The 114 hotline service serving citizens’ alarms in the field of social protection, with its 8-person staff, remained suspended. 2018 at the end of the year, the contract for the provision of services signed with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs ended, and the new one has not yet been signed. 168.am writes about this.

The staff handling the calls of at least 15,000 beneficiaries per month continues to serve in inertia without payment, and in the hope that the newly appointed Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Zara Batoyan, will not allow this small structure to be abolished. They have not had a meeting with the newly appointed minister yet, they are sure that he is aware of the situation and will find a solid solution.

The only news circulating at the moment is that this structure may also be targeted by the government’s “optimization” program.

The salary and maintenance fund of about 24 million per year may be considered redundant for the Government, and the logic of providing telephone service to social target groups is also considered redundant.

Nevertheless, there are sad moods in the hotline service, they say that the ministry is not able and does not have enough resources to serve the citizens’ alarms. A milder scenario is not excluded here: in the context of structural changes, the service with a smaller team will be transferred under the ministry.

By the way, this service works 24 hours a day, the citizens receive the answer to the calls recorded after 18:00 the next day through a call back.

It should be noted that the same fate threatens the “Nork” social services technology and awareness center with its 100 employees.

“Nork” Social Services Technology and Awareness Center Foundation also continues to service the information systems of the social sector, about 6,500 pieces of computer equipment and the server complex, citing the state importance of the function.

Discussions in the government regarding “Nork”, in particular, have been ongoing since last October, and perhaps no approach is visible that would be preferable for all interested parties.