Human Rights Center Requests Clarifications from Social Agency

According to statistic data from the website of the Georgian Social Agency, in 2010 in Kakheti region 1 904 families refused to get social allowances. In January, February, March and April of 2011, 628 families refused to receive social allowance.

The Kakheti regional coordination center of the Social Agency keeps the list of those families in secret.

“The Agency ensures publicity of only those families who receive the allowance. The information about the families, who were granted with social allowances but then refused to get it, is not public. It is personal information and public agency is entitled to ensure inviolability of private information,” said Levan Akhalauri, head of Kakheti regional coordination office of the Social Agency. He said that mostly IDPs and beneficiaries of family aid refuse to get social allowance.

According to the verified information, estimated 425 IDP families live in Kakheti region. By June 1, 2011, 1 420 beneficiaries (persons) receive family aids – the Agency does not have information according families. If those 1 420 beneficiaries are equal to families, they make total 1 845 families together with IDP families. However, according to statistic data from the Social Agency, from January 1, 2010 to April of 2011 the rating points of 2 532 families did not exceed 57 000 points and did not receive allowance because they refused to get it.

The Human Rights Center requests Social Agency to make official clarification why hundreds of families refused to get social allowance and who are those families.

Information Center of Kakheti