Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam presented gifts to families on social welfare, poor households and victims of Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin in the northern province of Bac Ninh on December 29 ahead of the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.

The event was jointly organised by the Central Committees of the Vietnam Women's Union and the Vietnam Red Cross (VRC), and the provincial People’s Committee.

Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Phong said over 124,000 people in Bac Ninh who had contributed their services to the country’s revolution are benefiting from social welfare policies, along with 41,000 people in need.

Since 2013, local authorities have spent over 337 billion VND (over 14.6 million USD) on building and repairing over 7,300 houses for those families, he said.

Additionally, the locality has also built 52 housing projects for workers, low-income people and students.

According to Phong, Bac Ninh province has issued many policies to raise the standard of social assistance and allowances for social welfare beneficiaries in the locality from 270,000 VND/month to 350,000 VND/month, and provided health insurance cards for the elderly.
In 2019, the locality spent over 800 billion VND (over 34.6 million USD) from its own budget on social security, Phong noted.

During the event, 231 gift packages were presented to heroic mothers, families covered by social welfare policies, poor households and AO/dioxin victims.

Over 2,000 gift sets were also given to members of trade unions living in disadvantaged circumstance, while 7,000 free train and bus tickets were provided for workers to return home for the Lunar New Year festival at a gathering of workers in the evening of the same day in Yen Phong industrial park.