Ninety thousand people from Artsakh benefited from the 68,000 AMD + 15,000 AMD financial support program. The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Mesrop Arakelyan, spoke about this during an interview on Friday.
6.5 billion AMD was allocated to citizens of Artsakh in these specific programs. Ninety percent of those eligible received the funds.
Overall, the government has implemented 15 measures of social benefits for the residents of Artsakh. Most of them are aimed at temporarily assisting citizens who were affected by the war.
According to Arakelyan, there are some technical issues with the informational database, and there are some problems in Artsakh, which is why there is a small group of citizens who were denied assistance. However, the minister assured that there are private discussions being held with his colleagues in Artsakh about such cases.
Read also
Social assistance is also being provided to people who officially lived in areas that are no longer under Artsakh’s control over the past three months. According to the ministry’s calculations, this consists of approximately 30,000 people. “Approximately 5,000 of them have received aid thus far. The others are being identified through our and our Artsakh colleagues’ efforts, and we are providing them with assistance every day. This assistance consists of 300,000 AMD for everyone eligible, including minors.”
Residents of Artsakh whose homes were damaged during the war in locations that are currently under Armenian control are also provided assistance. The minister said that those residents will be able to apply for benefits starting today or tomorrow. Each individual will receive 250,000 AMD. This program will last three months due to the fact that the government of Artsakh is working on repairing these homes.
The Armenian government allocated 940 million AMD to pay benefits and pensions for residents of Artsakh for the month of December.
The minister said, “The people who returned to Artsakh and continue to live there are more willing to create and establish than ever. Life continues in Stepanakert particularly with some social difficulties, but almost all sectors are able to operate normally, including shopping, services, schools, education, living services, and healthcare. Life continues as normal.”
Nelly Babayan
