| Belarus fights for workplace discipline The fight for discipline is one of the main campaigns carried out by the Belarusian leadership this year. Officials are so eager to introduce discipline and order that now President Alexander Lukashenko himself is asking them not to bring the situation that arose in connection with the directive on strengthening public safety and discipline, signed by the president back on March 11, to the point of absurdity. But excesses still occur, as the correspondent of the Vremya Novostei newspaper in Minsk was convinced of.
The document dedicated to putting things in order dealt with the inspection of buildings and structures to determine their emergency condition, compliance with industrial safety regulations, control over product quality and, of course, the fight against drunkenness. The media were instructed to conduct special sections and program cycles, and officials were instructed to explain at meetings with labor collectives the need to implement the directive. President Lukashenko also spoke in detail about why such a directive is needed. In particular, the president said: “If it is clean and cultured, then people themselves will maintain this purity and culture. Our people must be taught cleanliness and culture.” An entire section in the president's annual address to parliament was devoted to the topic of security and discipline.
Residents of Belarus, who told a VN correspondent about the enthusiasm with which officials began implementing the directive, asked to change their names for fear of losing their jobs. So we'll use pseudonyms.
Journalist Veronika Chaikina, who works part-time on Belarusian state television, told a story about the fight against drunkenness. At the television company's cafeteria, two employees bought a bottle of beer. This was noticed by the lady standing behind them in line. She reported this violation to the appropriate authorities. Violators of discipline were punished, although they did not understand why: after all, beer was freely sold in the television buffet. The other day, in the same buffet of one of the administrative buildings in Minsk, a VN correspondent noticed a new sign: “Beer is sold for takeaway only.”
All administrations are actively fighting smoking. Many government organizations prohibit snacking in the workplace. Although in the catering system of the Belarusian capital it is difficult to have an inexpensive snack during the lunch break. An employee of a state-owned enterprise, Valentina Novikova, told VN how on Easter her co-worker brought an Easter cake baked for his colleagues. Literally half an hour after he distributed a piece to everyone, everyone who was found to have these pieces of Easter cake was fined for disorder in the workplace. “We all ate a piece, and there was one left over. And now everyone in our room was promised to deduct money from their salary. It’s a shame,” says Valentina.
Belarusian doctors especially tell many stories about strengthening discipline. For example, Alla Kulagina, an employee of one of the Minsk clinics, said that in anticipation of inspections, the authorities asked the doctors to remove paintings, vases and any other items from their offices that could be assumed to have been received as a bribe. In the fight against bribery, many doctors have not only their offices checked, but also their bags. All products must have receipts. If a doctor is found with a chocolate bar without a receipt, then without further ado they break it and throw it away. Inspectors are suspicious of the presence of mineral water or other innocent drinks in workplaces: they are assumed to be consumed exclusively after drinking. The number of cups must strictly correspond to the number of workers in the office. If there are more dishes, employees are accused of organizing sabantuys in the workplace. The fight against drunkenness has become so widespread that, as Daria Antonova, a philology teacher at one of the Minsk universities, said, before classes they are asked to breathe into a tube!
Belarusian teachers and doctors, who are now low-paid specialists, endure such checks. According to doctors, their earnings, taking into account bonuses, are less than one hundred dollars. It is difficult to get a job in a private clinic, and the salaries there are not much different from those paid in public medical institutions. However, when addressing parliament with his annual message, President Lukashenko convincingly asked not to bring the discipline situation to the point of absurdity. “Our fight against moonshine was so intense that the device was taken away, the chatter was taken away, it was not delivered to a certain place - those who took it all drank,” the president noted.
The fight for discipline is considered another move by Alexander Lukashenko, aimed at increasing his own rating. However, the director of the Belarusian Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Research, Oleg Manaev, said in an interview with VN that this is not so: “One of the outlets of the Belarusian system, which makes it stable, is being closed - the ability to work not at full capacity, produce low-quality products and services, etc. Therefore, from such a struggle for discipline, the president’s rating is more likely to decrease than increase. state ideology, resembles the methods of solving problems that were used in the late Soviet period. The Belarusian government is trying to reproduce them because it does not know other methods or knows, but is afraid that they will destroy the entire system." Olga TOMASHEVSKAYA, Minsk |
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