Mayor of Nizhny Novgorod fights kitchens.
After Vladimir Putin supported them in a live broadcast, Nizhny Novgorod mothers think they should start a political party under the name of MTCB, which stands for "milk torrents between curd banks".
One such mother from that city, Olga Mikhailovna, asked Mr Putin for help last Thursday against the Mayor, who intended to shut down milk kitchens for children. "I think it was unjustified," the Prime Minister responded. "Municipal leaders will feel the people's reaction during subsequent elections if they do not respond to their concerns," he warned, and added that "they should not force people to buy baby food at local stores. Although some might want people to spend their money on this market, they must think about ways of supporting families with children, rather than about the sales market for foreign producers."
Indicatively, Mayor Vadim Bulavinov visited one of the ill-presented kitchens the same morning, December 4, two hours before the Prime Minister's question and answer session started, and reassured those present that he was not going to shut them down at all. "What a mess! Why this fuss about kitchens? I've had it with these trivialities! Some people are stirring up trouble for no reason at all!" he said, all steamed up, though his smile looked apologetic.
City Hall published its notorious decision a month ago: milk kitchens were to close on January 1, as regional target allocations for next year were set at 58 million roubles instead of the necessary 100 million. The kitchens are implementing only 10% of their production capacity even now. There are 25,000 children below two years of age in Nizhny Novgorod, of which a mere 3,500 are entitled to food at reduced prices-so municipal leaders decided to give out doles instead of baby food.
Mothers responded with a heated campaign to rescue the kitchens. Several women emailed rueful messages to Mr Putin. "What if he takes pity on babies and demands that the kitchens go," they wrote, coaxing others to follow. Pointed debates started on the nnmama.ru website, which coordinated protest action. Campaigners circulated forms for a collective letter to the Prime Minister. Three thousand signed it at kitchen hatches throughout November.
Local political activists joined the protest as it gained a following unheard-of in the city. Communists filed an inquiry with the regional legislature. It was an exceptional occasion on which they got support from the United Russia party. Liberal Democrats arranged a rally that gathered many pram-pushing women, while the Just Russia party collected signatures for its own letter in defence of milk kitchens.
The Mayor hastily retreated, saying four out of the city's eight kitchens would continue working. Public indignation did not subside-mothers did not want to go across half the city for baby bottles. Many made phone calls and sent text messages to take part in the Putin link-up. Leaflets were pasted on kitchen doors for mothers to contact the Prime Minister.
Session organisers contacted one of the activists, Zhamilya Nabieva, to say her question was accepted and that she could ask it during the live broadcast.
The young mother was not destined to do so-she refused to ask her question in the curtailed version the editors gave it, saying that its essence had been lost. Without getting into an argument, she determined to ask her question the way she wanted it-but her contact with the studio was severed the instant she deviated from the approved text. The question came in the editors' version from the mysterious Olga Mikhailovna.
Still, it is Zhamilya who mothers thank on the Internet. They don't know Olga and assume she was a fictitious character, though she got Zhamilya on the phone the night after Mr Putin's session to say that she really existed. Her telephone number was suggestively unidentifiable.
"Let's start a party of our own and name it Milk Torrents between Curd Banks," triumphant mothers are joking. Their joy was tarnished the afternoon after the session, as the nnmama site would not open with the indication of an error-the site was unavailable on the server. But website's forum is already restored now, and mothers are as active as ever on their virtual forum.
Svetlana Gamzayeva, Nezavisimaya Gazeta's own correspondent for the Nizhny Novgorod Region
Svetlana Gamzayeva