MOSCOW, June 2 (Itar-Tass) —— President Vladimir Putin reiterated that support for big families, motherhood and children is one of the priorities of the Russian government.
“This is our unconditional national priority,” he said at the Order of Parental Glory award ceremony at the Kremlin on Saturday, June 2.
“We will build state policy in all areas – in healthcare, education, and socio-economic development – with a focus on that,” he said.
“There are many problems in all these spheres of course, he admitted and said he was aware of them from numerous trips to Russian regions.
“However results of these efforts are also there,” Putin added.
He believes that it is a common duty of the state, society and traditional religions to support families with children. A family with many children should regain special value in society, and families with two or three children should become a preferable model.
He promised that the state would do its best to exclude situations where the birth of a child puts the family in dire straits, sometimes even below the subsistence level.
To this end, the state will adjust maternity capital for inflation, provide families with two or three children with land and housing on a priority basis, and increase financial support to such families.
In his opinion, this is particularly important in regions that experience demographic problems.
Putin said the government will work consistently to provide enough kindergartens for children and launch an employment support programme for mothers that will allow them to combine work with upbringing of children.
At the end of the ceremony, Putin said, “It is impossible to do what you are doing for children without the heart and soul. And this is the main asset that you’ve got.”
Putin said the state is in debt to such families. “We will do what we can to repay this debt,” he said.
Eight families with many children were invited to the ceremony: the Khodyrevs 19th 12 children from the Kaluga region, the Morokovys with 12 children from the Republic of Komi, the Savelyevs with 12 children from the Volgograd region, the Izmailovys with 7 children from Ingushetia, the Ryabovs 19th 13 children from the Nizhny Novgorod region, the Bagins with 10 children from the Sverdlovsk region, the Belykhs with 8 children from the Trans-Baikal Territory, and the Budnitses with 9 children from the Khabarovsk Territory.
Each family received the order, 50,000 roubles and a certificate. Each parent will also get the sign of the order and its miniature copy to bear on solemn occasions. The sign is a blue cross with a coat of arms in the centre against a red background. A version for mothers is provided with a silk ribbon and that for feathers has a pentagonal suspension device.