Commenting on the effectiveness of the newly established HCMC Center for Social Security, its Director cum Chairwoman of HCMC Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front To Thi Bich Chau reported that until September 3, the center created over 1.8 million social security packages, 1.4 million of which were successfully delivered to the needy in all districts and Thu Duc City.
The fact is there are still more than 2.5 million people all around the city in need of this social security package. Adding to that high demand are many disadvantages like unfamiliarity with work, the wait for an administration system suitable for the specific case of HCMC, shortage of human resources since many are F0 or F1 cases, hindered supply flow, and limited resources from charity groups.
Nevertheless, Chairwoman Chau insisted that they will not give up but will try to adjust their work for a smoother cooperation.
She shared that the city leaders have reinforced the localities with more human resources, along with an increasing number of shippers volunteers allowed to distribute relief items to each household. The HCMC Social Security Center is trying to coordinate these forces so that needy people can receive goods as soon as possible.
In order to better serve citizens, an application called ‘An Sinh’ (or Social Security) was developed for those in need to request a social package. This request is then sent to the corresponding local area for information verification. When all criteria are met, the needy people will obtain a social security package from the government,
This app also allow charitable groups and individuals to offer help to specific cases, which means a successful resource mobilization tool and a chance for the public to perform their community duty well.
In the upcoming time, the center is preparing two million more social security packages, financed by the city budget.
Discussing the fact that many residents have not received a support package yet because they did not meet the criteria or were not in the listed groups to earn such a support, Director of the HCMC Department of Labors, War Invalids and Social Affairs Le Minh Tan first reported that on September 6, HCMC finishes distributing money in the Second Plus Support Round for 1.3 million poor freelancers and 1.2 vulnerable families. The total amount spent in this round is nearly VND2,600 billion (approx. US$114.2 million).
The city is now checking whether it has missed any cases to timely deliver help before September 15. Meanwhile, it is building its population management database, focusing on poor households and freelancers so that in the next support rounds, all of them can receive aid quicker.
Director Tan affirmed that at present, HCMC does not differentiate between those meeting or not meeting criteria, those in or not in the listed groups to earn a support. When the latest Covid-19 outbreak becomes increasingly complicated, anyone asking for help will definitely receive it.
Facing such a high demand, HCMC is requesting more aid from the Government and mobilizing possible resources from the community. It is planning to deliver the same financial amount to the vulnerable, whether taken from the state budget or the public resources.
Even with the suggested support amount of VND1.5 million ($66) per person per month, it is quite challenging to live in such an expensive city as HCMC. Therefore, Director Tan commented that the best solution is for the city to resume its economic activities as early as possible, which in turn will lead to a more stable state of social security for all citizens.
Understanding that, HCMC is now developing three scenarios for manufacturing and trading businesses sited here to step by step restart their operations after September 15, based on the pandemic control level of both the city and neighboring provinces.
No matter which scenario is selected, Vice Chairman of HCMC People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan assured that the city is able to care for its residents in at least three to four months, the suggested time for all economic activities to resume.
However, the Vice Chairman stated that the city adjusts its outdated policies to deliver help to all temporarily losing their income, regardless of their job. Moreover, the city will not use a household but each household member as a unit to receive support since even a baby does have his or her specific needs. Finally, the city will offer two kinds of support packages, namely the essential item packages and the two million social security packages from the city budget for those in dire need.
When being asked about the solutions to ensure sufficient essential commodities for such a high population of poor tenants from other provinces, Secretary of District 7 Party Committee Vo Khac Thai shared that besides the goods allocated by the municipal authorities, District 7 actively mobilize relief items from local benefactors. He reported that until now, his district has collected goods worth around VND100 billion ($4.4 million), together with rented room fee reduction worth VND16.5 billion ($725,000).
To quickly distribute essential goods to citizens, the localities have exploited forces like state officials, soldiers, members of the local Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, members of the quarter leaders, and the self-management teams of each neighborhood.
Particularly, the last group is not only responsible for giving goods to each family but also in charge of monitoring the health status and social security of people in that neighborhood as well as updating necessary information, using advanced communication tools like Zalo groups.
