Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr U. Ismayilova / The Azerbaijani Labour and Social Protection Ministry is intensifying the policy of social rehabilitation of Azerbaijan's population. The Ministry plans to create 14 projects in connection to this, a spokesman for the Ministry, Elnur Kalantarli, said.
"Social rehabilitation projects envisage employment of people who take care of disabled people receiving targeted social aid," he said.
According to data as at 1 September, 2007 provided by the Ministry, 60,155 families in Azerbaijan receive targeted social aid.
According to Kalantarli, after people caring for invalid relatives are employed, targeted social aid can be increased to a subsistence wage.
Today targeted social aid makes up AZN 77.98 a month for a family and AZN 16.36 for an individual, while a subsistence wage approved by the Parliament comprises AZN 64 per person. According to the Azerbaijani Trade Union Confederation, the cost of a monthly consumer basket per person amounted to on average AZN 96 at the beginning of July.
The Labour Ministry selected three pilot regions for introduction of the new system, Kalantarli said.
"Those are Nizami District of Baku and Azerbaijan's Guba and Ismayilli regions," he said.
According to the State Statistics Department, the number of unemployed in Azerbaijan makes up 51,614 and the number of employed - around 4mln as at 1 September, 2007.