Over the past few days, Party and State leaders have visited martyrs’ cemeteries and presented gifts to war invalids, heroic mothers, and national contributors in honor of their great sacrifices to national independence and freedom. The government has allocated 14 million USD as gifts to those who rendered great services to the revolution. The improvement of laws and policies has promoted the “paying debts of gratitude” activities. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is amending the Ordinance on Preferential Treatment for National Contributors toward mobilizing all social resources to take better care of policy beneficiaries. Dao Ngoc Loi, Head of the Ministry’s Department of the National Devotees, said: “We have posted the draft ordinance on the Ministry’s portal and the government website to collect public feedback. The draft ordinance sets new criteria for recognizing national contributors to match the current situation. This year the government has also issued a decree on the adjustment of subsidies for revolutionary contributors, which has taken effect since July 1 and a resolution on continued support for national contributors having housing difficulties. These policies continue to reflect the special care of the Party and State for national contributors.”

On this year’s War Invalids and Martyrs Day, nearly 500 martyrs have been proposed to be conferred with the Prime Minister’s certificates of merits. Mr. Loi said:  “We have organized for the first time a meeting to honor 500 seriously injured war veterans and have arranged a trip for seriously wounded soldiers to visit Hanoi and talk with Party and State leaders. We also presented Certificates of National Contribution Commendation to more than 400 martyrs in Vinh Long, a former revolutionary base during the resistance wars against foreign invaders.”

Vietnam has recognized more than 9 million people as national contributors, 1.2 million martyrs, 800,000 war invalids, and 127,000 heroic Vietnamese mothers. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs aims to raise the living standards of revolutionary contributors to at least the average level of people in their residential areas.