Yunus-Bek Evkurov: if there is no criticism, government should resign

According to Yunus-Bek Evkurov, the leader of the republic, in Ingushetia, internal policy should be aimed at sustainable development of the region and solution of problems of socially disadvantaged layers of population. He sees nothing wrong in substantive and constructive criticism of his actions. In case if his opponents do not descend to insults.

Maternity patients "are in offices", and kindergartens can hold only 10 percent of children

Because of lack of schools in some municipalities of the republic, educational institutions have to work in three shifts. At present, according to Yunus-Bek Evkurov, only 30 percent of schools work in one shift, and the rest work in two or even three shifts. The difficult situation is also observed in kindergartens and hospitals.

"Pre-school educational institutions involve only 10 percent of children. In maternity hospitals, maternity patients are in the offices. This is a terrible picture as compared with other regions. And we try to reform all that," said Yunus-Bek Evkurov.

The country has also a shortage of skilled labour in the fields of health care and education.

Persons with disabilities to have "special building"

Talking about problems of persons with disabilities, Yunus-Bek Evkurov has emphasized that Ingushetia conducts work to protect their rights. In particular, social and administrative facilities are being equipped with ramps, special adaptations, and lifts for persons with disabilities.

Recently, issues on the problems of people with disabilities in the region are raised more often. The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that during the thematic "roundtable", held on June 2, the NGO activists even proposed to declare in Ingushetia the year of 2013 as the Year of persons with disabilities. And already this year, the Republic's Rehabilitation Centre will open a special department for people with disabilities.

"Clean water" and "completely different airport"

The leader of Ingushetia has stressed that when the republic's residents see that the authorities really try to do something, their attitude to officials change. He referred as an example the construction of a number of social and economic facilities, including schools and kindergartens, water intake structure in the Malgobek District and the airport in Nazran.

When people trust each other in Prigorodny District, "money will not create problems"

Yunus-Bek Evkurov also spoke about his vision of development of the Ossetian-Ingush relations. In particular, he focused on problems of refugees. According to the leader of the republic, issues of payment of compensation and provision of housing to them were not so long ago discussed at the meeting of the leaders of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) and the leaders of Ingushetia and North Ossetia.

"We very seriously discussed those issues there. We discussed issues about return (of refugees, note of the "Caucasian Knot"), and about solution of the problems of housing, and about compensation. If I am not wrong, I believe that last year around 50 families returned there (to the Prigorodny District, note of the "Caucasian Knot"). However, again, this number is too little. There are a number of closed settlements, and we are currently working on the issues to exclude the concept of closed settlements," stated the leader of the republic. He explained that such "closed settlements" are closed for Ingush people.

According to him, in total, about 30,000 refugees are to return. "There are persons, who can safely return today; however, they do not return yet for various reasons, including lack of funds for restoring the houses," said Yunus-Bek Evkurov. At the same time, he has stressed that "nevertheless, the main reason is trust between people and safety." He stated: "I believe that in this case, the money will not create any problems."

"Criticize, but do not go beyond frames"

At present, according to the opponents of the republic's leader, including activists of the Regional Public Movement "Mekhk-Kkhel", the situation in Ingushetia is critical. Commenting on the statements of his opponents, Yunus-Bek Evkurov stated that the lack of criticism is a trouble signal.

"The worst thing is when there are no critics. In this case, one should immediately resign and leave the office," Yunus-Bek Evkurov expressed his point of view.

"I do not separate them whether a person is an oppositionist or not, it is not in question. Just behave decently, do not go too far, do not insult, do not humiliate me or other officials, that is, do not go beyond the frames. Criticize with dignity, for example, I never speak bad of you and do not insult you," said the leader of Ingushetia.

"Public should be involved"

Yunus-Bek Evkurov has noted the important role of NGOs, operating in the territory of the republic, including the "MASHR" and the "Memorial". According to the leader of Ingushetia, the public should participate in the life of the republic.

"The public should be involved, whether we like it or not, or whether we love them or not. The NGOs should be involved, they have completely different opinion about the things than government, than authorities, than power agents," emphasized Yunus-Bek Evkurov.

In the first part of his interview Evkurov states that reduction of the number of armed conflicts is connected with a dialogue of the authorities of the republic with members of armed underground and their relatives. They convince the participants of PMGs to surrender to the authorities.

In the second part of his interview, Yunus-Bek Evkurov states that the decline in the number of victims of armed conflict in Ingushetia is connected with the dialogue between the republic's leaders and members of the armed underground and their relatives, which urges representatives of illegal armed formations (IAFs) to surrender to the authorities.