Farid Mukhametshin — to officials: ‘So many numbers! You'd better tell me what's bothering you’

“I think it's not time to say that everything is done yet”

Perhaps, the deputies have never discussed social issues so vividly and fervently as at this June session. All because the “first role” in the agenda went to the head of the Ministry of Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rinat Sadykov, who first “charged” the audience to solve the youth problem, and later the head of the TFOMS of the Republic of Tatarstan, Alsu Miftakhova, could not do without the eternal problem of shortage of doctors in polyclinics. Journalists on the sidelines even rejoiced — finally the deputies started talking about the real life of ordinary people.

The speech of the head of the Ministry of Youth Affairs was not the first, but he had to “close” the backlash due to the cancellation of the government hour with Minister of Transport and Road Facilities Farit Khanifov, who urgently left for Moscow “on federal projects”. Rinat Sadykov had a non-trivial task. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the republican law on youth policy, so he had to account for what he cannot directly influence himself — for the moods and views of young people, for their life choices.

Nevertheless, he found a way out of the situation, saying that the agency regularly conducts opinion polls among young people and 80% of young men and women are optimistic about their future. Further, the head of the Ministry of Youth Affairs stated that the republican law on youth policy led to the creation of a separate department for work with youth, whose practice was picked up in the country. According to him, this year similar departments will be created in each region. The Ministry of Youth Affairs itself, which spun off from the Ministry of Sports, turns 5 years old. “A lot has been done during this time, but I think it's not the time to say that everything has been done," he said.

“Young people are different, but they do not tolerate formalism”

Now a little more than 1 million people live in Tatarstan, or 1/4 of the active part of the population. Of these, 650 thousand are working youth aged 25 to 35, 265 thousand are students, 156 thousand are schoolchildren. “These young people are different — independent and creative, but they do not tolerate formalism," said Rinat Sadykov.

The minister is most concerned about that the number of young families in the republic is declining. Referring to the forecasts of experts, he said that by 2028 their number will be reduced by 100 thousand people. The reason is frequent divorces among young couples. Every third marriage breaks up. Accordingly, fewer and fewer children are being born. For example, if in 2019 22,3 thousand babies were born in young families, then in 2022 — 17,9 thousand children. And in general, young couples are in no hurry to have children early, preferring to live for their own pleasure. According to the minister, it is necessary to instill traditional family values, for which a new programme will be adopted.

Can the state help young people with housing? The head of the Ministry of Youth Affairs said that due to state support, over the past 5 years, only 2,5 thousand families have improved their living conditions. This year, 100 million rubles have been allocated from the Tatarstan budget. In total, this year the Ministry of Youth Affairs will receive 2,8 billion rubles for youth policy programs: 2,9 billion rubles for infrastructure modernisation and 2,1 billion rubles for summer holidays.

However, for some reason the parliamentarians ignored the housing issue. For example, Deputy Igor Bikeev asked what kind of assistance is provided to young scientists. In his opinion, if we don't take care of this now, then soon there will be no one to teach. The head of the Ministry of Youth Affairs replied that the government's decision to provide housing for young scientists is on the way out. Deputy Alsu Nabieva was worried about how to raise the entrepreneurial activity of rural youth. But in the end, the conversation came down to that a young man should be a patriot of the republic.

“A lot is being done in the republic to ensure that the younger generation is educated, knows its history, feels committed to the future. I must say that the government and the leadership of our republic pay serious attention to the young, younger generation. This is the work of not only the Ministry of Youth Affairs, therefore, this issue is in the government's report," said Speaker of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin.

“Don't we have enough doctors?"

After the first break, the “financial block” of the government of the Republic of Tatarstan reported. Tatarstan Finance Minister Radik Gayzatullin presented a report on the implementation of the budget 2022, and the head of the territorial fund of the MHI, Alsu Miftakhova, reported on the implementation of the fund's budget.

In her report, the deputies were frightened by the trend of the outflow of doctors from the industry. 1,352 doctors and 3,559 nurses were hired, and 1,515 doctors and 3,963 nurses left.

“A lot of complaints come to us and to the deputies that there are not enough doctors, there are long queues. People wait for specialist doctors for months. Alsu Mansurovna, of course, the Minister of Healthcare should be standing next to you. But you are also not just a good fairy," the speaker of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan addressed her.

According to him, the head of the TFOMS also stands guard over the health of the population. “Raise these issues with the government. I wrote down the numbers," he called. “So many numbers: billions-millions, billions-millions, so much has been done... You'd better tell us what has not been done, what worries us, so that when we adopt the budget we can see what can be done.”