Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr Volodin. Shall we discuss our work concerning reception offices?
Vyacheslav Volodin: Mr Putin, in line with your instructions
from September of the past year, we set up a network of public
reception offices in all regions of the country. Since then we have
served 232,763 people.
At first this work was difficult because we had not developed the right procedures. However, after you received people in Nizhny Novgorod, we analysed all the drawbacks and took into account your recommendations. Now we have achieved some results - more than 20% of all requests have been met.
We do not consider this a large number. A number of appeals,
particularly those linked with court verdicts, are difficult to
satisfy. Nor can we help people receive housing out of turn.
Vladimir Putin: There are objective restrictions imposed by law.
Vyacheslav Volodin: Yes. However, overall our efforts are
yielding the desired effect increasingly often, all the more so since
we have computerised everything in the last several months. This allows
us to follow up on requests. We know when applicants came, where their
applications have been sent, and what calls have been made on their
behalf. In some regions, we are meeting up to 40% of all requests.
Vladimir Putin: It is necessary to consider the substance of every issue, but it is no less important to find trends in common problems.
Vyacheslav Volodin: Speaking about common problems, more than 30% of all people come to our reception offices to ask for help with housing and repairing heating and water supply systems, as well as to complain about the poor condition of housing and utilities in general. A third of all requests revolve around this issue.
Social security comes next. About 15% of applicants ask for social support. In particular, pension adjustments.
It is important to note that we have been following all these issues since the very beginning. When we started, supplying medicines was the second or third most common request, and now requests for pills are very rare. The number of requests is going down as ministries and departments resolve different problems.
The questions we are asked are also changing. When the national projects were launched, people had an opportunity to improve their housing conditions. Demolition of dilapidated and hazardous buildings allowed them to move into new apartments. At that time, they asked us the following questions: "How do I get on a waiting list for getting a flat?" or "Why are the people in our building not being relocated?"
It is important for us to expand the network of public reception offices. We would like to discuss this with the governments of a number of major regions, such as the Khabarovsk Territory, the Sverdlovsk Region, the Voronezh Region, and the Ryazan Region. We only have reception offices in regional centres, but we would like to have them in districts as well. People in districts should also have an opportunity to come to your reception offices.
Vladimir Putin: Indeed. We have established a good way to communicate directly with people. It allows us to understand their concerns, and for the State Duma, the Federal Government, and the regional governments to take these concerns into account when developing policy. All the more so since United Russia is represented in all regions, and has a majority in most regional parliaments.
It is very important for party organisations to be as close as possible to their constituents. The party should not turn into a party of bureaucrats. It should primarily defend the interests of common people rather than those of civil servants.
Vyacheslav Volodin: Mr Putin, it is very important for government officials, who are United Russia members for the most part, to assist the public reception offices. Deputies and government officials are gradually getting involved in this work, and we can see better results. Government officials should be close to the people, and people should feel this. It is important for us to guarantee that public reception offices help achieve this goal.
Vladimir Putin: Now let's turn to specific issues.