Decree 159/2006/ND-CP on retirement benefits for soldiers directly involved in the anti-US resistance before April 30, 1975 with 20 or more years of army service who were demobilized or discharged

Decree 159/2006/ND-CP (28 December 2006) grants a monthly pension to military personnel who directly took part in the resistance war before 30 April 1975 and who served 20 or more years in the army before being demobilized or discharged before 1 April 2000. Eligible groups are those already demobilized or discharged, and war invalids with a working-capacity loss of 81% or more who are in convalescence centers or have returned home without yet receiving a pension. People serving prison sentences, those who left the country illegally, deserters, defectors, or persons declared missing by a court are excluded. The monthly pension is calculated from actual years of service (treated as social-insurance contribution years) and the average monthly salary used as the basis for social insurance. The first 15 years count as 45% of that average; each additional contribution year adds 3% for women and 2% for men, up to a maximum of 75%. For personnel who received only a living allowance (non-commissioned officers and soldiers), the monthly pension equals the minimum salary set by the Government. The average monthly salary is the average of the salaries used as the social-insurance basis over the final 5 years before demobilization, discharge, or transfer to a war-invalid convalescence center. The salary basis includes rank pay, grade pay, and seniority and position allowances (if any), converted into the corresponding coefficient under Decree 25/CP (1993); the minimum salary used as the pension basis is 290,000 dong. Pensions are computed as for persons who retired before 1 October 2004 and are adjusted on the same terms set out in Decrees 208/2004/ND-CP, 117/2005/ND-CP, 118/2005/ND-CP, 93/2006/ND-CP, and 94/2006/ND-CP. Beneficiaries also receive health insurance; on death, the person handling the funeral receives a funeral allowance, and survivors receive a monthly or lump-sum survivor allowance and other benefits available to pensioners under social-insurance law. Where a person met the conditions under point a but died before the Decree took effect, the main surviving relative receives a one-time payment of 3,600,000 dong. To claim, eligible persons submit original demobilization, discharge, or war-invalid records and related papers to the provincial Military Command, which compiles the file and forwards it to Military Social Insurance for appraisal and decision, then to Vietnam Social Insurance for payment. The State budget funds the scheme, with the Ministry of National Defense leading implementation guidance alongside the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. The Decree takes effect 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette, with benefits payable from 1 January 2007.