The creation of jobs for persons with disabilities was the main subject of the conference. Deputy Minister Tatiana Blinova said that employment of persons with disabilities was one of the most pressing problems. There are 12.8 million persons with disabilities in Russia. Only 817,200 out of 2.57 million persons with disabilities of the able-bodied age are employed, and 1.75 million have no jobs. The number of working persons with disabilities, including persons of post-retirement age, has grown from 1.752 million to 2.275 million since 2006.

“As the scale of employment of persons with disabilities is almost twice smaller than the general scale of employment of all categories of jobless citizens, we need to foster it,” the deputy minister said. “That will require consolidation of absolutely all efforts of all state bodies, public organizations and employers in the creation of conditions for persons with disabilities capable and willing to work.” 

The Russian Labor and Social Protection Ministry has developed a package of measures to raise the efficiency of assistance in the employment of persons with disabilities and to provide accessible professional training, which will annually create up to 14,200 jobs for persons with disabilities in 2013-2015. The federal budget will assign 792.5 million rubles in 2013 in subsidies to budgets of constituents of the Russian Federation to co-finance these measures.

Tatiana Blinova also reminded the conference participants that the job quota for persons with disabilities stood at only 680,000 jobs in Russia at present, which was practically four times less than the number of persons with disabilities of the able-bodied age. This means the employment quota for persons with disabilities is insufficient.

“A draft federal law has been submitted to the State Duma to grant constituents of the Russian Federation with the right to set quotas for employment of persons with disabilities at organizations with staffs ranging from 35 to 100 people. Regions may use this right rather flexibly; the task is not to harm employers, on one hand, and to create as much jobs for persons with disabilities as possible, on the other hand,” Tatiana Blinova stressed. According to preliminary estimates, the measure will help employment of additional 300,000 persons with disabilities or so.

Heads of social departments of the Urals Federal District reported implementation of Decrees of the Russian President dated May 7, 2012,No 606 “On Measures in the Implementation of the Demographic Policy of the Russian Federation” and No 597 “On Measures in the Implementation of the State Social Policy” regarding efficient assistance in the employment of persons with disabilities and the creation of conditions for employment of mothers, including professional training of women on maternity leaves until the child’s age of three years. 

While in the Urals Federal District, Deputy Minister Tatiana Blinova visited the “Good Cause” autonomous non-profit organization. 

Источник: Sverdlovsk regional television