Circular No. 68/2014/TT-BTC guiding the management and use of funds for implementing the pilot project on selecting young intellectuals to voluntarily participate in rural and mountainous area development from 2013 to 2020.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for managing and using funds to implement the Pilot Project on Selecting Young Intellectuals to Volunteer in Rural and Mountainous Areas for the 2013-2020 Period

participating in developing rural and mountainous areas

during the period from 2013 to 2020

__________________

Decree No. Decision No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget

Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Implementing Decision No. 1758/QĐ-TTg dated September 30, 2013 of the Prime Minister approving the Pilot Project on Selecting Young Intellectuals to Volunteer in Rural and Mountainous Areas for the 2013-2020 Period;

At the proposal of the Director of the State Budget Department;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular guiding the management and use of funds to implement the Pilot Project on Selecting Young Intellectuals to Volunteer in Rural and Mountainous Areas for the 2013-2020 Period;

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates the management and use of funds to implement the Pilot Project on Selecting Young Intellectuals to Volunteer in Rural and Mountainous Areas for the 2013-2020 Period (hereinafter referred to as the Project) approved by Decision No. 1758/QĐ-TTg dated September 30, 2013 of the Prime Minister.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Young intellectuals volunteering to participate in the Project (hereinafter referred to as Members).

2. Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, relevant ministries and sectors, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities.

3. Other agencies and units related to the implementation of the Project.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3. Contents of Expenditure for Activities of the Project

1. Expenditures covered by the central budget include:

a) Expenditure for information dissemination about the Project through mass media.

b) Expenditure for meetings to implement the Project; expenditure for organizing training sessions to implement the Project for provinces within the scope of the Project.

c) Expenditure for selecting Members, including: Expenditure for receiving, compiling, classifying, and reviewing Member applications; organizing selection meetings for Members who wish to join.

d) Expenditure for conducting surveys to determine the need for young intellectuals in communes within the scope of the Project nationwide;

e) Expenditure for training Members on state administration knowledge, professional skills, and necessary skills before working in communes, including: Building training materials, pre-service training for Members before going to communes; Members' work manuals and reference guides; organizing training sessions to update knowledge and share work experience for Members;

g) Expenditure for sending Members to communes to stabilize their living and working conditions;

h) Expenditure for supervising activities of the Project in provinces within the scope of the Project;

i) Expenditure for evaluating the performance of Members during their time working in communes; including: Expenditure for researching and proposing amendments and supplements to state policies for Members; expenditure for building questionnaires, interviews, and public opinion surveys on the effectiveness of the Project and state policies for strengthening young intellectuals' voluntary work in communes;

k) Expenditure for mid-term and final evaluations of Project activities;

l) Overtime pay; office supplies, travel expenses of officials involved in implementing Project tasks, purchasing equipment to serve Project activities, and other related expenses.

2. Expenditures covered by local budgets include:

2.1. Direct payments to Members after being strengthened at the grassroots level include:

a) Salary, allowances, contributions (social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance), and other attraction policies according to the law.

b) Support and subsidies for Members as prescribed in Decree No. 116/2010/NĐ-CP dated December 24, 2010 of the Government on policies for civil servants, employees, and military personnel working in particularly difficult economic and social conditions, including:

- Initial support equivalent to ten months of the basic salary.

- In cases where Members have families that move with them, in addition to the initial subsidy, they will be subsidized for transportation costs for family members moving and will receive a relocation allowance equivalent to twelve months of the basic salary for the household.

- They will receive a subsidy equivalent to seventy percent of their current salary including: current salary and leadership position allowance (if applicable); the duration of the subsidy is the actual time working in the commune and not exceeding five years.

- Subsidies for purchasing and transporting clean water for daily needs after deducting the cost of clean water included in the salary (applicable only to areas with particularly difficult economic and social conditions lacking clean water seasonally).

c) Payment for transportation costs when visiting family during annual leave, holidays, and personal leave paid according to regulations.

d) Travel expenses for Members according to current regulations.

2.2. Other related expenditures include:

a) Surveys and lists of communes within the scope of the Project requiring additional Members.

b) Organizing meetings to implement the Project at provincial, district, and commune levels.

d) Subsidies for Members once they complete their assigned tasks, equivalent to half of their current monthly salary.

e) Supervision, mid-term and final evaluations, and other direct expenses related to the organization and implementation of the Project by localities.

Article 4. Levels of expenditure

1. Organization of conferences, seminars, meetings, and travel expenses shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 97/2010/TT-BTC dated July 6, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance on travel expenses and conference organization costs for state agencies and public institutions.

2. The training, professional development, and specialized vocational training costs for Team members (including accommodation rental payment expenses, meal support expenses, and other benefits during training, professional development, and specialized vocational training for Team members before being assigned to work in communes) shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 139/2010/TT-BTC dated September 21, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance, on the preparation of budgets, management, and utilization of state budget funds for training and professional development of civil servants and public officials.

3. For travel expenses paid when returning home during annual leave and holidays of Team members, such expenses shall be covered by the People's Committee of the commune where the Team member works, and shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 141/2011/TT-BTC dated October 20, 2011, issued by the Ministry of Finance, on the regulations for annual leave travel expense reimbursement for civil servants, public officials, and contractual employees working in state agencies and public institutions.

4. Regarding information dissemination and publicity costs related to the Project on mass media (radio, television, newspapers, magazines) shall be implemented in accordance with Decision No. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg dated March 14, 2008, issued by the Prime Minister, on the bidding, ordering, and assignment of tasks for providing public services funded by the state budget.

5. Other regular expenditure tasks shall be carried out in accordance with current regulations within the approved budget.

Article 5. Sources of Funding for Implementing the Project

The funding for implementing the Project will be allocated from the state budget and mobilized from other legitimate financial sources, including:

1. The central government budget will ensure funding for tasks carried out by ministries and central agencies as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 3 of this Circular. Annually, based on the project implementation plan, the agencies responsible for specific tasks will develop detailed budget estimates for each expenditure item at the same time as preparing the state budget estimate and coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs before consolidating into the unit's budget estimate, submitting to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation into the state budget estimate, and presenting to the competent authority for approval.

2. Local government budgets will ensure funding for tasks carried out by localities:

a) For expenses related to salaries, allowances, and salary-like payments directly paid to Team members: Localities will base their number of Team members and prescribed regulations to determine the funding needs and incorporate them into their local salary reform requirements. After using the local salary reform fund but still failing to meet the needs, the central government budget will supplement according to regulations (during organization and implementation, localities will base their actual number of Team members and incorporate them into the local salary reform funding requirement report submitted to the Ministry of Finance for review according to regulations). Team members will directly receive salaries, allowances, and salary-like payments at the commune where they work.

b) For expenses related to surveys and lists of communes under the scope of the Project requiring increased Team members; organizing meetings to implement the Project at provincial, district, and commune levels; inspecting, supervising, summarizing, concluding, and other expenses related to the organization and implementation of the Project by localities, Provincial Departments of Home Affairs implementing the Project will consolidate and prepare detailed budget estimates to submit to Provincial Finance Departments for consolidation and reporting to the Provincial People's Council for decision in the annual budget.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 6. Establishing Budget Estimates, Implementing and Finalizing Expenditures

The preparation, execution, and settlement of the budget for ensuring the implementation of the Project's tasks shall comply with the State Budget Law, guiding documents of the Law, and provisions of this Circular. Additionally, this Circular provides further guidance on the following:

For activities of the Project where the leading agency signs contracts with collaborating agencies to perform certain tasks during implementation, the leading agency shall sign contracts with the collaborating agencies. Payment vouchers and settlement documents shall be kept by the leading agency, including: the task performance contract (with the detailed budget estimate approved by the leading agency attached), acceptance certificate, contract termination record, payment authorization or payment voucher, and other directly related documents. Specific expenditure vouchers shall be retained by the agency or unit directly implementing them in accordance with current regulations. In cases of outsourcing, current regulations on purchasing and service provision shall apply.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

1. The Ministry of Home Affairs (the Project's permanent office) shall organize the development of the Implementation Plan and task allocation for ministries and central agencies to serve as the basis for implementing expenditure items guaranteed by the central government budget.

2. The policies and regulations stipulated in this Circular shall take effect from the date the Prime Minister's Decision No. 1758/QĐ-TTg dated September 30, 2013, comes into force.

3. This Circular takes effect from July 4, 2014.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, please reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and resolution./.