VIDEO: We are not going to create comfort for those citizens who have decided to remain poor, says Pashinyan

The new system of social assistance for the impoverished will first calculate the income of family members, then evaluate their level of poverty. It is also noted that a capable person must work. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this today, on July 11, during a government meeting.

“It is unacceptable thinking that someone should help a capable person so that they can have bread... humanitarian aid should be provided. This is absurd, this is an anti-state mentality. A capable person must work. Where they will work, how they will work, is a secondary issue,” said Pashinyan, emphasizing that poverty is overcome through work, thus capable individuals should not be given the opportunity to avoid working.

“We are not going to create comfort for our dear citizens who have decided that they should be poor and continue to remain so. No, we must encourage them, support them, and apply pressure if necessary,” the Prime Minister added.

In this context, Minister of Labor and Social Issues Narek Mkrtchyan added that the number of capable but non-working individuals—who can potentially be activated—is around 30,000. “Before the establishment of the Welfare System in 2021, we had 93,000 impoverished families in the system, and as of June this year, that number has dropped to 65,000.”

The minister also noted that there will be new entries as the system is launched, as there are individuals who are not in the system but should be, and there are tens of thousands of people who should not be in the system but are.

The new system will be piloted in one of the regions for a duration of 1-2 months, followed by monitoring, and then it will be expanded to all regions.