HANOI, Sept 26: Vietnam's ruling Communist Party has disciplined nearly 500 cadres in Hanoi in the past year for various offences, including 23 who were punished for having too many children, state media reported.The Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said in a recent edition that the 478 cadres disciplined, who included some senior officials, were guilty of infractions ranging from corruption, to irresponsibility, to lax morals.The newspaper quoted Le Anh Hao, head of the organisation Commission of the Hanoi Party Committee, as saying 82 people were expelled from the party and 49 dismissed from their posts.The paper gave no other details of punishments but said in its Saturday edition that 23 cadres were disciplined for violating the state's two-child policy.Since 1993, government policy in Vietnam has tried to limit families to a maximum of two children in an effort to control a booming population.The UN Development Programme estimates the country's 79 million population is increasing at a rate of 1.7 per cent a year.Non-party members normally have to pay fines for having more than two children. In the countryside this can involve confiscation of 10 kg to 30 kg (22-66 lb) of unhusked rice per child while in cities, offenders at state firms can be denied pay increments.At least six of the party members disciplined were among those dismissed for their part in a scandal over approval of a water park project in Hanoi. The same scandal saw the dismissal of a deputy prime minister last year.The paper said 77 of the cases involved land violations, 45 corruption and 32 problems with morality and lifestyle.Another state newspaper reported late last week that the party in the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City was having problems attracting younger membership.Friday's Saigon Giaiphong (Saigon Liberation) said the proportion of Party members under 30 years old in the city fell to 4.57 per cent last year from 5.13 per cent in 1996 and that of members aged 31 to 40 years fell to 29.4 percent, from 36 per cent.It said that while members aged 51 and upward accounted for a third of total membership, many grassroots Party committees could not find anyone to replace their chairmen over 60.The paper said young and well-educated people in the city were flocking to the private and foreign invested sectors to find jobs as they could not expect high salaries in state offices and enterprises.
