Over the 11 months of 2021, within the framework of implementing the measures of the State Programme "Labour Market and Employment Promotion", approximately 15,000 people were employed on a permanent basis in the Vitebsk region, including over 6,000 unemployed individuals. On the eve of the Day of Social Protection Workers, the Chairman of the Committee for Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Khristoforov, shared this and much more with "Vitebskiye Vesti".
– The current year has been characterised by many positive trends in terms of social and labour relations and wages, population employment, social protection and pension provision, and improvement of working conditions and labour protection, – emphasised Alexander Nikolaevich.
The number of registered unemployed as of December 1, 2021, was 1,181 people, which is 19.3% less than in the same period last year. The number of vacancies declared by employers to the labour, employment and social protection bodies of the district executive committees exceeded 9,000.
– Alexander Nikolaevich, what work has been carried out in the field of labour protection?
– A number of managerial decisions have been made, which have enabled comprehensive and systematic work in this area. Over 9 months, organisations in the region have spent over 73 million rubles on technical re-equipment and modernisation of production facilities. Labour safety months were held in forestry, agriculture, and construction. Mobile groups operated effectively, carrying out almost 3,000 raids.
The implementation of these measures has made it possible to bring working conditions into compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards and improve them for over three hundred people. We have 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, reaching 1172.5 rubles. The positive trend in real wage growth has been maintained.
– Almost a third of the Vitebsk region residents are pensioners. Is the pension provision system functioning stably?
– It functions smoothly. Pensions are paid monthly on established dates. Four times during the year (from February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1), minimum labour and social pensions, as well as supplements and increases thereto, were raised due to an increase in the subsistence minimum budget per capita. By the decision of the Head of State, from September 1, labour pensions were recalculated due to the growth of the average wage, resulting in an increase in the average labour pension size by 6.7% by the end of the year.
According to preliminary estimates, actual expenditures on pension payments for 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?
– Over 5 million rubles were allocated in 2021 to strengthen the material and technical base of stationary social institutions. Major 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 canteen of the Polotsk boarding house, and landscaping of the territory is being finalized.
Project documentation is being prepared for the construction of a new building for the Alexandrovsky boarding house in the Sharkovshchyna district.
In 2022, work on major repairs of facilities in four institutions will continue: Orsha, Babinichi, Yakovlevichi (Orsha district), and Polotsk boarding houses.
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 for social adaptation and rehabilitation in Beshenkovichi have also been opened.
– What financial support from the state is provided to families raising children?
– In the labour, 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 disabled children. As of December 1, 2021, family capital had been granted 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, amounting to more than 3 million rubles, including over 10 thousand large families from local budgets, totalling 1.5 million rubles.
Furthermore, in 2021, state targeted social assistance was received by approximately 35 thousand citizens in need of additional social support measures, including over 1.7 thousand children under the age of two who were provided with free food products.
– 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 average 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 enhance the standard and quality of life of our citizens.
The high results achieved in the sphere of social and labour relations, employment, social protection, and pension provision for the residents of the Vitebsk region are the results of the work of over 6 thousand employees.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude to all employees of the committee, the departments for labour, employment and social protection of district executive committees, and social service institutions for their noble and challenging work.
Training was organised for 447 citizens, and 2878 people were involved in paid public works. Assistance in organising entrepreneurial activities with subsidies was provided to 91 unemployed individuals. 29 families of unemployed individuals were relocated to new places of residence and work. Adaptation to work activities was organised for 44 disabled individuals.
Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by