As per the federal law signed by President Putin, the Social Fund is authorized to pay annual benefits to honorary blood donors starting next year. Benefits will also be provided to individuals suffering from vaccinal complications. They are currently being administered by each region independently.
"By accepting these new functions, we are expanding the range of services to be provided application-free, in a simpler and more convenient format," said Sergey Chirkov, Chairman of the Social Fund. "Thanks to our fine-tuned processes and automation, the Fund is able to verify data and assign benefits faster. By implementing the 'single contact point' principle, we are working toward unification of administrative procedures and lower the dependency of social welfare availability on regional specifics."
At this point in time, the Social Fund has already accepted responsibility for 72 welfare measures managed previously by other departments and authorities, including child allowances, payouts to victims of radiation exposure, some benefits for the families of military personnel, etc. Having accepted these new functions, the Social Fund is structuring them into a single system governed by simple, easy to understand standards. Starting this year, for instance, the Social Fund commenced providing regional social pension supplements. It used to be the responsibility of regions in the past, while the Social Fund was in charge of the federal social supplement. Now, the Social Fund is managing both payouts, using a single standard to assign them, making it more convenient for citizens and optimizing the entire process. Previously, President Putin also signed the law that provides for assigning regional powers to the Social Fund, including allowances for veterans of labour, burial allowances and payouts to help prepare children for school.
Handing these allowances over streamlines the application procedure and makes people able to learn about the services they are entitled to faster, to be assigned proactively, with no need for any application or further paperwork.