Social Affairs
Gov’t calls for raising poverty threshold
Deputy PM Vu Van Ninh has called for raising the national poverty line in accordance with international standards in the years to come during a recent meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Sustainable Reduction.
Deputy PM Vu Van Ninh (second from the left) at the meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Sustainable Reduction, Ha Noi, January 16, 2015
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A new poverty line should cover a number of criteria, including the access to information, healthcare, education, housing among others, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said.
The Ministry said it will propose increases of the poverty threshold in both rural and urban areas to VND1 billion and VND1,3 million, respectively, since 2016.
The Government is now implementing the national target program for sustainable poverty reduction for the 2011-2015 with encouraging outcomes.
According to general reports of localities, the rate of poor households by the end of 2014 was 5.8-6%, a 1.8-2% fall compared with 2013 but poverty still remains a major challenge in the poorest districts with the poverty rate of amounting to 33.2%.
Regarding tasks for 2015, Deputy PM Ninh has asked the inferior levels to continue maintaining the 2% poverty reduction pace and lower the rate of poor households below 5%.
However, poverty reduction is not sustainable and some policies are overlapping and unfeasible./.
