At the Online Meeting of the Labour and Social Policy Committee
The Milli Majlis Committee for Labour and Social Policy held an online meeting on 7 December.
The draft amendments to the Labour Code of the Azerbaijan Republic were discussed at the beginning of the meeting.
At the same time, the Committee Chairman Musa Guliyev mentioned how the Azerbaijani Army had won our nation an unforgettable victory in the 44-day war that had begun on 27 September. That victory is inscribed in the statehood and military history of Azerbaijan in golden letters, in the opinion of Mr Guliyev who congratulated on the victory all the soldiers and officers, and the gazis with the Azerbaijan Republic’s President and Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev at their head who had made the victory possible. Besides, he asked the Almighty that the souls of the fallen warriors would rest in peace.
Then, Mr Guliyev clarified that the proposed amendments to the Labour Code had ensued from the presidential decrees ‘On Instituting the Memorial Day in the Azerbaijan Republic (the Decree dated 2 December 2020) and ‘On Instituting the Victory Day in the Azerbaijan Republic’ (the Decree dated 3 December 2020). The amendments add to the list of red-letter days contained in Article 105 of the Labour Code the 8th of November as the Victory Day; it is to be a holiday. As regards the other amendment, it is an addendum – the new Article 106.1 to be included in the Labour Code would read, ‘The 27th of September of each year is the day of commemoration of the shahids who fell whilst effecting the cause of liberating the lands of the Azerbaijan Republic from the occupation – ‘The Memorial Day in the Azerbaijan Republic’. This day shall be deemed a working day.’
The Committee members recommended unanimously that the Bill should be tabled at a plenary sitting of the Milli Majlis for deliberations.
The online meeting also had an in-committee hearing of one of the most important agenda items, namely, the document entitled ‘The Social Protection Measures at the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
The Committee Member Soltan Mammadov briefed the meeting participants on the subject, saying that all the countries of the world including Azerbaijan had to go through serious trials due to the coronavirus pandemic. Azerbaijan has been able to slow down the spread of the virus considerably thanks to international co-operation, absorption of the relevant global experience, the complete mobilisation of all the national resources, emergency response preparations and preventive arrangements. The correct state policy pursued during the pandemic, the introduction of the special quarantine regime, the restrictive measures and prompt virus infection identifications made certain that the relatively low small losses are observed.
The MP said that there had been only 6 COVID-19 testing laboratories in action in the country at the beginning of this year while there were more than 40 of them right now. The chemical reagents they use are up to the highest standards. Mr Mammadov also gravitated upon the role of the health care system and the training levels in the in-patient medical personnel of Azerbaijan in combating the virus. He emphasised that, subject to the degree of infection, coronavirus patients could take treatment at as many as 46 public hospitals. The quantities of the required equipment sets, hospital beds and modular-type hospitals had been increased adequately, too, he added.
The MP also brought up the enlightenment efforts made during the COVID-19 pandemic and informed the colleagues of the impact the pandemic had had on the social and economic situation in the country. It was said that though the current infection-related statistical figures were not exactly elating, everybody should struggle as one to minimise them. A yet greater kind of responsibility befalls the citizens now: each one should follow the established rules stringently, Mr Mammadov urged.
That speech was followed by the hearing of the presentation ‘On the Social Protection and Social-Psychological Adaptation of War Veterans, Gazis and Shahid Families.’
The Committee Member Vugar Bayramov who gave the relevant brief mentioned that President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan had made strengthening the social welfare of the shahid families and disabled war veterans one of the topmost state policy priorities. Heightening the state care for those people is constantly in the focus. The country has in current use 20 direct and stimulatory support mechanisms for the families of the servicemen killed in action. Pursuant to the Law ‘On the Compulsory State Personal Insurance of the Servicemen’, for instance, each shahid family is in receipt of the insurance premium equalling AZN 11,000. In addition, each of those families is paid the President’s allowance in the amount of AZN 300. The AZN 39.5 surplus is added to the insurance component of the retirement pensions of such families’ members.
According to the MP, there are various mechanisms supporting the families of the fallen servicemen – including supplying those families with flats. The disabled war veterans enjoy 12 direct and stimulatory benefits. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd-class disabled war veterans are paid the corresponding insurance proceeds equalling AZN 8,800, AZN 6,600 and AZN 4,400. The war veterans with grave injuries (wounded, traumatised and concussed) are paid the insurance proceeds that equal AZN 2,750 whilst the war veterans with light injuries (wounded, traumatised and concussed) are entitled to the insurance proceeds in the amount of AZN 550. There are benefits also for the handicapped people who are not eligible for retirement pensions; such benefits are given for an illness contracted whilst in active military service, for being in the combat zones, for discharging military service duties and tasks, and for defence of the territorial integrity, independence and constitutional order of Azerbaijan. Namely, the disabled persons of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd categories are granted the allowances of AZN 150, AZN 130 and AZN 110, respectively. These people are also entitled to the President’s allowance equalling AZN 250, AZN 230 and AZN 210, respectively. The average disability retirement pensions paid to civilians and military servicemen are AZN 261 and AZN 515, respectively. Besides, free-of-charge medical treatment courses are organised for these people.
Mr Bayramov mentioned in his presentation that those members of family-run farms who owned arable land allotments were deemed to be employed. In the meantime, a great many shahid families and disabled war veterans own land allotments; they are considered to be employed therefore, which limits the access to social programmes for such families in a number of cases. Having stressed that, the MP motioned a new legislative article that would eliminate this restriction.
The MP went further to suggest that the disabled war veterans should be entitled to soft mortgage loans and their children to free-of-charge tuition at the public high, specialised secondary and vocational schools and at academic institutions designated by the appropriate executive authorities – pari passu with the shahid family children.
The Committee members Rauf Aliyev, Ziyad Samedzade, Sattar Mehbaliyev, Aziz Alakbarli, Jala Aliyeva, Malahat Ibrahimghizi, Arzu Naghiyev, Ilham Mammadov and Aghil Mammadov remarked upon the matters in question.
At the end of the meeting, it was decided to organise hearings of both matters with broad audiences, with participation of the representatives of the concerned executive authorities, specialists and NGOs once the pandemic was over.
The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis
