3.5 thousand elders work on a voluntary basis in the villages of the Vitebsk region

February 23, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. In 2010, Br600 million was allocated from the regional budget for the encouragement of village elders in the Vitebsk region, Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies Alexander Atyasov told a BELTA correspondent. Almost 3.5 thousand elders have been elected and are successfully working in the region. As a rule, these are people with an active life position, most of them are pensioners, but there are also 30-year-olds. Their public work is not paid, although it is difficult to overestimate the role they play in local self-government, believes Alexander Atyasov. Chairmen of rural councils or secretaries of executive committees maintain daily telephone contact with the elders, clarify data for keeping household records, about yard inspections, the state of street lighting, and receive other information necessary for solving issues of public welfare. And the elders themselves do not remain aloof from the problems of their fellow villagers, organize subbotniks for cleaning rural streets, and control the work of mobile shops and road services. The authority of the elders is evidenced, for example, by the fact that in the Braslav district, out of 145 elders, 125 were re-elected at village meetings. 14 elders are deputies of rural councils. In the Senno district, elders are active members of voluntary people's patrols and inspection commissions for fire safety in settlements. Given the important role of elders in the development of local self-government, the regional executive committee annually allocates funds to encourage the most active public figures. As Alexander Atyasov noted, along with the elders, rural committees operate in the region, and a developed structure of public territorial self-government functions in Novopolotsk. There are 326 house committees, 8 microdistrict councils, and 552 entrance seniors. The city has developed a plan for the improvement of the city with the participation of public associations. In Orsha, coordination councils for working with the population at their place of residence have been created at housing and maintenance units. They work in close contact with city council deputies and local executive authorities. -0-