Joint Circular No. 84/2005/TTLT-BTC-BLDTBXH guiding the allocation and management of funds to implement policies for persons who have rendered meritorious services to the revolution under the management of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for allocating and managing funds to implement policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution under the management of the Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs sector

For the implementation of policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution managed by the Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs sector

__________________________________

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

Pursuant to Decree No. 28/CP dated April 29, 1995 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Ordinance on Preferential Treatment for Persons Engaged in Revolutionary Activities, Martyrs and Their Families, War Invalids, Veterans, and Persons Who Have Contributed to the Revolution, and subsequent Decrees amending and supplementing Decree No. 28/CP dated April 29, 1995, and current regulatory legal documents;

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs provide guidelines for allocating and managing funds to implement preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution under the management of the Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs sector (hereinafter referred to as funds for implementing preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution) as follows:

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. The central budget ensures funding sources to implement preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution according to Decree No. 28/CP dated April 29, 1995 of the Government, Decrees amending and supplementing Decree No. 28/CP, and other relevant regulatory legal documents of competent authorities. Financial agencies and the State Treasury provide sufficient and timely funding to the Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs agency.

2. The Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs agency shall take the lead in coordinating with financial agencies and the State Treasury to manage the funding for implementing preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution and organize the disbursement in accordance with the regulations stipulated in this Circular.

3. Quarterly and annually, the Ministry of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs shall prepare detailed budgets for the funding to implement preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution and send them to the Ministry of Finance as the basis for allocating funds.

4. The funding for implementing preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution shall be allocated by the Ministry of Finance through payment orders to the provincial and centrally-administered city finance departments for transfer to the provincial and centrally-administered city Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs departments or directly using units based on the approved budget estimates.

5. Provincial and centrally-administered city Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs departments and directly using units shall open bank accounts at the State Treasury where they conduct transactions to receive and settle accounts for the funding used.

6. The funding for implementing preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution shall be utilized, managed, and settled in accordance with the State Budget Law, guidance documents of competent authorities, and specific provisions in this Circular.

II. CONTENTS OF FUNDS FOR IMPLEMENTING PREFERENTIAL POLICIES FOR PERSONS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE REVOLUTION

1. Monthly and one-time allowances for the following categories:

- Persons engaged in revolutionary activities before August 1945;

- Martyrs and their families;

- National Heroic Forces, Mother Vietnam Hero, National Hero of Labor;

- War invalids, veterans, and persons receiving benefits equivalent to war invalids;

- Persons engaged in revolutionary activities or anti-enemy resistance activities who were captured and imprisoned by the enemy;

- Persons engaged in national liberation, national defense, and international duty;

- Persons who have contributed to the revolution;

- Other categories as prescribed by the Ordinance on Preferential Treatment for Persons Who Have Contributed to the Revolution and current regulatory legal documents.

2. Other preferential expenditures:

- Subscription fees for People's Newspaper for persons engaged in revolutionary activities before August 1945;

- Funeral expenses allowance;

- Funeral ceremony allowance for martyrs;

- Memorial allowance for martyrs;

- Health insurance;

- Transportation costs for medical examination, disability assessment, prosthetic device fabrication, and medical examination fees for war invalids, veterans, and persons receiving benefits equivalent to war invalids;

- Special treatment drugs and other special treatments for war invalids, veterans, and persons receiving benefits equivalent to war invalids for treating recurrent injuries and diseases;

- Special provision for severely disabled war invalids and veterans;

- Prosthetic devices and assistive equipment for war invalids, veterans, and persons receiving benefits equivalent to war invalids and persons who have contributed to the revolution as decided by competent authorities;

- Rehabilitation and convalescence treatment for war invalids, veterans, and persons who have contributed to the revolution;

- Gifts from the President and additional holiday meals; - Support for severely disabled war invalids and veterans to recuperate at home;

- Support for the construction and maintenance of martyrs' gravesites and memorials;

- Preferential expenditures in education and training;

-3. Expenditures for operating care facilities for severely disabled war invalids and veterans managed by the provincial Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs departments:

In addition to the preferential expenditures mentioned in points 1 and 2 above, care facilities for severely disabled war invalids and veterans also receive support for the following expenditures:

- Repair of housing and infrastructure;

- Purchase and repair of furniture, equipment, and facilities;

- Rent and service fees, office supplies, information, communication, and propaganda expenses;

- Cultural, sports, and recreational expenses;

- Transportation costs for war invalids and veterans visiting their families; Reception expenses for families of war invalids and veterans staying at care facilities for severely disabled war invalids and veterans.

4. Expenditures for management work:

To ensure business operations related to the management of beneficiaries, file management, and financial accounting for implementing preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution, the Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs sector is allowed to allocate 1.7% of the total expenditure for implementing preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution annually for the following purposes:

- Payment for staff disbursing allowances at communes and wards;

- Information dissemination, office supplies, printing, purchasing books and materials for management work;

- Training and professional development;

- Purchase and repair of assets (cash boxes, filing cabinets, computers, etc.) for disbursement and beneficiary management;

- Support for the application of information technology for file management, beneficiary management, and allowance disbursement;

- Additional hours pay, experience exchange, rental, and other expenses for management work.

- Expenses for overtime allowances, experience exchange, hiring, and other expenses serving management activities.

The level of extraction and the content of expenditure mentioned above shall be implemented from January 1, 2005. The Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs is responsible for allocating management fees to provinces and centrally governed cities, ensuring that the total fee allocated to units does not exceed the overall fee level of the entire sector. For central-level management fund expenditures (including: training costs, support for information technology application, and other management costs) are included in the annual regular expenditure tasks of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs.

III. MANAGEMENT OF FUNDS:

1. Budget Estimate:

The budget estimate for implementing preferential policies for persons who have made contributions to the revolution must fully reflect the expenditure content specified in Part II of this Circular according to the target groups and current expenditure regulations.

The budget estimate must be prepared in accordance with the prescribed forms and budget item lists of the State budget and provide explanations on the basis and calculation methods in accordance with the Law on State Budget and guiding documents thereof. The annual budget estimate will be carried out through the following procedures and timelines:

a) Preparing the budget estimate:

- The Civil Affairs and Labor Department of districts, counties, towns, and cities under provinces (hereinafter referred to collectively as the Civil Affairs Department) and the care facilities for disabled veterans directly under the Provincial Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shall prepare the budget estimate for preferential expenditures for persons who have made contributions to the revolution of the planned year and submit it to the Provincial Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs before June 10 each year.

- The Provincial Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shall review and examine the budget estimates of the Civil Affairs Departments, care facilities for disabled veterans, and its own budget estimates, then consolidate them into a budget estimate for the department to be submitted to the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs and the Provincial Finance Department before July 5 each year.

- The Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shall review and examine the budget estimates of the Provincial Departments of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, consolidate them into a budget estimate for implementing preferential policies for persons who have made contributions to the revolution, and submit it to the Ministry of Finance before July 20 each year.

- The Ministry of Finance shall review, examine, and consolidate the budget estimate for preferential expenditures for persons who have made contributions to the revolution into the State budget expenditure plan, report to the Government for approval by the National Assembly, and notify the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs before November 20 each year.

b) ALLOCATION AND ASSIGNMENT OF BUDGET ESTIMATES:

- Based on the approved budget, the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shall prepare a distribution plan for the budget to localities and submit it to the Ministry of Finance before November 30 each year for examination. Within seven working days from the date of receipt of the distribution plan from the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance shall issue a written notification of the examination results to the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs.

- On the basis of the examination by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shall decide to allocate the detailed budget (according to the content of expenditure and sub-items of the State budget item list) to the Provincial Departments of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs before December 10 each year, and send copies to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities, the Ministry of Finance, the Provincial Finance Departments, and the State Treasury where transactions take place.

- Based on the allocated budget, the Provincial Departments of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shall distribute the budget to the Civil Affairs Departments, care facilities for disabled veterans, and their own expenditures, and submit them to the Provincial Finance Department for examination. Within seven working days from the date of receipt of the documents, the Provincial Finance Department shall conduct an examination (on the total amount, expenditure structure, compliance with policies and regulations, number of beneficiaries) and notify the examination results to the Provincial Departments of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs.

- Based on the examination by the Provincial Finance Department, the Provincial Departments of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs shall decide to allocate the budget to the Civil Affairs Departments, care facilities for disabled veterans, and their own expenditures before December 31 each year, and send copies to the Provincial Finance Department and the State Treasury where transactions take place; and send copies to the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities for reporting.

2. Allocation of Funds:

- The funds for implementing preferential policies for persons who have made contributions to the revolution shall be allocated by issuing payment orders into Chapter 160A, Type 15, Clause 08, Item 122, and corresponding sub-items of the current State budget item list.

- Monthly, based on the notified budget estimate, upon the request of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance shall issue payment orders to transfer funds to the State Treasury to deposit into the accounts opened at the State Treasury of the province by the Provincial Finance Department before the last day of the previous month.

- Based on the budget estimate for implementing preferential policies for persons who have made contributions to the revolution and the transferred central funds, the Provincial Finance Department shall control expenditures and allocate funds to the Provincial Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs (for expenditures at the department), the Civil Affairs Departments, and care facilities for disabled veterans before the fifth day of the month to enable these units to carry out their assigned tasks.

For one-time assistance payments including: combat activity allowances, B, C, K allowances, and youth volunteer allowances..., the Ministry of Finance shall base on the results of the local review and the request of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs regarding the number of beneficiaries and the amount of assistance to be received to allocate funds by issuing payment orders as described above.

3. Settlement of Funds:

The final account report on the implementation of preferential policies for persons who have made contributions to the revolution must fully reflect all expenditures as stipulated, included in the allocated budget estimate, and in accordance with the State budget item list; expenditures for purchasing and repairing assets must comply with the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance.

The final account report must be prepared and submitted to the managing authority within the prescribed time limit, complete with forms, explanations, and confirmation from the State Treasury where transactions take place.

The procedure for reviewing the final accounts for the year is as follows:

- The Civil Affairs Departments and care facilities for disabled veterans shall prepare the final account report in accordance with regulations and submit it to the Provincial Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs and the Provincial Finance Department before April 30 each year.

- The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall take the lead and coordinate with the Department of Finance to examine and notify the settlement of funds expended at the Civil Affairs-Social Welfare Departments, the war invalids care facilities, and the portion of funds expended at the Department; compile and report on the settlement of central funds for implementing preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (accompanied by notifications approving the settlement of the Civil Affairs-Social Welfare Departments and the war invalids care facilities) to the Department of Finance before June 10 each year.

- The Department of Finance shall review and approve the settlement of central funds for implementing preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs before June 25 each year.

- The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall submit two copies of the adjusted settlement reports (accompanied by the review records of the Department of Finance, notifications approving the settlement of the Civil Affairs-Social Welfare Departments, and notifications approving the settlement of the war invalids care facilities) to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs before July 5 each year.

- The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to review and notify the results of the review of the settlement reports to the Departments of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; compile the settlement according to the review results and send it to the Ministry of Finance before October 1 each year.

- The Ministry of Finance shall review and incorporate the settlement into the State budget in accordance with the prescribed regulations.

4. Inspection work:

- The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall take the lead and coordinate with the Department of Finance and the State Treasury of the localities to periodically inspect the management and use of funds for implementing preferential policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution, ensuring that the use of funds at the local level is in accordance with the purpose, content, and target groups as stipulated by the State.

- The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to periodically and urgently inspect the use of funds for implementing policies for persons who have contributed to the revolution in accordance with the provisions of the law.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular shall take effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette and replace Circular Joint No. 135/1998/TTLT/BTC-BLDTBXH dated October 16, 1998, jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs on guiding the issuance and management of funds delegated for payment of preferential allowances for persons who have contributed to the revolution from the central budget.

2. The Departments of Finance, Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, and the State Treasuries of the provinces and centrally-administered cities shall be responsible for coordinating, guiding, and organizing the implementation of this Circular.

Any difficulties encountered during the implementation should be promptly reported for the joint ministries to amend and supplement accordingly./.