Regular meeting of the Working Group on raising incomes and improving the quality of life of the country’s citizens, including strengthening support measures for large families, was held Feb. 14 in Ukimet Uyi under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Erbolat Dossaev.

The  issues of improving the effectiveness of measures taken to ensure social well-being and the development of additional mechanisms to support the most vulnerable segments of the population, where special attention will be paid to large families were discussed. Specific proposals from the public received during the household visits and meetings with large families in the regions of the country were considered.

Dossaev noted that improving welfare and improving the quality of life of Kazakhstanis is the main priority of the Government’s work, defined by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Address of Oct. 5, 2018. In this regard, the tasks of ensuring income growth and improving the quality of life of citizens leading corner of the work of central and local executive bodies.

The main areas of work identified:

• facilitating access to targeted social assistance, including through simplifying bureaucratic procedures;
• improving the mechanism of benefits payment for large families in need of state support;
• local executive bodies should separately consider the issue of expanding the coverage of children from large families with free hot meals in elementary schools, travel by public transport, etc.;
• in terms of improving the housing conditions of particularly needy large families, the possibility of increasing accessibility to municipal rental housing will be separately considered.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Nur Otan party, deputies of the Majilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, the leadership of the ministries of the socio-economic bloc, infrastructure development, internal affairs, and also in the selector mode — local executive bodies. In addition, representatives of the expert community and NGOs were present at today's meeting.

The Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Madina Abylkassymova reported that operational headquarters had been established in all regions of the country. Meetings are held with the population and initiative groups, as well as household rounds to survey the living conditions of families with children. To date, over 1,500 proposals have been collected in the areas of social protection, housing, education, health services, and other types of social services provided locally. Citizens can make additional offers by contacting akimats.

Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Zhenis Kassymbek reported on the issues of improving the living conditions of citizens. Thus, additional real mechanisms are being developed to increase the affordability of housing, including for the most vulnerable segments of the population. Minister of Education and Science Yerlan Sagadiyev, reported on the construction of new schools and the work being done to expand the coverage of primary school students with free school meals, as well as increasing the availability of education in rural areas. Minister of Healthcare Yelzhan Birtanov reported on the work being done to improve the quality of medical services, increase their accessibility and reach children with the health system. It was noted that the quota mechanism allows members of large families, the most vulnerable segments of the population to receive expensive procedures, a wide range of medicines, dental services, etc. Minister of Finance Alikhan Smailov, in turn, reported on the social orientation of the budget. For 2019, 4.8 trillion tenge will be allocated from the republican budget to the social sphere, this represents 45% of all budget expenditures. At the same time, work continues to further increase the share of expenditures on social sectors.

The next meeting of the working group is scheduled for Feb. 21, 2019.

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