Officials must be more responsible in handling citizens' appeals - A. Lukashenko

He also added that during his working trips around the regions, direct communication with people allows judging the attitude of representatives of authorities towards the needs and aspirations of ordinary people. This applies to the entire spectrum of issues – from social support for families to problems of education and healthcare. At the same time, Alexander Lukashenko noted: "Often, issues do not require significant financial expenses. Only one thing is needed – attention to the person and the desire to help them." However, in practice, it is precisely this that is lacking, believes the head of state. "In the upper echelons of power, citizens' appeals are easily delegated to local levels or, as they say, people are sent on a wild goose chase through a multitude of instances. And locally, they get away with mocking dismissals or, worse, send the complaint for response to the very person people are complaining about. No objectivity or attention can be expected here, yet people hope for the fairness of the authorities," said Alexander Lukashenko. Addressing the officials invited to the meeting, the head of state demanded: "There is no need to talk about your understanding of the importance of this issue. The very level of the meeting indicates the significance attached to the issues of debureaucratization in our state." Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that the conversation would be serious and principled. It is not by chance that all top officials, government members, and heads of mass media have been invited to the meeting. In short, precisely those officials who are responsible for the level and quality of work with the population. The head of state proposed to communicate with citizens gathered in the public reception of the Administration of the President of Belarus via videoconference.A resident of Braslav district complained to the President about the unwillingness of local authorities to provide assistance with machinery for harvesting crops on her personal plot. The appeal from a resident of the agro-town of Zhemchuzhny, Baranovichi district, concerned the lack of street lighting. A resident of the Mogilev city of Krichev reported that the house where her family lives is in a dilapidated state, and a long-closed and abandoned shop is located on the ground floor. Appeals to local authorities regarding major repairs of the house and tidying up of non-residential premises had no effect on resolving the residents' problem. A resident of Minsk complained to the Head of State about the private company "LeGrand," which for over six months has been unable to settle accounts with dismissed employees, having paid them only symbolic amounts. Alexander Lukashenko gave no more than a week to resolve all the problems of the citizens who appealed and sternly pointed out to the officials that such complaints should not be submitted to the Presidential Administration in principle, as this is the level of local authorities. "Did a person have to travel to Minsk to resolve this issue?!" the Head of State addressed those present. "They appeal to the Presidential Administration with elementary issues. This should not happen! After all, these are not even issues for the governor, but for the level of the village council, the head of the enterprise." "Why do people come to me with these issues? These are the issues for district executive committees! Why such callousness towards people? They are asking for elementary things to be resolved!" the President emphasized. Alexander Lukashenko instructed the Chairman of the State Control Committee to take control of the fulfillment of the requests made and to deal with those officials who failed to resolve them in due time, up to and including their dismissal. Annually, about 1 million people appeal to state authorities, which is practically every tenth citizen of the country. The topics of appeals cover a wide range of problems, the vast majority of which concern the social sphere, and about 30% concern courts and law enforcement agencies. Complaints about the work of organizations in the housing and communal services system are leading. Citizens are dissatisfied with the quality of current and major repairs (39%), water supply organization (35%), the level of territory improvement (16%), and others. However, the greatest indignation among people is caused by the irresponsibility, sloppiness, and non-performance of utility workers, which is indicated in more than 80% of complaints. For a number of years, an increase in the number of complaints regarding housing construction has been observed. Over 9 months of 2010, more than 25,000 such appeals were received. Land use issues cause serious concern among the population, especially in large cities and suburbs, considering the high cost of land plots, as well as insufficient social protection of the population. The provision of medical care to the population remains an area of heightened social tension. This year alone, over 25,000 appeals were received by the Ministry of Health and its subordinate organizations. Violations in the areas of education, transport, communications, trade, and consumer services for the rural population are chronic in nature. The proportion of such appeals accounts for about 10% of the mail. A steady increase in the number of appeals concerning the activities of law enforcement agencies and courts is also observed. In their letters, citizens express disagreement with court decisions in criminal, civil, economic cases, and cases of administrative offenses. Since the adoption of Directive No. 2, much has been done in the country to handle citizens' appeals. The established regulatory legal framework concerning this issue can be considered advanced compared to neighboring countries and CIS states. At the same time, there is a huge layer of problems that need to be addressed immediately. As reported by the Head of the Presidential Administration, Vladimir Makei, the number of citizens' appeals has been steadily increasing over the past three years. For example, their growth ranged from 10% in Minsk to 40% in the Vitebsk region. The Gomel region is the only exception. A similarly bleak situation is observed with complaints received by state bodies. In the 9 months of this year alone, the Presidential Administration received 15% more appeals than in the same period last year, the State Control Committee received almost 15% more, and the Apparatus of the Council of Ministers received 5% more than in previous years. To objectively assess the reasons for this trend, as well as the effectiveness of de-bureaucratization efforts, the Administration, by order of the Head of State, monitored the state of work of authorities with the public. From June to August, the activities of 140 rural executive committees, 92 district executive committees, 11 city executive committees, as well as all regional and the Minsk City Executive Committee were studied. Control measures covered about 80% of the country's districts. The work with citizens' appeals in the Ministry of Housing and Communal Services and the Ministry of Architecture and Construction, and a number of their subordinate organizations was also analyzed. During personal receptions of citizens in the regions and "hotline" sessions, over 4,000 citizens were heard. As Vladimir Makei noted, the monitoring was very well received by citizens; people were impressed by the accessibility of the authorities and the effectiveness of resolving their issues. At the same time, some managers and even governors reacted to this event with caution, and sometimes perceived it, along with extensive media coverage, as a sign of distrust in their work and an undermining of the authority of local government in the eyes of the public. "Governors are used to working like petty feudal lords: don't criticize me, I live as I live, and that's fine," said the Head of State. "The monitoring of work with people was perceived as a nuclear explosion. People simply sighed: finally, the authorities have seen their aspirations and needs. Therefore, there was absolutely no overdoing it here." Alexander Lukashenko reasonably remarked that people come with various complaints and requests, often asking the authorities to resolve even minor issues such as painting a fence or wallpapering walls. The President emphasized that there should be no overdoing it here either: if a person is able to take care of their own home or land plot, they should independently solve all arising problems without burdening local authorities with them. However, in cases of major repairs or the dilapidated state of a house, i.e., problems that a person cannot solve alone, the authorities must respond immediately and rectify the shortcomings. Speaking about the monitoring results, Vladimir Makei stated that no radical changes have occurred in the sphere of work with citizens' appeals yet. The reasons, in his opinion, lie in several factors. In particular, it has not yet been possible to raise the level of responsibility of all officials for the quality of work with the public, and a proper system of inevitable punishment for ignoring the lawful demands of citizens has not been formed. Leaders at various levels still lack an understanding of the importance of this work and the ability to organize it. One of the alarming trends is the desire to create the appearance of problem-solving, a superficial approach to appeals, as well as a disrespectful and arrogant attitude towards people. Vladimir Makei noted that the way out of the current situation is seen in ensuring prompt communication between citizens and management bodies, strict control over the work of officials with citizens, and holding them accountable for omissions. The Presidential Administration will toughen the responsibility of officials for improper work with citizens' appeals. The Presidential Administration believes that a new bill on citizens' and legal entities' appeals will help eliminate all shortcomings. Currently, it is being processed for a second reading in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly. The new law is intended to be a comprehensive legislative act, combining in one document all the rights and obligations of citizens, responsibility for improper consideration of appeals, as well as a detailed procedure for all appeals. It is also planned to introduce a new form of working with citizens' appeals sent via the Internet and to equate the procedure for their consideration with oral and written appeals. This is necessary so that citizens know that they can directly appeal to the head of state if their problems are not resolved by lower authorities. The new law also proposes to enshrine the obligation of officials to respond to oral appeals from citizens, as well as those sent via the Internet. In addition, the media should regularly hold hotlines with the public. Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that officials must be made to work more actively with people, to solve citizens' problems, which is precisely why they are working. The President also drew the attention of the Deputy Prime Ministers to the lack of practice of meeting with citizens. "I want the people to see you," said the head of state.The Chairman of the Committee for State Control, Zenon Lomats, believes that the root cause of a large number of citizen complaints lies in the failure to meet state social standards. Resolving this issue could lead to a significant reduction in public appeals. Zenon Lomats reported on inspections concerning the implementation of social standards. The situation was studied in 45 districts and cities, and 48 executive authorities were checked for compliance with legislation in their work with the public. It was found that 6 out of 10 standards in education, 3 out of 4 in healthcare, and 1 out of 4 in communications are not being met. Particular criticism was directed at housing and communal services, where half of the 12 standards were not fulfilled at the time of the inspection. Zenon Lomats noted a formal approach to the full implementation of social standards and weak government oversight in this area. The Chairman of the Committee for State Control proposed that the new draft law should include a separate article stipulating penalties for officials who fail to properly address matters within their competence, thereby increasing the accountability of officials. Furthermore, the Committee for State Control suggests a fundamental review of the system of state social standards, the procedures for working with them, and strengthening accountability for their non-compliance. Zenon Lomats also highlighted the need to establish clear and coordinated communication between officials and citizens, including the organisation of "hotline" sessions and other forms of public engagement. Alexander Lukashenko instructed that the implementation of all proposals by the Chairman of the Committee for State Control should commence before the beginning of 2011. At the meeting, the Minister of Housing and Communal Services, Vladimir Belokhvostov, and the Minister of Architecture and Construction, Alexander Seleznev, also delivered reports. Their respective departments are the subject of the majority of citizen complaints. Vladimir Belokhvostov acknowledged the existence of problems concerning issues such as the capital repair of residential buildings, the provision of quality drinking water, and several other matters. Alexander Seleznev reported that the majority of citizen appeals relate to the quality of housing under construction. Following the Head of State's instructions, "hotline" telephone services were organised in all regions of the republic and in Minsk to address issues concerning the quality of construction. The most frequent complaints concerned the cost of housing, the quality, and the commissioning deadlines for residential buildings. All deficiencies were ordered to be rectified by June 1st. Alexander Seleznev reported that only the issues concerning the residents of two apartments remained unresolved.The President specifically emphasized that there should be no complaints from citizens regarding newly commissioned housing at all. A quarter of the appeals to the Ministry of Architecture and Construction concern lending and subsidies, about 12% relate to compliance with building codes and regulations, over 6% concern land issues, 7.2% relate to pricing, 6.3% concern the acceptance of substandard housing, and about 13% cover other issues. Alexander Seleznev noted that the work with citizens' appeals is being improved, and the Internet is actively used for feedback with the population. The President pointed out the need to adopt a comprehensive set of measures at the prime minister level to respond to citizens' complaints regarding housing and communal services and construction. "Gather and take action, but do not focus solely on us allocating funds. Take action and manage the money! Start solving problems in rural areas from the bottom up," said the head of state. Alexander Lukashenko instructed to resolve this issue by the end of the year. During the meeting, the governors were also heard, who spoke about the existing problems of citizens in their regions and how they are being resolved. The discussion covered the low provision of rural settlements with shops, the lack of good road surfaces in some settlements, the need for repairs in dormitories, and other pressing issues. Alexander Lukashenko noted that when resolving such problems, approaches to spending funds should be rational, with priority given to tasks that concern people the most. Overall, the President was dissatisfied with the reports presented by ministers and governors at the meeting and criticized their actions. "We are considering a simple but eternal issue today. It should disappear altogether as an eternal issue at the beginning of the next five-year plan. Go to the people! So that people say that after today's dressing-down, all officials have turned their faces to the people," said the President. Annually, about 1 million citizens appeal to government bodies. Behind each such appeal are people who make their proposals, remarks, submit complaints, and seek support. "We cannot fail to respond to this. It is they who have put us in these positions. Our work on the debureaucratization of the state apparatus did not start today, but it is going extremely poorly. There must be a monitoring system. Radical decisions must be made," demanded the head of state.At the same time, the President noted that in practice, much is done formally, "for the sake of appearances." "This is unacceptable. Facts of bureaucracy, red tape, empty paperwork, and inefficient work organization are noted everywhere. The activities of civil servants, officials, as before, are often aimed at ensuring their own convenience, rather than satisfying the interests of the citizen," emphasized Alexander Lukashenko. To this day, many leaders lack a clear and precise understanding that these are not momentary demands of the President, but state policy aimed at the long term. "We talk about human rights. But the greatest human right is when we solve these issues," noted Alexander Lukashenko. "Based on the importance of this task, your work in responding to people's appeals will be evaluated." What do we have today? The conversation that took place indicates that this work is still being carried out weakly. At the same time, the President specifically noted that sloppiness, arrogance, and at times, outright rudeness of individual officials can no longer be tolerated. "Is it not clear that bureaucracy undermines people's trust in the authorities? You are putting me in a terrible position. Why are you forcing me to make a choice? I will remember and ask. I am not an indifferent person. If you cannot, if you do not want to – leave, do not ruin the country and the government as a whole. If anyone present still does not understand this, examine yourselves and think about how we will work going forward," stressed the head of state. Speaking about the tasks that need to be addressed immediately, Alexander Lukashenko noted that the informational openness and accessibility of the authorities must be ensured. Everyone who comes into power must be able to communicate with people and large groups. Because of the lack of information, the population comes up with its own versions of events, extremely far from reality, and loses all trust in the district executive committee or city executive committee. Citizens are often presented with a fait accompli of an already made decision (closing a school, enterprise, or FAP) that significantly affects their interests and forces them to seriously change their way of life. This also causes a negative reaction from the population and numerous requests."Stop hiding in your offices! Go to the people! The population must participate in the implementation of projects that affect their daily lives. You need to talk to people, and that will resolve half of any problem," demanded Alexander Lukashenko. "Governors, officials, and government members must regularly meet with journalists, hold press conferences, and answer questions." In addition to informing the public, the authorities must provide daily, real care for the people. "We have developed minimum social standards. However, as a recent inspection has shown, some of these standards are still only being met on paper in certain districts. Specific individuals will be held accountable for this!" the President noted. "Therefore, this is a question for the governors. Social standards are your responsibility. They must be implemented. Do they need to be adjusted? Adjust them. But not to simplify them. Adjust them, governors, but you will be held accountable for it!" the head of state added. At the same time, according to the President, the State Control Committee needs to pay special attention to the implementation of minimum social standards. "And where the minimum level has been reached, aim higher. Do not stop," demanded Alexander Lukashenko. He also drew attention to the chronic unresolved problems in the housing and communal services sector in the country. "We have been talking about this forever, and the problems remain. I am talking about the problems that we must solve, about what individuals cannot solve themselves," said Alexander Lukashenko. "It is good that we are doing a lot, but people sometimes do not pay attention to it. They are not very interested in our transformations. What matters to them is how the issues that concern them are resolved in practice on a daily basis." The same applies to the housing construction sector. People save their last pennies, economize on everything they can, take out bank loans, and then, upon moving into a newly built apartment, they face not just unfinished work, but problems that require significant new financial investments. For many citizens, these costs become simply unaffordable, causing genuine shock.According to the President, new residents should be guaranteed a comfortable living standard, rather than having to redo everything the builders have done. This situation, among other things, demeans people. Meanwhile, construction organizations that allow such shoddy work feel completely unpunished and, in many cases, simply ignore the directives from both regional and republican construction inspection and supervision departments. There are also issues with these supervisory bodies, which often issue compliance certificates for substandard housing that meets regulatory requirements. The result is hundreds of complaints from citizens who have moved into these buildings. "We absolutely do not need this kind of control," believes Alexander Lukashenko. The position of local authorities, which, in their pursuit of meeting housing construction targets, make decisions to commission "unfinished houses," is unacceptable. At the same time, everyone tries their best to evade responsibility, to get away scot-free. Only the individual is left alone with their problems. Another pressing issue is the ongoing construction of so-called financial pyramids. As the Head of State noted, this is unacceptable. Alexander Lukashenko separately drew the Prosecutor General's attention to the fact that the role of the prosecutor's office in defending the rights and legitimate interests of citizens when they appeal to state bodies is currently insufficient. "While you are organizing your work, you will lose everything. In this regard, supervision over compliance with the legislation on citizens' appeals must be strengthened, primarily in local executive and administrative bodies," the President emphasized, adding that the prosecution of officials and organizations on the initiative of the prosecutor's office is still practiced very cautiously. Alexander Lukashenko also believes that a proper level of organization of work with citizens' appeals directly within the prosecutor's office must be ensured. Unfortunately, formal, dismissive responses and forwarding of inspection requests to lower-level bodies by district and regional prosecutors are still common. As a result, these issues return to the Prosecutor General's Office and to the President. "Prosecutors must strive for the real elimination of the causes that generate complaints. Their activities should be assessed based on the timeliness of prosecutorial intervention, principledness, and responsibility," demanded the Head of State.

In addition, Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to the work of deputies on citizens' appeals.

"According to the status of a deputy, working with citizens' appeals is one of the main components of their activities. People have elected you and expect real attention to their concerns and problems. However, after being elected and generously making promises, some of them forget about these duties and the mandates of their constituents. This style is unacceptable and must be changed," the President emphasized. He demanded: "Get to work, delve into and understand each specific situation. Defend human rights using all the powers available to you. And you have considerable powers."

According to the President, public associations should also be more actively involved in working with citizens' appeals. It is time for all of them to find their place in this matter. Then the level of public trust in them will significantly increase.

At the same time, the most mass public associations should play the main role: trade unions, veterans' associations, the public association "Belaya Rus", BRSM, the "Union of Women of Belarus", and others. They work with people every day and know their problems better than anyone else. "But this does not mean that they should create a pile of problems and dump them on the governors, saying: solve them. No! You should explain to people, tell them how to do what they cannot do themselves," the President said.

According to Alexander Lukashenko, working with citizens' appeals in state bodies should in no case be a secondary issue. All mechanisms should be involved throughout the entire power vertical to minimize cases of formalism and bureaucracy.

"Every civil servant must bear their share of responsibility for their results," the President said.

"Despite the significant number of violations committed in working with citizens' appeals, measures to bring the perpetrators to justice are applied extremely cautiously and are of a "cosmetic nature." And the reason for this is low demands. Although I am firmly convinced that for the entrusted area of work as a whole, personal responsibility is borne not by the rank-and-file specialist, as is often practiced in our country, but by the corresponding manager," the head of state noted.

"There are no 'scapegoats' for me. There are governors and ministers. Take responsibility. So far, I see that you are not coping with this task at every level," he added.

President stressed: "It turns out that my requirements for the debureaucratization of the state apparatus, set out in Directive No. 2, are not being fully implemented by local officials. I simply cannot and have no right to allow this. In this regard, control over this work will be tightened on my part." Since responding to citizens' appeals is of significant socio-political importance, monitoring of this activity will be carried out twice a year. This instruction was given by the President on November 9. At the same time, Alexander Lukashenko emphasized: "If exhaustive measures are not taken to rectify the current situation, personnel decisions will follow. I ask you to keep this in mind." Summing up the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko noted that working with citizens' appeals is not only and not so much about documents. It is primarily about working with people, which in a sense acquires political status. Therefore, it requires special attention and a systematic approach, taking into account all factors of society's life. "We are not going to build a 'state of complainants and dependents,' cultivate an atmosphere of denunciation, dirty showdowns, and anonymous slander of people for some selfish personal interests. The position here must be principled: we need to separate the wheat from the chaff of slander, delve deeply into each situation, see the causes and motives of each specific appeal. And in no case should we approach it indiscriminately, thoughtlessly make decisions, because behind each appeal are human destinies, which no one is allowed to break," the head of state noted. "Even if a person, while critically evaluating certain decisions of the district executive committee or the regional executive committee, still appeals to them, they do so because they believe in the ability of the authorities to understand the situation, listen to their problem, and eliminate the noted shortcomings. That is why it is extremely important not only to value such trust but also to strengthen it in every way and everywhere," the President explained. At the same time, high social responsibility must be borne by both rank-and-file specialists involved in organizing work with citizens' appeals and by managers throughout the entire power vertical.Alexander Lukashenko demanded the widespread implementation of new, more effective forms and methods of working with the public. "Go to the people, talk to them, hold meetings, 'hotlines', organize press conferences. More actively involve the media, deputies of all levels, public associations. And not episodically, but on a systematic basis," he instructed officials. A constant monitoring should become the barometer determining the level of work with people. "Based on its results, I will strictly demand accountability during the reports of governors and ministers. After all, you are working to enhance the authority of state power, so you must confirm people's trust daily with concrete actions," the President emphasized. "And do not think that we held today's event because presidential elections are tomorrow. Not at all. It absolutely does not correspond to presidential elections in its content and form. This meeting is important for its results and is focused on the future. This is the most crucial work and task for each of you," he added. "There is no exaggeration here. I have not overstepped in these demands. Strain yourselves. We have more officials than necessary. If every official in the country solves at least one problem for the people, then 80% of problems will disappear," the head of state concluded.-0-

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