Accordingly, the voters proposed the State, all levels and functional sectors to consider and increase the pension for communal officials retiring before 2009 and those retiring before 1993 with low salaries and facing difficulties in lives. Also according to the proposal, over the past years, the Party and State have always paid attention to the lives of the retired people, including those who retired before April 1993. The Government has adjusted the pension increase many times over the stages, which shows that the lives of the retired have gradually improved.

However, there is still a gap in the pension rates of pensioners, in which about 20% of the retired before April 1993 had a pension of less than 2.5 million VND per month; about 57% of the retired before April 1993 had a pension of 2.5 million VND per month or below the average pension; also a group of the retired before April 1993 was facing many difficulties.

At the same time, by adjusting the same ratio between low-pension and high-wage earners, the absolute increment is different, creating the difference in pension rates between pre and post retirees of the timing of adjustment. Therefore, it is recommended that the Government review this regulation and only increase salaries for those with pensions below 5 million VND per month. Besides, officials who retired before 1990 have extremely low salary and are facing difficulties, therefore, it is suggested to consider and appropriately adjust the pay rates, etc.

Illustrative image (source: Internet)

Responding to the proposal, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said: According to the law on social insurance, "social insurance entitlement rate is calculated on the basis of payment rate and time of payment of social insurance premium"; the monthly pension of employees is calculated on the basis of the monthly salary as a proof for calculating the social insurance premium payment and the time the employee has paid during work. Through the implementation of pension adjustment over time, the retirement life has been gradually improved. The government has also paid more attention to low-pension retirees and has taken steps to reduce the gap between retirees and periods.

However, due to the fact that the policy on salary, staff, and social insurance in our country have undergone many stages of reform and adjustment, there is still a certain gap in pension rates of pensioners between periods. To overcome this problem, at the seventh plenary session, the 12th Central Committee issued Resolution No. 28-NQ/TW dated May 23, 2018 on reform of social insurance policies, which clearly states "the basic pension is adjusted mainly on the basis of the increase in the consumer price index, the ability of the social insurance fund and the state budget; to adjust appropriately for the low-pension groups and retirees before 1995 in order to narrow the gap between pensioners at different periods”.

Implementing the Government's Resolution No. 28 and Resolution No. 125/NQ-CP, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has collaborated with relevant ministries and agencies to develop a project to implement relatively independent pension adjustments related to the salary of a working person, apply sharing in the adjustment and report to the Government for consideration and decision.