Economist proposes to develop a platform about citizens who have received financial assistance

Yesterday, the Cabinet of Ministers issued a decree on the distribution of 150 billion soums to low-income families in order to further support them during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the document, the heads of sectors for integrated socio-economic development of the regions are tasked to ensure the distribution of these funds within two days through the Fund “Sakhovat va Kumak”.

Given the recent increase in questions from the general public on various uncertainties and unaddressed issues regarding the activities of the Fund, we consider it appropriate to create a platform “Citizens who have received financial assistance”.

On this special platform, information on each citizen, who has received financial assistance (with the consent of the citizen) must be entered and published in the cities and districts of the country.

In the future, the followings should be envisaged:

1. Information on this platform should be disclosed to duly registered representatives of public control;

2. These lists should be monitored by groups of public activists, they should be able to go to places on the basis of selective monitoring and perform “selective signal checks”;

3. The platform should provide opportunities to record opinions, comments, the results of public control.

Only by establishing impartial public control, which is one of the main pillars of a democratic society, it will be possible to prevent these funds from being looted.

The information collected on this platform can also be used for the following purposes:

- in determining the real state of poverty in the country;

- in working closely and purposefully with low-income families, in achieving efficiency;

- in implementing fact-based reforms, conducting critical systematic analysis, dividing them into categories based on their age, gender, employment and regional residence;

- in creating opportunities for the periodic implementation of such assistance programs in the future.

The algorithm for launching the platform “Citizens who have received financial assistance” in the short term can be as follows:

a) an Internet platform will be created (it should be noted that the Public Fund for Support and Development of National Mass Media has a remarkable experience in this area. The same platform was created and published when the Fund distributed money to 1,000 women and more than 100 journalists);

b) each mahalla regularly uploads to this platform a certificate of citizens who have received financial assistance in the agreed format (in this case, taking into account the problems with the Internet in places, the task to upload can be assigned to district deputies);

c) the platform will work online and will be constantly monitored by the public.

The President regularly emphasizes that the transition to the digitalization of the work process is a requirement of the time. I think that the implementation of the above measures, in addition to achieving the targeted spending of funds currently allocated, would serve to find answers to many pertinent questions that arise in various social networks, the mass media.

Barnogul Sanakulova,
Doctor of Economics, Professor