Quarantine as a sentence: the article of "NI" has prompted the Mayor's office and Sberbank to help the elderly

Irina Mishina

After our publication “Quarantine as a sentence: old people no longer have food or money without the bank cards”, which found wide response and support among the readers, our editorial office immediately received the call from the press service of Sberbank.

We were informed that in Moscow "48O of its branches have already been opened." Besides, the previous information - “From March 30 to April 30, Sberbank branches will work in a weekend mode” - after our publication immediately was deleted from the “voice responder” (it can be contacted by the number 900).

Additionally, Sberbank reported about the encouraging news: “By calling 900, you can apply for free delivery to any address within Moscow of re-issued bank cards for customers aged 65 and over, as well as representatives of low-mobility categories of citizens.” This means that retirees' passbooks can be replaced with cards.

But anyway there still remains an open question: who will teach the elderly to use these same cards at the ATMs? Indeed, despite the opening of new branches, not every Sberbank office located within the walking distance works now. But this is not the main problem.

No one, and this is sadly, have canceled the patrolling of the streets of Moscow, including the branches of Sberbank, by the orders of the Russian Guard, which check older people documents and fine them for violating the self-isolation regime. So "welcome", but for those who are 65+ "no entry." The press service of Sberbank said that this problem is "beyond their competence."

After the publication of the article about the problems of the elderly, the care of state structures about them grew every day and became ever larger. An employee of the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Moscow called me on my cell phone. She demanded to give her the addresses and personal data of the elderly people mentioned in my article. I replied that without permission I can’t operate with other people's personal data. The next day I was ready to talk with an employee of the Department. But one trouble: the number from which she called was hidden and was not detected by the phone. For two days I tried to get through to the press service of the Department of Labor and Social Protection on various phones listed on the website of this department. But the long beeps were the answer.

Actually, there was nothing to tell me to the Department of Labor, which zealously began to report on assistance to older people. We have already given all the elderly people who asked for help the telephone numbers of the social services in their area, replacing the work of the Department. (What can you do if older people sometimes trust our media more than the structures of the Moscow City Hall and government?). As far as I know, the elderly really began to deliver food and medicine. They were bought for the money that the old people themselves gave out to the social workers. Volunteers are also delivering food and medicine in case of treatment, and this is very encouraging. For those who have not yet resolved the problem of food and drug delivery, the Department of Labor and Social Protection has opened a call center where Muscovites aged 65+ can go to who have problems of one kind or another: 8 (495) 870 45 09 . The department notes that now almost everything can be ordered remotely - "order products with home delivery, pay for utilities and other online services." This is just great information! Especially for those old people who do not have the Internet and smartphones. So to report on the work done is not to do it yet.

Reporting about their good deeds, the Department of Social Security for some reason does not raise the question of the miserable pensions of our old people. During the period of the epidemic and crisis, which led to a frantic increase in prices, no one has raised these pensions. The reason we know: "The budget will crack." So our old people did not become happier, they did not eat more hearty. Although caring is still nice.

As for the home-based services for 128 thousand Muscovites of the older generation or those with disabilities, the Department of Social Protection is really worth saying thank you for this. True, today, as far as we know, not all are covered by such assistance. We hope that appeals to our editorial office can now be addressed to the Department of Social Protection. Of course, provided that the connection will be two-way and there at least someone in the press service will answer the phone calls of Novye Izvestia. We are really interested in such cooperation.

As for the specific addresses that an employee of the Department of Social Protection demanded of me, they are in the public domain. For example, in the group " National Committee for the Protection of Consumer Rights. " By the way, an elderly Muscovite also addressed there, whose address the Department employee persistently demanded. As far as we know, her problem has already been solved.

And further. Moscow is not all of Russia. For example, on one of the Sakhalin forums, old people write: “Please tell me how to live for pensioners who have all their money on their savings books. Banks do not work. Where can older people get livelihoods in this country? Would make an exception. It is not yet known how long the quarantine will last, but how to live it !!! The authorities are good at talking about everything. And they don’t have to worry about anything. And ordinary people don't care. ”

And the last one. After publishing an article about quarantined problems of old people, we were sent to our editorial office as press releases and reports on charitable assistance to the elderly rained down from a cornucopia. Here is an excerpt from the latter: “ Pensioners in Moscow and St. Petersburg will receive free medicine kits as part of a mutual assistance action # we take together. ERKAFARM group of companies, Samson-pharma pharmacy chain, Bosnalek and Renewal pharmaceutical manufacturers with the support of the All-Russian Popular Front will deliver self-isolation pensioners and low-income families essential medicines. ”Note: the key word is“ pensioners observing isolation. ”All the rest - those who are physically unable to observe it, being, for example, lonely - outside the brackets of this action.

We are pleased that the problem of "self-isolated" elderly people in Moscow has begun to be solved. It is pleasant that our publication has led to even more active action in this direction. We are ready to cooperate and work together. But only if it is a sincere concern, not just a desire to report to superiors.