A 83-year-old woman in Bagdati lost status of socially indigent person

Giorgi Janelidze

83-year-old Elene Gogsadze lives alone in a half-destroyed house in Bagdati, Western Georgia. She was operated on heart and based on doctor’s prescription she needs permanent medical treatment. Since 2006, Elene Gogsadze was in the data base of socially vulnerable persons. However, in 2015, after the Bagdati district office of the Social Agency re-examined her family, granted 123 000 points to her. As a result the old woman lost both the status and allowance – she no longer can buy necessary medicines.

You can feel extreme poverty from the gate of Elene Gogsadze’s house. The floor is broken in several places; water is leaking from the roof. It is as cold inside the house as outside.  Elene has four children but none of them live with her permanently.

“Initially they rose my rating points up to 105 000 and then up to123 000. Bagdati district office of the Social Agency did that either intentionally or unintentionally. They recorded my son’s name in the documents as if he lives with me permanently. Supposedly it became reason of granting high points to me, for what I lost the status,” Elene Gogsadze said and added that when social agent came to her house for re-examination, her son was really with her but he had just brought medicines to her.

Head of the healthcare and social welfare service of the Bagdati municipal board Liana Giorgidze said socially indigent people often get victimized because of similar mistakes. “Many citizens apply to us with similar problems. According to the regulations, we can re-examine a family only once in 2-3 years. It is easy to guess that people like Elene Gogsadze cannot live without social allowance for 2-3 years. So the district administration solicited similar persons and their ratings will be re-examined earlier than it is estimated.”

As we were notified from the healthcare and social welfare service of the Bagdadi municipal board, ratings are evaluated once in 2 years. Official documents show that Elene Gogsadze had first applied for the status of socially vulnerable person in 2006. Then the agency granted her 36 790 points. Next time she was evaluated in 2008 with 16 730 points. In 2013 with 45 660 and in 2015 with 123 000. As a result in September 2015 she lost both status and the allowance. 

Liana Giorgidze clarified to us why the status was cancelled for Elene Gogsadze: the social agent recorded in the evaluation paper that her son was head of the family instead Elene Gogsadze herself, who is bounded to bed. 

We tried to find out with Emeliane Lomidze, head of the Bagdati district division of the Social Agency, what had changed so much in the life of 83-years-old woman that her rating rose from 46 660 to 105 000. However, Emiliane Lomidze did not wish to answer our questions.

The article was prepared in the frame of the project implemented by Human Rights House Tbilisi with financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Georgia. HRHT bears sole responsibility for the content of the article. The article does not necessarily reflect the views of the donor.