support for food expenses for people who have to be treated for Covid-19 infection; one-time support for art directors, actors, painters holding professional titles of level IV, tour guides with practice cards affected by the pandemic; support for business households; loans to pay for work suspension, pay for production recovery; support for freelance workers and some other special objects.

The expansion of the scope and subjects of support under Resolution 68 not only demonstrates the Government's adherence to reality in providing a synchronous support package, but also demonstrates the humanity of the policy, with the motto "No one is left behind" during the pandemic.

Tuesday, the support policies under Resolution 68 are not only urgent support solutions at present but also help workers and businesses have the necessary preparations to continue participating in the labor market.

Accordingly, the Government has issued a policy of loans to pay for workers who have stopped working and loans to pay for workers who have resumed production. This is a measure to help businesses borrow from banks with preferential interest rates to pay wages to workers who have stopped working and support credit capital when they return to production and business. Resolution 68 also provides a policy to support training to maintain employment for workers with a maximum support level of 1.5 million VND/worker/month and a maximum support period of 6 months.

It can be said that the above very practical and appropriate policies not only help workers and businesses have more resources to fight the epidemic, but more importantly, provide the necessary support for them to continue production and business, strong enough to stand firm and overcome the negative impacts of the epidemic.

Wednesday,The issuance of a policy not only meets practical requirements but also creates conditions and premises for the policy to quickly and effectively enter life. Therefore, in addition to specific support policies, Resolution 68 has clearly stipulated the principles in the implementation process, which are: Ensuring timely support, to the right subjects, publicly and transparently, not allowing exploitation or profiteering of policies; building criteria and favorable conditions for employees and employers to easily access policies; ensuring the feasibility and effectiveness of policies and resources for implementation; decentralizing support responsibilities between the central state budget and local state budgets (provinces, cities).

With the spirit of "fighting the epidemic like fighting the enemy" and thoroughly implementing the Government's viewpoint of implementing the "dual goal", the birth of Resolution 68 contributes to creating more confidence, motivation and resilience of workers and businesses against the pandemic.

However, in the process of implementing the Resolution, putting the Resolution into practice in socio-economic life is the decisive step and measure of the success of a policy decision.

...and 4 recommendations

The first, Resolution 68 of the Government is related to many policies, beneficiaries and functional agencies from the central to local levels, so the implementation must comply with the Government's directives and be carried out synchronously, with close coordination between relevant departments. This not only helps the supported subjects to enjoy the Government's policies in a timely manner, but also improves the effectiveness of the support package according to the set goals.

Leaders of Nghe An Provincial Labor Federation presented gifts to support workers in the dormitory area that was locked down due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Photo: DVCC

Monday, in the 12 policies in the support package under Resolution 68, there are 7 contents related to direct cash support for the subjects such as workers who have stopped working, lost their jobs, F0, F1, children, civil servants working in the arts, tour guides and business households. This is a support that needs to be implemented immediately, completed as soon as possible to promptly support the subjects directly affected by the epidemic. That is also the spirit that Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung shared at the press conference announcing Decision 68 of the Prime Minister on July 7, that is, currently "people are eagerly waiting, looking forward to this support package every day. Therefore, any agency that is slow to implement support is guilty of the people, any locality that is negative, leading to profiteering is guilty of the people", "the faster the implementation, the better". It can be said that this is also the common spirit of the Government and all agencies and individuals involved in the implementation of Resolution 68.

Tuesday, among the beneficiaries of the support package, the poor, most of whom are self-employed, are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, but it is difficult to access the relief package in a timely and complete manner. This is also a limitation of the 2020 support package implementation, because self-employed workers are always moving between localities, and the work of obtaining local confirmation of workers with payments in other localities is very difficult to control, leading to a situation where workers do not receive timely support.

Therefore, localities need to be proactive and timely so that the support package reaches workers as soon as possible.

Wednesday, the support package under Resolution 68 of the Government can only bring positive results when the entire social community joins hands to share and contribute; promote the spirit of "mutual love" and creativity of each person to overcome the negative impacts of the epidemic. This not only helps workers and businesses have more material resources, but more importantly, spiritual values, creating motivation for everyone to join hands to support and overcome the pandemic, continue to maintain and develop production, restore the economy, and ensure social security for all people.

Resolution 68 has just been implemented, while Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong provinces and many localities across the country are entering the peak period to repel the Covid epidemic. To soon bring back normal life in this context, the importance and determination in implementing Resolution 68 of the Government in the fastest and most effective way is further affirmed. That is also the message of a popular decision, with the power to spread, creating more motivation for the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic, realizing the dual goals of the Government, helping to strengthen people's trust in the Party and the Government./.