Gazeta: "Putin’s public reception offices to open in district centres"
233,000 citizens have visited the offices in a little over a year.
United Russia is planning to expand its network of Vladimir Putin's public reception offices. During a meeting with Vyacheslav Volodin, the Secretary of the Presidium of the General Council for the party, the Prime Minister - who is also the party leader - said that only by reaching out to voters can the governing party avoid becoming the party of bureaucrats.
"It is very important that the party remains close to its constituencies, that the party does not turn into the party of bureaucrats and that it puts the interests of ordinary people and voters above those of bureaucrats and civil servants," he said. Vyacheslav Volodin then announced that the party is planning to expand the network of Putin's public reception offices to include district centres in addition to regional centres. The first of these new offices will be set up in the Khabarovsk Territory and the Sverdlovsk, Voronezh and Ryazan regions.
"When we first opened Putin's reception offices in 83 constituent entities in Russia, our plan was to eventually transform all 2500 party offices into the leader's reception offices. We are beginning this work now. The first of Putin's new reception offices will be opened in regions that will be electing their legislatures in March and where the size of the region makes it impossible for all citizens to file requests or complaints with the regional administration," Mikhail Babich told Gazeta. Mr Babich heads the Task Force of the Presidium of the General Council, which handles citizens' complaints. He noted that people prefer to go to Putin's reception offices rather than the party's offices.
Opening district-level reception offices will require that the entire system be upgraded, including new computer software, a uniform work schedule, and a system of registering and reviewing citizens' complaints.
"Turning party offices into Putin's offices will allow us to handle complaints more efficiently. All complaints will be stored electronically so that we can track their status in our system in real time," Babich says.
However, the party is not yet planning to create virtual reception rooms on the Internet. "It's generally middle-aged and elderly people who come to us, and these people could not and would not want to send their messages to Vladimir Putin over the Internet. For them it's easier to come to the office and speak their mind. And besides not everyone has access to the Internet yet," the head of the Task Force said.
During the meeting at Novo-Ogaryovo, Vyacheslav Volodin said that 232,800 people have visited the reception offices since they were first opened in September 2008. Most of them came to have their housing needs addressed. One in every three people who wrote to Putin expressed dissatisfaction with their housing and utilities, while one in six requested a larger pension or an increase in social benefits.
The party is tackling these issues. "More than 20% of the appeals are granted," Volodin said. "In some regions that figure is as high as 40%. But some of the requests simply can't be granted by definition." These are generally requests related to the work of judicial bodies and the application of laws, over which the party has no influence.
Olga Pavlikova
