Cancellation of State Benefits Sparks Protests Among Students

Protest demonstrations recently swept Moscow and other Russian cities

MosNews.com, 8-10-2004

Several thousand Moscow students gathered in front of the building of the Russian government on Friday protesting against education fees. According to various reports, over 4,000 students from higher education institutes attended the Moscow rally. They held up posters saying "Youth is Russia's future"; "No to paid education, yes to social guarantees."

The head of the Russian Association of Students' Unions, Oleg Denisov, quoted by Interfax news agency, said that the new bill on monetary compensation instead of benefits may lead to the commercialization of all institutes of higher education. The bill cancels all social guarantees for students including rights for holidays, medical treatment and transport benefits.

The rally members prepared a resolution for the Russian government protesting against paid education and the cancellation of social benefits. Similar rallies were held in other Russian cities, including Tver, Yaroslavl and Voronezh in Central Russia.

Russia's education minister, Andrei Fursenko, told Ekho Moskvy radio station that the state must pay part of educational services in the institutions of learning.

"I think that the state holds responsibility for presenting young people with the possibilities of getting a higher education. The issue of what part the state should pay will depend on how much the students are ready to get an education, how much they are interested in it," he said.

The students' interests will be determined by the marks they get at entrance examinations, the minister noted. The state should also take into account the student's social level. "This does not exclude the possibility of some students paying for their education themselves or to receive payment from firms interested in them," the minister said.

Earlier this year, various social groups also held rallies on protesting against the cancellation of state benefits. Thus the victims of the Chernobyl disaster held a demonstration in Moscow, near the government building. Other demonstrations were held by war veterans, labor union officials, and various political organizations.

The protests against the bill have united movements and parties from across the political spectrum. In July, Communists gathered signatures against the bill near the Duma building. Another protest, attended by nationalist politician and former presidential candidate Sergei Glazyev, took place on Pushkin square.

12 Duma deputies of different political views, and who do not belong to any faction, have written a declaration saying that the bill's adoption will lead "not to the replacement of benefits to money adjustments, but the entire cancellation of benefits for separate strata of citizens." The authors demanded a choice for war veterans between benefits and adjustments. They also say that it is necessary to index the adjustments regarding the rise of rates of common services.

Later, 304 Duma deputies voted for the benefit reform bill in the second reading, which exchanges some benefits for monetary compensation. Social benefits for Chernobyl nuclear disaster victims were left as one of the 1000 amendments to the bill (out of 5000 suggested amendments).

The State Duma finally passed the bill after a third reading on August 5. The bill repeals 41 law and amends 155 others.

The leader of the pro-presidential United Russia party Boris Gryzlov noted that the bill has been reworked significantly, but the essence of it remained unchanged. He opined that the increased public attention the bill has gotten is due to the fact that over 30 million Russians are affected by the bill.

As per the bill, a number of benefits are to be replaced by a monetary equivalent starting in 2005. A "social package" intended to cover local train costs, medication, and sanatorium therapy will equal 450 rubles (approx. $15) a month. Cash subsidies will replace all of the benefits except for those in the housing and utility sector.

According to Russian Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare Mikhail Zurabov the suggested sums of cash payouts will go to different groups of beneficiaries. Zurabov said that Heroes of Russia, Heroes of USSR and Heroes of Socialist Trade will receive monthly payments of 3,500 rubles ($120), war invalids will receive 2,000 rubles ($69), war veterans - 1,500 rubles ($52). Various groups of handicapped citizens will receive between 800 rubles ($28) and 1,400 rubles ($48) a month. President Putin judged the said figures as "not bad on the whole". The Russian President asked the government to work out a system of cash payments for the sick elderly who lack the money for necessary medications. He also demanded that all groups of citizens who were allowed to use non-cash benefits receive cash subsidies in place of abolished benefits.

Victims of political repression will not receive compensation from the federal budget, but rather be compensated from regional budgets. Regional authorities will be subsidized by the federal government for the amount of such compensations.

The announcement sparked protests as early as May when at least five hundred pensioners and veterans gathered near the Bolshoi Theater to protest the reforms, fearing that the monetary compensation they are promised by the government instead of benefits will devaluate.