Mr Putin said that the State Duma was debating a bill on municipal entities, and the Government was forming a financial basis for its implementation. The new law aimed to de-centralise municipal management – but only where the measure was well-grounded and promised greater effect. He said the legislative change meant not only to finally delineate the rights and duties at the municipal, regional and federal levels but also to provide finance for each of those levels to meet their goals.
Mr Putin spoke about municipal housing problems, unemployment, small business, township-forming enterprises, and social problems – in particular, health care.
The meeting also discussed child custody and the situation of orphanage inmates after they finished school.
The President approved the proposal of a Volkhov District school principal to create a unified educational environment in Russia, as its absence led to the publication of numerous, often mutually contradictory, study materials on basic disciplines, especially the humanities. Mr Putin said it was high time to bring schoolbook publication in order.