back
|
 |
Considerable Changes to Take Place in Russia's Social Sphere
By: Sergei Markov
StranaRu, June 14, 2001
President Putin's message to the Federal Assembly sends
a clear signal to the entire population of this country: considerable
changes of liberal nature are to take place in all areas of the social
sphere in the foreseeable future and it is necessary to be prepared for
them. Not to be left on the sidelines, the citizens ought to immediately
peruse legislation, both existing and prospective, in such crucial spheres
as the pension system, the insured medical services, paid education, etc.
It is what Vladimir Putin had in view when saying this: "Each citizen
of our country must know clearly what precisely he has the right to
receive free from the federal authorities, what from the regional
authorities, and for what he should pay himself." Thus, the 2001
presidential message logically developed the postulate contained in the
2000 message to the effect that it was necessary to leave behind the
paternalist model of social insurance.
In his present message the President showed clearly
which specific social areas would be first to be affected by change.
First, the pension system would change. Putin stated
that the average pension should exceed the living wage in 2001. He was
certain nevertheless that citizens, who were retiring on pension, many of
whom had worked quite intensively, could not be made dependent on the
results of work of future generations of employees. Currently Russia's
pension system was functioning precisely on that principle. Putin declared
it was necessary to go over to an accumulation-type system of pension
insurance. It was for these purposes, he said, that the National Council
for the Pension Reform had been created. A transition to a new pension
system would make it possible to solve another painful problem, the
legalization of incomes.
Second, operation of economic mechanisms would be
expanded inside the education system. The President stated that though
officially "free," education was getting commercialized. An
illegal market had been created in this social sphere, which was
corrupting both teachers and students. In this connection, the President
declared that it was necessary to clearly delimit the sphere of free and
paid education. Moreover, the access to free education should become fair
and guaranteed while paid education should be placed within a legal and
lawful framework. For this, the President said, new state educational
standards would be drawn up in 2001.
Third, such an important social sphere as free medical
assistance would be led out of the "shadow." According to the
President, the Government approves each year a program of state guarantees
for free medical assistance, but it was not financially assured in the
majority of regions. Though formally medical services were free, patients
had to pay for drugs and to doctors. State-run hospitals were being
secretly commercialized, something that generated arbitrariness and
encroachments on the principles of social equality. To help the country
abandon this vicious path, the President said, the legislative basis would
be created in 2001 for completing the transition to the insurance
principle of payment for medical assistance. As in the case of the
education system, free and paid medical services would be delimited and
placed within a clear-cut legal framework.
Fourth, it stems from the president's message that
significant changes are to be expected in the law-enforcement system. In
the president's opinion, more than a million convicts are far too much for
Russia. Putin considers that the system of legislation and legal
proceedings should work in such a way that if a citizen who has committed
not a very serious violation of the law should not be deprived of his
right to freedom if the Criminal Code provides for another less severe
punishment for that offence.
Fifth, the president's message points out that the
profession of manager is to become one of the most required professions in
Russia in the immediate future. As Putin pointed out, we will need
well-versed, trained specialists both among businessmen and among civil
servants.
In the president's opinion, a very important factor for
the country's successful development was to overcome the inveterate
mistrust towards the state that has repeatedly hoodwinked its citizens. It
is apparent that the state will strive to strike up a dialogue with the
population, without which, according to the president, it will be
impossible to achieve tangible results.
Sergei Markov is the Director of the Institute for Political Studies.
|
