Ensuring the well-being of every citizen, finding solutions to their problems, supporting their proposals and initiatives are the main criteria of the ongoing reforms in our country.

Therefore, over the past short period, several important state and regional programs and laws have been adopted at the state level aimed at increasing the population's sense of involvement in reforms through accelerated socio-economic and socio-political development of the country, primarily to create decent living conditions for the population in rural areas. 

Herewith, a comprehensive and in-depth study of the real situation at places, purposeful studies with the introduction of qualitatively new and effective forms of direct communication with the people were conducted with the broad involvement of parliamentarians and members of local councils, citizens’ assemblies, the media and other civil society institutions, and the results of the study became the basis for the adoption of these programs and documents.

To implement all the measures in a timely and effective manner, on August 8, 2017, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev adopted a resolution “On priority measures to ensure the rapid socio-economic development of the regions”. By the resolution, sectors were established headed by the Chairman of the Jokargy Kenes of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, hokims of regions and the city of Tashkent, districts (cities), heads of the prosecutor’s office, internal affairs and territorial bodies of the state tax service.

Heads of each sector are selflessly serving the process of targeted work with each segment of the population and the improvement of social facilities in their area. As a result, the population is developing the ability to communicate directly with leaders. That is, a citizen can appeal to leaders on problems they face in their family and neighborhood as an issue that needs to be addressed.

This has been an important step in the full formation of the system of communication with the people within the framework of the Action Strategy over the past five years. Another reform of targeted work with citizens is the introduction of the “Iron”, “Women” and “Youth” notebooks, which have been introduced in 2020.

This system also paid off in a short time. In particular, the role of these notebooks in the targeted support of the population during the pandemic, which was a test for the countries of the world, was extremely high. As a result of targeted work with the population in need of social protection, their employment has been ensured and they have their source of income. This can be seen in the fact that from 2020, about 900,000 women included in the “Women’s Notebook” were provided with socio-economic, medical, legal and psychological assistance.

Of course, the role of the mahalla in the effective implementation of these systems is invaluable. The reason is that a unique system of governance has been created in the mahallas of our country. Our compatriots share their happy and anxious days with the people of the mahalla.

Therefore, several measures are being taken to further improve the system of the mahalla, to provide citizens with access to public services at all levels, and to establish a system of direct communication with the heads of ministries and organizations.

In particular, the Presidential Decree of December 2021 “On measures to organize the activities of assistant hokims on the development of entrepreneurship, employment and poverty reduction in the mahalla” was adopted.

With this Decree, the activities of 9,309 “assistant hokims” in the mahallas of the country have been established. Assistant hokims, together with the heads of sectors for socio-economic development of the regions, determine the directions of socio-economic development of each mahalla, determine the real social situation in each mahalla based on the household list and the population. In turn, the task was set to organize the training of unemployed youth and women in the profession and entrepreneurship, to ensure their employment.

Over the past period, assistant hokims registered in mahallas 6 million 900 thousand apartments and divided them into 4 categories. In particular, the study found that 11% of households are low-income, 47% need additional income, 6% need social protection, and 36% are self-sufficient families. Based on these analyses, the activities of local leaders have been targeted, and thousands of citizens have been provided with jobs and vocational training.

At the initiative of the mayors’ assistants, 1.3 trillion soums of loans and 20 billion soums of subsidies were allocated for 50,000 family business projects. As a result, the activities of 47,000 new entrepreneurs and 8,000 small industrial and service projects have been launched. This is an important step in creating employment and providing a guaranteed source of income for the population within the mahalla.

However, as with the other side of the coin, a recent study found that the unemployment rate in 450 mahallas was over 20 percent. Another 800 billion soums will be allocated this year to optimize budget expenditures to improve the situation in the so-called “unsatisfactory” mahallas. The main attention will be paid to supporting these communities in their specialization. Retail trade and service centres will be established in mahallas with a population of more than 20,000 people. The centres will be exempt from land and property taxes for 5 years.

In conclusion, the implementation of each of the reforms launched in the country, first of all, in the mahalla, which is the lowest link in the system of governance, serves to increase the population’s commitment to reform, to live happily ever after. The New Uzbekistan Development Strategy envisages the systematic continuation of these reforms.

In particular, to address socio-economic problems in the regions, tasks are set on expanding the powers of mahallas, strengthening their financial independence, participation of citizens in the life of their mahallas and direct communication between government agencies and mahallas, digitization of processes.

The main attention is paid to the creation of a system of access to all government agencies from the mahalla, the provision of public and social services directly in the mahalla, strengthening the system of state support based on the growth points of mahallas and their specialization in entrepreneurship.

Farrukh Abduhamidov,

Head of Department at Development Strategy Centre