Veterans of the Great Patriotic War every year becomes less and less. The Russian authorities pay special attention to the so-called children of war - citizens who survived the events of 1941-1945 as minors. The presented category of the population is endowed with a number of special benefits and powers, which will be described later.
Who are the children of war?
Unfortunately, the specialized Federal Law on the "Children of War" as of 2017 has not been adopted. Nevertheless, in various regulatory acts of the Russian Federation there are a number of provisions indicating privileges for citizens who survived the Second World War. But who generally belongs to the presented category? Until the law on the "children of the war" has been adopted, there is no special definition that would make it possible to deal with the corresponding group of the population. Unofficially it is believed that the "children of war" are all citizens born no later than 1945. The draft Federal Law submitted to the State Duma sets the date from June 22, 1928 to September 3, 1945. In this case, we are talking only about those people who constantly lived on the territory of the USSR (with the exception of the accused, who are in prison).
Types of benefits
Since the Federal Law on the "Children of War" is still under development, local acts are in force in the regions of the country aimed at social support of the population in question. At the moment, in 15 regions of Russia, “children of war” are singled out in a special group, and therefore privileges for them are set separately. In most subjects, the category of citizens under consideration is combined with labor veterans, people with disabilities, or home front workers.
What types of benefits exist for “children of war”? The first and most important is, of course, an increase in pension payments. Next are additional services such as free travel, benefits for utilities and medical care, for the installation of certain types of equipment, as well as for burial. Thus, most of the benefits are combined into medical, travel, tax and housing groups. Regions have the right to supplement the minimum benefits provided.
Benefits in 2017
Discounts on housing and communal services, the right to free travel, co-payments for pensions, benefits in medical care - to use all these privileges, you must confirm your status. In the IFC and social protection authorities of some regions of the country, any citizen born between 1928 and 1945 can acquire a special certificate. The laws on the "children of war" of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, as well as the Belgorod, Tula, Samara, Volgograd Regions, operate on a completely official basis.
There are also some other regions, territories and republics that provide the status in question on an official basis. Moreover, most entities expect the adoption of a general federal law, and therefore provide only officially established statuses like a military veteran, a home front worker, a veteran of labor, etc.
To obtain a special certificate from the applicant, only a passport is required. A request for additional documentation from a government agency will be unlawful. Within 2 weeks, the applicant will be assigned the appropriate status.
Other statuses
Social protection agencies often meet citizens. Despite the fact that the law on "children of war" has not yet been adopted, state authorities can assign other suitable status to needy citizens. In particular, a citizen who has been engaged in labor activity for at least six months from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945, can receive the status of a rear worker. The only condition is that work should be carried out in the unoccupied territories of the USSR. Persons with a medal for selfless labor during the Second World War also have the right to receive such a status. Blockaders and invalids of the Second World War can receive a number of privileges if they provide a passport and a document on the right to benefits to the social protection authority.
If the amount of the pension payment is below the subsistence level, you should contact the Pension Fund or the social security authority. Additional transfers to "children of war", invalids and veterans are guaranteed.
Draft Children of War Act
The Communist Party faction introduced a draft law in 2013. According to the normative act, privileges are set for the category of citizens under consideration in the form of an extraordinary installation of a home telephone, an annual medical examination, free travel, and benefits when joining cooperatives. The monthly cash payment of 1 thousand rubles is also set in the bill.
According to representatives of the Communist Party, this amount is subject to annual indexation. If a citizen has several statuses, then there is only one group of benefits - at the choice of a citizen. The project of the communists was not adopted by parliamentarians. In 2016, a new initiative was submitted to the State Duma, this time along with deputies from A Just Russia.
Political scientists are talking about the imminent adoption of the law on the "children of war" - either at the end of 2017 or at the beginning of 2018. The bill itself is worth considering in more detail.
General characteristics of the forthcoming law on “children of war”
The bill consists of three chapters - general provisions, measures of social support and the final part. The first article describes the group of citizens under consideration. The age of the "children of war" is indicated, namely the exact dates of birth of such persons. Article 2 refers to public policy.
According to the bill, the allocation of funds from the federal budget, the implementation of social measures and informing citizens through the media are among the functions of state power. All organizational foundations, according to article 3 of the bill, lie with the federal executive bodies. The same applies to expense obligations. Article 5 establishes the principle of priority of international norms in case of detection of contradictions with national law. Finally, the scope, according to article 6 of the draft, is quite extensive: it is worth noting some foreign citizens, as well as persons temporarily residing in the territory of the Russian Federation.
Social protection
Payments to the "children of war" under the bill are only 1 thousand rubles. Slightly large amounts will be received by citizens whose pension payments do not reach the subsistence level. Every year on April 1, the amount should be indexed. Citizens can receive their payments at the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation. The law quite clearly defines the main benefits for pensioners with the appropriate status. All the privileges that individual citizens in some regions of the country could receive are grouped in the bill. We are talking about installing a telephone, admitting to boarding schools, medical care out of turn and about priority when joining cooperatives. I must say that the benefits themselves are not so many. Perhaps this is due to the State Duma's refusal to accept the 2013 project, and there were a little more benefits there.
Thus, the question of what benefits the "children of war" establishes by law cannot be considered closed. In the draft of 2017, only the main minimum of privileges is presented, which, quite possibly, will be supplemented occasionally. In addition, until the adoption of a normative act may be supplemented by new provisions.
Protecting the "Children of War"
The third chapter of the bill on benefits and payments to the "children of war" establishes norms regarding public associations. The bill secures the opportunity to create social groups where their representatives could solve pressing problems. In particular, associations could file lawsuits against social protection bodies that poorly or late fulfill their duties. A normative act establishes liability measures for such bodies in article 10.
On the site where the draft law is posted, the economic justification of the project is given. If you believe the creators of the normative act, the number of Russian citizens born between 1927 and 1945 is about 13 million people. Of these, a little less than a million get benefits. For the issuance of payments alone in the amount of 1 thousand rubles, 125 billion rubles a year should go from the federal budget. According to the drafters of the project, this is a small amount for social support.