Yabloko protests increased kindergarten fees in Daghestan

The Daghestan branch of the opposition Yabloko (‘apple’) Party has appealed to the local government to cancel increased payments in kindergartens.

The appeal, signed by local party chairman Alberta Esedov, is addressed to Prime Minister of Daghestan Abdusamad Gamidov.

On 22 November 2016, the Daghestani government signed a decree modifying payment rules for kindergartens. Previously, the government had covered part of these expenses for parents, but parents must now submit a quarterly statement of their earnings, with only those earning under a certain amount receiving compensation. Without providing these documents to the local social services, parents will lose the right to subsidised childcare.

In its appeal to the government, the Yabloko Party Council explained that the new regulation will worsen the situation of poor people with small children.

‘The requirement increases the burden on the social security agencies and forces people to spend a lot of time in queues to obtain this certificate, moreover, the social protection bodies require a number of other documents from them: about the composition of the family, that the applicant is not engaged in entrepreneurial activity, etc. Single mothers are in a particularly difficult situation, as they are unable to get kids to the kindergartens without proper documents and they aren’t able to leave kids somewhere in order to obtain those documents’, the statement reads.

It also states that in many cases, families do not live at the address in which they are officially registered, but with this new rule they will have to travel to their place of registration to obtain a reference four times per year. For a number of families, this is very difficult, and for some it is impossible.

‘Thus, these low-income families with children are deprived of benefits meant for them, their financial situation is deteriorating’, the statement reads.

The party urges that the decree be suspended, as it will worsen the financial situation of socially vulnerable citizens, and could result in social tensions in the republic. The party council also raised the possibility of appealing the matter to Daghestan’s Constitutional Court.