The 65-Year-Old May Want to Live Independently, Conditions Must Be Created, Flooring Should Not Be a Concern - Prime Minister

For years, we have been talking about public awareness; it hasn't worked out. We allocate money from the budget, add structures, but it still hasn't worked. This was stated today, on December 25, during a government meeting by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

“We could add another cabinet, increase positions, seat someone in that cabinet, but if the person in the ministry or agency doesn’t know their place, what changes if we add six cabinets in the agency? Therefore, the council members and parliamentarians must actively connect with the people. There must be someone who visits the person; if there is someone who visits, the issue will be resolved,” he said.

The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia, Arsen Torosyan, noted, “We always forget the other tens of thousands of cases that have already been resolved, and we hear nothing about them.”

Pashinyan responded, “Excuse me, but who is interested in solved problems? Boring discussions about uninteresting matters. Say something with an interesting, corrupt context, or else it’s a solved issue.”

Regarding the issue being discussed, which proposes that those families from Artsakh consisting of 1-3 members who cannot purchase housing with the funds received, Pashinyan explained, “Let’s say the family has two members, one is 80 years old, and the other is a first-category disabled person. We are now telling them, ‘Well, we have issued the certificate, go ahead,’ but the person cannot buy a house with that. We are saying, ‘If you assess that this is your situation, to avoid constantly being under stress, oh now December 31 has passed, what will I do, I will end up on the street,’ we say no, you will not end up on the street; we are opening a 10-year perspective, we are providing rent.”

Overall, we must have developed specific life scenario options for individuals over 65. It is not something that has been talked about; we have called it tradition or something. For example, if a 65-year-old wants to live separately, what options does he have? There are not many options, and we need to create them. We have a cliché; we want to fit everything into that cliché. But who says the best way for an 80-year-old to spend their time is to go look for houses, buy a house, and then think about what to do with the tiling and flooring? Perhaps a person simply needs to have something for minimal comfort, live there, and not get into additional worries,” emphasized Pashinyan.