Prove Your Poverty

Since the year before last, new standards for receiving targeted social assistance (TSA) have been introduced in the country. Whereas before the poor had to personally contact the local social protection center, provide a bunch of certificates on the composition of the family, incomes below the size of the criterion of need (each year this indicator varies), and bank loans, now the procedure is computerized. The electronic system has eliminated the corruption component of this process, reducing and simplifying the solution of the issue. Integrated into the database of more than 20 ministries, committees and other structures, the e-system in a short time reveals the material situation of the person and makes an appropriate verdict.

The presence of a land plot, a loan debt and even an old car not on the move is a reason for refusal. But, apparently, this was inadequate for the Ministry of Labor, since additional questions appeared in the questionnaire for the applicant concerning the costs of utilities. As it was possible to find out, if the average amount of payment for utilities exceeds 10% of the established subsistence minimum (this year it is 173 manat) per each member of the family, this becomes the reason for refusal to provide TSA. In addition, through the database of mobile operators, it is checked how much mobile phone has been downloaded over the past year. If the information is incorrect (who remembers how many times and for what amount he loaded his mobile phone last year?) and these limits are exceeded for at least a couple of manat, then wait for the refusal.

Minister Salim Muslimov considers such meticulousness to be fair. In a recent interview with the Khazar TV channel, the head of the agency said the following: "Some wealthy entrepreneurs register apartments, cars and mobile phones for their poor relatives to conceal their incomes. When this relative applies for TSA, it turns out that in his name there is expensive real estate. I have repeatedly come across such facts. In this case, let the rich relative help the poor relatives, or they must abandon the foreign villa and foreign cars that are not theirs, in order to meet the TSA criteria."

In some ways, Mr. Muslimov is right. Yes, a mansion on the shore of the Caspian Sea or in Gabala, Lamborghini for 100 thousand euros can serve as an argument for refusal. But is the excess of the payment limit for electricity or a mobile phone a proof of a person's financial solvency? This is exactly what they believe in the MLSPP, having found an original way of formal reduction of the number of needy families in the country. According to the press service of the Ministry, over the past two years, the number of families receiving targeted assistance in Azerbaijan has halved, amounting to 80.2 thousand families.

How miraculously did the other 80,000 families get rich, while they barely made both ends meet before? Why is an infertile land plot, for processing (machinery and fertilizers) of which there are no means, is considered a sign of material prosperity? Is the e-TSA system really an objective selection of applicants for social assistance?

Let us turn to the facts. In January this year, a resident of the Binagadi district of the capital Firdovsi Osmanov, who had two disabled children, was deprived of TSA. Since 2015, the family has received monthly assistance in the amount of 470 manat. But in December 2017, he was refused a benefit, although the financial situation of the recipient did not change: he still does not work for health reasons, and the children have not recovered.

The man asked the district social protection center for an explanation. There, after checking the documents, he was told that he needed help. However, the e-system persistently refuses, although the debts for utility services from the family have already reached 1,000 manat.

It was necessary for Osmanov to occupy the thresholds of ministerial offices, until he proved his rightness.

A 36-year-old Sabira Kerimova, a resident of the Ilkhychi village of the Agsu district, did not come to Baku for justice, deciding, to commit suicide from hopeless poverty. Shortly before, in a telephone conversation with her mother, she said she was tired of such a life. It turned out that due to the debt for electricity in the amount of 280 manat, they turned off the light. Her children sit in the dark. And here they denied the targeted assistance, which she had hoped for. Her husband works in the village as a shepherd, receiving scanty payment. The villagers say this was a very poor family, and it is unclear why she was deprived of the benefits.

As the independent economist Natig Jafarli noted in an interview with Turan, there are a number of problems in the field of combating poverty and preventing social tension.

"Access to receiving targeted assistance should be optimized. It is necessary to establish the real number of poor citizens, to study their needs, then to review the amount of budget funds allocated for these purposes, so that targeted assistance is substantial and really targeted. Moreover, each family requires an individual approach, because their experiences are different. In the West, a similar, but more efficient and progressive system functions. There calculations are carried out on the level of poverty and incomes of the population, such criteria as minimum food basket, subsistence minimum, education services, utilities, etc. are used. Based on the research, the optimal size of social assistance is determined. In addition, retail chains also conduct discount campaigns designed for this category of the population. In Azerbaijan such research work is not conducted, inflation and other factors are not taken into account. Therefore, the level of poverty is reduced on paper, and not in reality," Jafarli stressed.