Alexander Khristoforov spoke about the tasks set by the social service of the Vitebsk region for 2022
– The current year has been characterized by many positive trends in terms of social and labor relations and wages, population employment, social protection and pension provision, and improvement of working conditions and labor protection, – emphasized Alexander Nikolaevich.
The number of unemployed registered as of December 1, 2021, was 1181 people, which is 19.3% less than in the same period last year. The number of vacancies declared by employers to the labor, employment and social protection bodies of district executive committees is over 9 thousand.
– Alexander Nikolaevich, what work was carried out in the field of labor protection?
– A number of management decisions were made that allowed for comprehensive and systematic work in this area. For 9 months, organizations in the region spent over 73 million rubles on technical re-equipment and modernization of production. Labor safety months were held in forestry, agriculture, and construction. Mobile groups were effective, carrying out almost 3 thousand raids.
The implementation of measures made it possible to bring the working conditions into compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards and improve them for more than three hundred people. We managed to achieve one of the lowest levels of occupational morbidity in the republic.
– One of the topics that concerns people the most is wages…
– For January – October 2021, the average monthly wage in the region increased by 13.5% compared to 2020 and amounted to 1172.5 rubles. A positive trend in the growth of real wages has been maintained.
– Almost a third of the Vitebsk region's residents are pensioners. Is the pension system functioning stably?
– It is functioning smoothly. Pensions are paid monthly on the established dates. Four times during the year (from February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1), minimum labor and social pensions, as well as supplements and increases to them, were raised due to an increase in the subsistence minimum budget per capita. By the decision of the Head of State, from September 1, labor pensions were recalculated due to the growth of average wages, as a result of which the average labor pension size at the end of the year increased by 6.7%
According to preliminary estimates, actual expenses for pension payments in 2021 will amount to almost 2 billion rubles.
– What has been done over the past year to create comfortable living conditions for the elderly and people with disabilities?
– More than 5 million rubles were allocated to strengthen the material and technical base of stationary social institutions in 2021. Capital repairs of the administrative and residential buildings of the Babinichi boarding house in the Orsha district have been completed, as well as reconstruction work on the dining room of the Polotsk boarding house, and landscaping is being completed.
Project documentation for the construction of a new building for the Alexandrovsky boarding house in the Sharkovshchyna district is being prepared.
In 2022, work will continue on the capital repair of facilities in four institutions: Orsha, Babinichi, Yakovlevichi (Orsha district), and Polotsk boarding houses.
The accessibility of social services in sparsely populated and remote areas of the region has been ensured. In 2021, stationary social service points were opened in Novopolotsk, Begoml of the Dokshytsy district, Druya of the Braslav district, Bychikha of the Gorodok district, Osintorf of the Dubrovno district. A branch in Smolyany of the Orsha district, and a department of social adaptation and rehabilitation in Beshenkovichi were also opened.
– What financial support from the state is provided to families raising children?
– In the labor, employment, and social protection bodies of the region, benefits are paid for childcare for children under 3 years of age and older, and for childcare for a child with a disability. As of December 1, 2021, family capital has been assigned to 1.4 thousand large families. Upon the birth of twins or more, a one-time payment is made for each child to purchase essential baby items.
In 2021, material assistance for preparing children for the academic year was provided to over 20 thousand families in the amount of more than 3 million rubles, including from local budgets – to over 10 thousand large families in the amount of 1.5 million rubles.
In addition, in 2021, state targeted social assistance was received by about 35 thousand citizens in need of additional social support measures, including over 1.7 thousand children in their first two years of life who were provided with free food.
– What tasks are you setting for the committee and subordinate institutions for 2022?
– The task for the coming year for us is, first and foremost, to maintain the development dynamics of the entire committee system and, primarily, to increase the wage level, and to ensure more effective employment of the population. We plan to improve the forms of social services and social security in order to increase the standard and quality of life of our citizens.
The high results achieved in the sphere of social and labor relations, employment, social protection, and pension provision for the residents of the Vitebsk region are the results of the work of more than 6 thousand employees.
Taking this opportunity, I want to express words of gratitude to all employees of the committee, departments for labor, employment, and social protection of district executive committees, and social service institutions for their noble and difficult work.
Training was organized for 447 citizens, and 2878 people were involved in paid public works. Assistance in organizing entrepreneurial activities with the allocation of subsidies was provided to 91 unemployed individuals. 29 families of unemployed people were relocated to new places of residence and work. Adaptation to work activities was organized for 44 disabled individuals.