12 May, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. Deputies of local councils should show more initiative and activity in adopting and implementing state programs. This was stated by the Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, Boris Batura, today at the first session of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies of the 26th convocation, a BELTA correspondent reports. The Head of State, in his Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly, paid serious attention to the section on local self-government and formulated the tasks facing it. At the Third All-Belarusian People's Congress, councils were also named as one of the pillars of presidential power, Boris Batura recalled. "That is precisely why deputies must understand that they bear the same responsibility for the implementation of socio-economic programs and industry development programs as the executive branch," he stressed. The executive branch, when adopting certain programs, turns to the corps of deputies for their approval. However, often in both primary and regional councils, these projects are not analyzed from the perspective of voter mandates given to deputies, and there is a lack of evidence-based discussion on the feasibility of these projects, the speaker of the upper house stated, giving examples from his own experience. "Yet, such a discussion is one of the steps to protect the implemented programs and the reality of their execution," he is convinced. Control by deputies over the implementation of adopted projects is also important. "If there is no interest from below in the implementation of adopted programs, they will not provide an active boost," believes Boris Batura. In his opinion, the lack of deputy interest and initiative is particularly evident in the implementation of the program for the development of small and medium-sized towns, which concerns the entire corps of deputies. However, not a single deputy has come forward with an initiative to create, for example, an enterprise. Yet, this program allows local councils to actually attract funds to the budget, believes Boris Batura. The lack of deputy initiative has also affected the implementation of Decree No. 21 "On Enhancing the Role of Local Government and Self-Government Bodies". Rural councils have not fully utilized the opportunities provided by the decree, while their main task is to work on solving the population's life support problems.