| Nikolai Chigarentsev is recalculating his expenses.
Chigarentsev, who is paralyzed from the waist down after falling and
breaking his back at the age of 11, collects 2,680 rubles ($90) per month
in state welfare. He also gets a monthly salary of 5,000 rubles as the
head of the Moscow office of the All-Russia Society of the Disabled, a
nongovernmental organization.
In addition, Chigarentsev, 51, is entitled to a 50 percent discount
on his telephone bill, a 50 percent discount on domestic travel and a
60 percent discount when buying a car. He has a specially equipped car
that he drives.
He is also entitled to free medicine, free dentures, a free wheelchair
every seven years and all-expenses-paid stay at a sanatorium once a year.
Most of this will change for Chigarentsev and some 2 million other disabled
Russians on Jan. 1 when a Kremlin-backed bill comes into force replacing
Soviet-era benefits for about 30 million socially vulnerable citizens
with cash payments.
Supporters of the controversial bill, which was rushed through both
chambers of parliament and is now awaiting President Vladimir Putin's
signature to become law, say the changes will make welfare assistance
more targeted and fair.
Opponents, who have staged nationwide rallies against the legislation,
fear the plan will only impoverish retirees, war veterans, the disabled,
Chernobyl cleanup workers and others. They say cash payments will soon
be eaten up by inflation and not cover the cost of the benefits that recipients
now enjoy, while groups paid by cash-poor regions and not the federal
government may be left empty-handed.
Under the social reform bill, Chigarentsev falls into a category of
14 million disabled people, war veterans, Chernobyl cleanup workers and
survivors of the Nazi blockade of Leningrad who will be paid directly
from the federal budget. Payments to the group will amount to 800 rubles
to 2,400 rubles per month.
Chigarentsev's monthly payment from the state will grow by 1,400 rubles
to 4,080 rubles, bringing his total monthly income to 9,080, or about
$300. But he will no longer be able to get a free wheelchair or buy a
car at a discount. Instead of paying 70 rubles per month for his home
telephone, he will have to pay 140 rubles. And if he decides to fly or
travel by train, he will have to pay the full ticket price.
In 2005, he will be entitled to free medicine worth 350 rubles per month,
while from 2006 he will be able to chose between taking the medicine or
350 rubles in cash each month.
This sum is part of a new social package worth 450 rubles per month
that also includes a pass for free travel on commuter trains, worth 50
rubles. The remaining 50 rubles will accumulate to cover treatment at
a sanatorium once every four years.
The government says the cash payments should be enough to cover all
benefits Chigarentsev and millions of others now enjoy, but Chigarentsev
is not so sure.
"I don't know how I will reorganize my life after Jan. 1. I don't
know what I will eat or wear," Chigarentsev said.
He said he is more fortunate than many disabled people because he has
a job and does not have to depend on a state allowance and free medicine
alone to get by.
What he knows for sure is that his living standards will drastically
deteriorate when it comes time to get a new wheelchair or if his health
worsens and he needs expensive medicine. A basic wheelchair costs 5,000
rubles to 20,000 rubles.
The government is offering the biggest cash payments to the nearly 1
million military veterans who were wounded in World War II and 60,000
of 200,000 Chernobyl cleanup workers who, in addition to pensions, qualify
for payments compensating them for the harm they sustained when they were
exposed to radiation after the 1986 nuclear disaster.
The veterans, who now receive about 3,500 rubles per month, will get
an extra 1,550 rubles, while those who were not wounded will get 1,050
per month. The payment replaces their 50 percent discount on telephone
bills and free domestic travel, and includes the monthly 450 ruble social
package.
Chernobyl cleanup workers, many of whom are in the workforce and do
not qualify for disability payments, will see their benefits replaced
with monthly cash payments of 1,000 rubles to 2,400 rubles, said Vyacheslav
Grishin, head of the All-Russian Chernobyl organization.
For the 60,000 Chernobyl workers who suffer disabilities due to their
cleanup work, the new payments will be in addition to compensation payments
of 5,000 rubles to 30,000 rubles per month.
It remains unclear what will happen to the country's 19 million retired
workers -- including those who worked on supply lines in World War II
-- and those who suffered Soviet political repression. Under the bill,
they will be the responsibility of regional administrations and their
often-thin budgets. Each of Russia's 89 regions is to set a scale of cash
payments and travel discounts. Retired workers will lose their right to
free dentures.
Mikhail Zadornov,
a former finance minister and now independent State Duma deputy, suggested
last week that up to a third of the regions will not be able to offer
any cash payments.
"After giving the three categories to the regions, the state has
refused to meet its commitment to social responsibility by a third,"
Zadornov said.
The bill also cancels the right of all groups to ride on public transportation
for free as of next year. Many regions, however, have their own regulations
under which the affected groups will continue to ride for free.
Mayor Yury Luzhkov reiterated Saturday that City Hall will keep public
transportation free for veterans, pensioners and other vulnerable groups.
See also:
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