In Tashkent, a gift was taken from an employee of the Yashnabad district public municipal service during the celebration of the Women’s Day, March 8. The district mayor Bakhtiyor Rakhmankulov met with the woman.
Earlier in a video message, the street cleaner lady burst in tears saying that they had been offered gifts during a TV program, but once the show ended the gifts were snatched right out of her hands.
Tashkent deputy mayor Shakhnoza Sultonova and the mayor of the Yashnabad district Bakhtiyor Rakhmankulov and other officials visited the woman. They apologized, congratulated her on the holiday and presented her with new gifts.
An official investigation has been launched into the incident. The woman was promised that the culprit would be found and held accountable.
While, in fact the officials had to react to the case only after it caused a public outcry. The above visiting well-dressed and polished officials with glossy looks seem to have been ordered to sweep the affair under the rug.
Instead of a one time gift, the authorities should consider providing long time security to street cleaners by raising their pay, who are paid starvation wages while civil servants are getting heedlessly lavish and financially irresponsible. The street cleaners, who are hired by the state, are among those millions who are deprived and are in precarious state.
