Putin urges officials to engage in dialogue with people
MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on civic organizations to be persistent in communication with local officials, and on regional authorities to create working conditions for nonprofit organizations (NPOs).
"Of course, officials are not yet everywhere ready for dialogue and joint work, but it is your persistence and your power of persuasion that will break this bureaucratic stiffness," Putin said at the Soobshchestvo (Community) forum of active citizens.
The state "will aim for productive cooperation (with NPOs) in a variety of sphere, including complicated and sensitive ones such as liaising with people who have physical disabilities, with schoolchildren, working in medicine, exploratory and historical work," Putin said.
"Colleagues in Russian regions should learn to work together [with civic organizations]," he said. "I hope such work will only expand," Putin said.
Regional and local authorities should rely on civic activity and, together with Public Chambers, create favorable conditions for NPOs to work in social and other sectors, the president said.
"One needs to understand people, trust them, and then a lot can be done both in a tiny village and a big city. Where residents sincerely cheer for the cause and get involved, offering concrete solutions to problems, a lot gets done and changes for the better," Putin said.
Today several hundred NPOs have already been included in regional registers of providers of social services, he said.
"But, of course, it is obvious that this is just a beginning. We need thousands of such organizations across the country, ready to assume the responsibility of acting as a reliable partner for the state in the social sphere," Putin said.