New Year Present-Making Fun of People or Blessing

National Movement members distributed New Year presents among socially excluded people in Akhaltsikhe; however many lonely old persons remained without presents.

A part of people who belong to socially excluded people were surprised to see strange visitors several days ago. Young activists of the National Movement brought New Year presents to them.

The present was: two kilos of rice, two kilos of sugar, and one can of condensed milk, one bottle of oil, one bottle of wine, tangerines, apples and sweets.
 Endzela Muradova is one of those lucky people who received the present and is very pleased. “They brought the parcel to my house; there were not many things in it but yet it is good that they remember us. I will make New Year toast with that wine.”

Ofelia Gogoladze is not satisfied with the present.

“I have worked for twenty-five years during my life. I worked so hard because I wanted to have respectful retired years; how do you think was I much pleased with their preasent? I do not need it. They are making fun of us!” seventy-one-year-old woman is anxious.

Manushak Nersesiani will also lay New Year table. The small present turned out enough for the old woman. “I have saved sweets and tangerine for the New Year. Now I have sugar and can drink tea.”

Asia Injoian, Onik Aroian, Ekaterine Gikoshvili, Araxsi Baloian, Katarine Akofian are those old people who are waiting for their presents in vain. They cannot find out whom they should apply to for presents.

“I live in Rustaveli Street # 99,” Murad Injoian repeated his address several times and hopes that we will help him and give present.

“They have not come to our district; only two or three families have received presents. But I did not get anything, I live in Takaishvili Street # 4; I am a lonely person,’ said Onik Aroian.

We met the old people when they were waiting for their meal at the free canteen. They were trying to find out at the employees of the canteen whether they would have sweets, tangerine and one bottle of wine on their New Year table.

Marina Gikoshvili, an employee of the free canteen, said that 175 people visit their canteen; however they do not know exactly how many of them have received the presents. ’Nobody asked us for lists and we do not know who were gifted.”

Although the presents were distributed by the National Movement, Marine Sudadze, the chairwoman of the National Movement fraction within the Akhaltsikhe Municipality Board, does not know anything about lists and selection criteria of old people. “I have not seen the lists though I knew that similar action was planned. I only know that parcels have arrived for concrete people at concrete addresses.”

Papuna Khachidze, Deputy Gubernator of Samtskhe-Javakheti Region, said that every socially excluded person, who is registered by the Akhaltsikhe District Department of Social Subsides Agency, has received the present.

“It was a new year present of our president to the socially excluded people. Consequently, the categories of those people were selected according to the regulation estimated by the Subsidies Agency. The list was sent by the same agency too. As for the date when the list was drawn up you should inquire about it at the agency,” said Papuna Khachidze.

Tsiuri Maisuradze, the head of the agency, said that nobody has requested lists from them. “Only those people have been involved in the Poverty Reducing Program who has been granted with less than 70 thousand points. We have data on these people but nobody requested it from us. People are applying us and complain, we have no fault in it,” said the head of the agency.

Marine Sudadze hopes that nobody will remain without present and those people who have not received it yet might get some other gifts.

Gulo Kokhodze, Akhaltsikhe