Together with the ideological work and the organisational work, the policy work plays an important role in building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” and making the Military Region 5’s armed forces comprehensively strong. Hence, over the years, the Military Region 5’s Party Committee and Command have focused their leadership and direction on the policy work together with synchronous, effective measures.

The Military Region 5 suffered from devastating destruction caused by the wars. This region’s socio-economic development is slower than the others of the country. Therefore, the policy work in the Military Region 5’s area is always confronted with particular difficulties as its area and number of  beneficiaries are large, the demand for financial support is great, transport infrastructure, especially in the remote, isolated places is underdeveloped, and natural disasters frequently occur. Against that backdrop, under the routine, timely leadership and direction from the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence, and the General Department of Politics, with the close coordination between local party committees and authorities, the Military Region’s Party Committee and Command have determined that the policy work is one of the most important tasks of profound political and humanitarian significance which should be effectively performed. For that reason, the Military Region’s Party Committee has issued the Resolution 04-NQ/ĐU, dated October 28^th, 2016 on enhancing leadership and direction on the policy work for the Army and the Army Rear in the period of 2016-2020. At the same time, it has proactively undertaken research and promulgated directives, plans and guidance as the basis for offices and units to carry out the policies shaped by our Party and State opportunely, effectively. It has also directed all-level party committees and commands to develop resolutions and action plans for the policy work in accordance with the particularities and task of each office and unit. In their annual working plans, offices and units have placed emphasis on correctly assessing the policy work and identifying the centrepiece of this work for the following year. Semi-annually, all-level political offices make evaluation of the policy work and relevant entitlements and supplement pieces of work, recommendations and issues to give advice to party committees and commands, while combining the assessment of political task performance with the evaluation of the policy work.

Grounded on resolutions, decrees, circulars, regulations and guiding documents by higher echelons on the policy work for the Army and the Army Rear, the Military Region’s Party Committee and Command have focused their leadership and direction on the work of education and propagation to render organisations, sectors, and forces, particularly all-level party committees and commands as well as local party committees and authorities fully aware of the policy work. Propagandists have conducted oral propagation and held direct dialogues. Documents on the policy work have been released via regional and local newspapers and television stations, internal radio systems and mass media. Doing so has enabled all people to clearly understand the role, importance and significance of the policy work and the national tradition of “remembering the source when drinking water.” Great value has been attached to clarifying the relationship between citizens’ rights and duties so that they would be acutely aware of the goal and humanitarian significance of our Party and State’s policy work. In order that units and localities would ensure sufficient policies, the Military Region has proactively organised refresher courses at each level and within each sector, even in the remote, isolated areas. It has cooperated with localities in dispatching cadres to introduce policies and entitlements to each beneficiary and help them with legal procedure under the regulations, thereby ensuring that all policies and entitlements for beneficiaries would be implemented in a convenient, transparent, public, democratic, and effective manner.

Commander of the Military Region 5 visiting and giving presents to a Heroic Vietnamese Mother

To well carry out the policy work, the Military Region has added great weight to maintaining coordination between competent offices, units and localities and fostering cooperation between superior and junior offices and between offices both inside and outside the Military in counselling and directing this work. It has directed competent offices to assign the task of ensuring policies and entitlements to each office and unit, thus avoiding overlap and refusal of responsibility. All-level party committees have been required to focus their leadership on formulating action plans and programmes while offices and units have been tasked with cooperating with local party committees and authorities in effectively executing the promulgated policies. At the same time, they have enhanced the work of inspecting and managing the situation and cooperated with relevant offices, units and localities in opportunely dealing with the arising issues. As a result, the role of committees, sectors, unions and localities in performing the policy work has been encouraged, while shortcomings, weaknesses and negative practices in this work have been handled and prevented.

In order to raise the quality of the staff work by all-level policy offices, the Military Region has concentrated on renewing the working method of cadres in charge of the policy work, improved their capability, and further applied information technology to shortening the duration for performing the procedures in the policy work. While frequently organising refresher courses to raise cadres’ professional competence and working method, the Military Region’s Party Committee and Command have advised higher echelons on opportunely consolidating the organisational structure of policy offices to meet the task requirements in the new situation.

Thanks to sound guidelines and practical, effective measures, the policy work for the Military Region’s armed forces and the Army Rear, the search and collection of martyrs’ remains, and the “Gratitude” Movement in the area have obtained significant results. Notably, offices and units have strictly maintained the regulations on salary and allowance for troops. They have ensured policies and entitlements for the forces stationed in the border, sea, island areas, while providing special allowances and carrying out the policy work for active troops and discharged ones in a democratic, close, open and equal fashion, thereby making contributions to improving cadres, soldiers and employees’ living standard. Besides, due regard has been paid to executing the housing policy for each group of troops. Consideration has been given to ensuring welfare for the needy and implementing a preferential treatment policy to attract young intellectuals to economic-defence units and the units stationed in the remote, isolated areas. The Military Region’s Party Committee and Command have stringently implemented the policy on social and medical insurance opportunely under the regulations. They have also ensured the pension policy for retired cadres. Great value has been attached providing medical examination and treatment and the healthcare policy for all groups of troops.

Furthermore, due attention has been paid to policies for the Army Rear. In addition to ensuring policies and entitlements for families of cadres, soldiers, national defence workers and employees, and contract labourers, the Military Region has closely directed offices and units to actively mobilise resources to give financial assistance to families under difficult circumstance and those who have life-threatening diseases. Emphasis has been placed on holding vocational training programmes and giving advice on employments for discharged soldiers, providing scholarships and employments for offspring of seriously wounded soldiers and spouses of soldiers who had died on duty, thereby contributing to stabilising military families’ life and ensuring social security.

Grasping and strictly implementing the Prime Minister’s Decision 1237/QĐ-TTg, dated July 27^th, 2013 on approving “the Project to search and collect martyrs’ remains towards 2020 and beyond,” the Steering Board on search and collection of martyrs’ remains and teams for decoding units’ names within the Military Region have promoted their role in opportunely dealing with information about martyrs and martyrs’ graves and decoding units’ names for the purpose of searching and collecting martyrs’ remains. Since 2015, the Military Region has collected, received and buried over 1,800 sets of remains of soldiers who had died both at home and abroad. It has also stringently implemented policies and entitlements for people with meritorious service to the revolution under the Party and State’s guidelines. It has managed and paid allowances for active soldiers with meritorious service and troops who had participated in resistance wars, Homeland defence wars, and international missions in Laos and Cambodia in a democratic, open, equal and accurate manner.

Promoting the synergy of the whole political system, offices and units have mobilised social resources to step up the “Gratitude” Movement. They have also encouraged offices and enterprises both inside and outside the Military to join hands in taking care of Vietnamese Heroic Mothers. Moreover, the Military Region has asked offices and units to closely cooperate with localities in building and presenting Houses of Gratitude, Houses of Comradeship and savings accounts to beneficiaries. Since 2015, the Military Region has visited and given presents and financial assistance to beneficiaries with more than 200 billion VND. It has actively taken part in the Programmes, namely “hunger eradication, poverty reduction” and “new-style countryside construction,” while helping the people to build rural roads and channels, thus making great contributions to eliminating hunger, alleviating poverty, and stabilising beneficiaries’ life in the Military Region’s area.

Practical, effective deeds by the Military Region 5’s armed forces, the efforts by the community, and the responsibility of local party committees, authorities, sectors, organisations and forces have enabled humanitarian values of the policy work of our Party, State and Military to spread within the society and contribute to ensuring social security and equality, giving an incentive to cadres and soldiers’ successful fulfillment of all assigned tasks, consolidating the “posture of people’s hearts and minds,” constructing and firmly protecting the Socialist Homeland.

Maj. Gen. TRUONG THIEN TO, Deputy Commissar of the Military Region 5