Houses built out of gratitude for those who have rendered meritorious service.
Over the years, the "Gratitude and Repayment" movement, supporting war veterans and their families with difficult circumstances regarding housing, assisting and creating conditions for war veterans and their families to develop economically, and eradicating hunger and poverty... has been actively responded to by Party committees, authorities, the Fatherland Front, political and social organizations, and all strata of people in Nghe An province, bringing practical and meaningful results.
Thosehouse of compassion
Mrs. Dang Thi Thin (96 years old), residing in Nghi Long commune (Nghi Loc district), moved into her new house with her daughter at the beginning of 2024. The house was built with a budget of 150 million VND, of which 50 million VND was contributed by the Fund for Supporting Families of Martyrs.
Mrs. Thin is the mother of martyr Le Van Hung, who sacrificed his life in the resistance war against the US to save the country. Mrs. Thin said with joy: "For a long time, my daughter and I dreamed of having a spacious house like this to live in, but we were unable to do so. We didn't even have half the money to build a two-room house with enough shelter from the rain and sun... Now, thanks to the support of social organizations and our neighbors, my daughter and I have a decent house to live in."
Also in Nghi Long commune, the Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs assisted Mrs. Dinh Thi Nhu Hoa in Kim Dien hamlet in building a spacious two-room house. Mrs. Hoa is the wife of martyr Hoang Van Thai, who died in the Southwest battlefield. For many years, Mrs. Hoa and her second child lived in a small, dilapidated, leaky house. In recent years, her child went to the South to find work, leaving her alone at home, which was truly difficult. With a support fund of 50 million VND, her family mobilized additional resources from relatives and neighbors to build a new house worth nearly 200 million VND, ensuring a new, comfortable place to live in her old age.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh, a policy officer in Nghi Long commune: Although there are very few policy beneficiaries in the area who receive socialized funding for housing construction, the commune government has utilized various other funding sources to support and care for war veterans. In the past nearly five years, the commune has mobilized more than 500 million VND to support the repair and construction of 10 houses for elderly, lonely, sick war veterans or the wives and mothers of martyrs who are facing many difficulties in life.
Mr. Dang Van Luong, Head of the Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Department of Nghi Loc District, said: In the past five years, the district has built and repaired 110 houses for people with meritorious services with a total of 6.805 billion VND from social mobilization sources. The beneficiaries are mainly the wives or mothers of martyrs. Although the support is not much, only 50-100 million VND per household, it has solved many difficulties for households in building and repairing houses.
In Hung Nguyen district, in 2023, the district mobilized social resources to support the construction and repair of 41 houses for families of war veterans and martyrs who were still facing housing difficulties, with a total cost of 1.1 billion VND. In addition, the district also mobilized other sources to build and repair 55 houses for war veterans and martyrs, with a total amount exceeding 3.4 billion VND.
Over the past two years (from January 2022 to June 2024), Nghe An province has mobilized over 41 billion VND for the "Gratitude Fund," along with contributions from organizations, individuals, and businesses, to support the construction and repair of houses for 479 disadvantaged policy beneficiary families, totaling 20,393 million VND.
Humane and timely policies
On April 26, 2013, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 22/2013/QD-TTg on housing support for people with meritorious services to the revolution. Accordingly, the beneficiaries of this support are households of people with meritorious services to the revolution and relatives of martyrs who were residing in and had permanent residence registration at that house before June 15, 2013. The households eligible for support must meet two conditions: Firstly, they must be households with a person recognized as having meritorious services to the revolution by a competent authority. Secondly, they must be living in temporary housing or housing that is severely damaged (including households that have previously received support under other policies) to the extent that it needs to be demolished and rebuilt, or requires repairs to the frame, walls, and replacement of the roof.
According to this decision, the State budget (including the central and local budgets) will provide 40 million VND per household for cases requiring demolition to rebuild houses, and 20 million VND per household for cases requiring repair of the frame, walls, and replacement of the roof.
The support must ensure that after receiving assistance, households are able to build new houses or repair and upgrade existing houses, ensuring a minimum usable area of 30m².2.
The People's Committee at the commune level will guide, inspect, and supervise households in building houses to ensure they meet the requirements regarding area and quality as stipulated by regulations, and encourage households to build their own houses. For households in difficult circumstances such as the elderly, single-parent households, and disabled households who are unable to build their own houses, the People's Committee at the commune level will organize the construction of houses for these households.
Accordingly, over the years, Nghe An province has diligently implemented the policy under Decision 22 and has achieved the set progress, despite facing many difficulties during the implementation period.
A total of 22,022 families of people who rendered meritorious services to the revolution received housing support (including 10,955 households building new houses and 11,067 households repairing houses), with a total budget of over 659 billion VND. The districts receiving the most support were: Yen Thanh with 2,599 households, Anh Son with 1,705 households, and Thanh Chuong with 1,312 households.
The policy of supporting the construction and repair of housing for war veterans is a humane and timely policy that is absolutely necessary. The implementation of this policy has somewhat alleviated the housing difficulties faced by war veterans. However, surveys show that many families of war veterans still face significant challenges in their daily lives, especially regarding housing. Therefore, the government and social organizations will leverage resources to better care for war veterans, both materially and spiritually.
Ms. Ho Thi Chau Loan - Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs
