Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijani Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population successfully continues its activities as a government structure that implements the social policy of the state, which improves the welfare of the population.

In January-June 2019, the State Employment Service under the ministry provided about 54,000 people with jobs, Sahil Babayev, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population, said at the collegium meeting of the ministry.

The State Employment Service trained 838 people, of which 682 people were trained on the service line, and 156 – in the vocational rehabilitation center for youth with disabilities under the Ministry of Health.

Babayev noted that this year more than 4,000 people underwent individual training as part of the self-employment program and more than 1,100 people were provided with assets.

Under the DOST program, as many as 38,000 unemployed were provided with paid jobs in the first half of 2019.

The DOST centers are created to provide a significant part of state social services (labor and employment, social security, pensions, social insurance and other services) through simplified operational procedures.

Babayev also mentioned another positive result of measures to prevent informal employment. In January-June 2019, as many as 102,000 new labor contracts were registered, of which 24,000 were in the public sector and 78,000 – in the private sector.

At the same time, the wage fund increased by 15 percent in the public sector and 25 percent in the private sector.

In 2019, the minimum wage was doubled, which allowed the growth of welfare of 950,000 people.

In addition, the salary of 400,000 workers increased by 20-50 percent. The allowances and pensions of 600,000 citizens, including 300,000 people with disabilities, were increased by an average of 100 percent; those of 500,000 displaced persons increased by 50 percent; and scholarships of more than 100,000 students significantly increased.

In general, this year's social reforms are a serious support for about 4.2 million citizens of Azerbaijan.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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