Azerbaijan, Baku / Тrend corr S. Ilhamgizi / Law-related and juridical violations have been made during the payment of targeted social aid to Azerbaijani citizens, Azerbaijani Ombudswoman, Elmira Suleymanova, said on 14 September.
According to her, the Ombudswoman's administration has been receiving bribery-related complaints. "For instance, a functionary in charge of social aid has been requiring bribes from the citizens. I informed the Minister for Labour and Social Protection, Fizuli Alakbarov, of that in written form. The functionaries are being replaced now," she said.
Sometimes to receive targeted social aid, citizens use a forged invalidity certificate, Suleymanova said. She believes that working with citizens, payment of the aid should be carried out not in formal but in individual ways in order both to remove forgery and to comply with the fair complaints of the citizens.
On 1 July, the amount of targeted social aid for poor families was increased by AZN 5, reaching AZN 40. According to official reports of the Azerbaijan Labour and Social Protection Ministry, 65,000 families receive targeted social aid with a total of the people who are aid recipients is 300,000.