In the development and implementation of social policy and state social programs, as well as in determining the minimum level of wages, pensions, scholarships, allowances, and other social payments, the indicators generally accepted in the international community, that is, the living minimum and the procedure for its application, must be put into practice.

Article 39 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan (previous version) states that “the amount of pensions, allowances, and other types of social assistance cannot be less than the minimum amount necessary for subsistence, which has been officially determined”, but this constitutional norm has not been working in practice for 27 years. The lack of legal mechanisms and criteria for determining the minimum living wage in our country, or rather, the fact that they have not been established until now, did not allow for identifying families who need social allowances paid by self-governing bodies.

This is considered a significant issue for the People’s Democratic Party, and first of all, it was appropriate to clarify the criteria defining poverty.

On June 3, 2020, at the meeting on the issues of poverty reduction, which was held under the chairmanship of the President, the task was set to develop the legal basis for the minimum amount necessary for living by October 1, 2020. This year, a survey was conducted on 5,400 households selected from all regions of the country to calculate the minimum consumption expenses. They were divided into ten groups, and 30% of households with the lowest costs and income were allocated among these families.

Based on the information obtained from the survey, it was determined that the daily consumption of food (2200 kcal) and necessary non-food goods and services in these families will be 440,000 UZS per person in 2021.

The resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the implementation of the procedure for calculating the value of minimum consumption costs” was adopted on August 27, 2021. This resolution implemented minimum consumption costs in our country and was also used to determine the poverty line.

So, one of the most important goals of the party’s election program has been fulfilled. The minimum consumption costs have been officially determined, benefiting our people and becoming one of the guarantees of increasing the state’s social responsibility.

In addition, in cooperation with the party, our faction’s initiatives to support the population needing social protection, protect the rights of pensioners and disabled people, and solve the issues that concern them are also noteworthy.

In particular, “Deputy in the mahalla”, “Social service in the mahalla”, “Reducing the number of poor families in the mahalla”, “Life without obstacles”, “Equal rights, equal opportunities!”, “Healthy mother, healthy family”, “Women’s rights under protection”, “Youth in our ranks”, “Deputy and youth”, “Legislation in the eyes of the youth” and other projects are being implemented.

As part of these projects, faction members and party workers visited more than 30 regions, communicated with more than 5,000 voters, including representatives of the population included in the “Iron Register”, “Women’s Register” and “Youth Register”, and studied existing problems. Necessary measures were taken to solve them.

Mavjuda HASANOVA,

Deputy of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis.

«O’zbekiston Ovozi» (Voice of Uzbekistan), 17.07.2023, No.28