Dagestan MPs are sceptical on making conscription commercial

Khizri Shikhsaidov, Deputy of the Russian State Duma from Dagestan, does not support the idea of the LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky who offered to release young men from military service for one million roubles. The Dagestan MP was supported by his colleagues who believe that commercialization of conscription will make bribes still higher.

"The offer is short-sighted from all sides. Army service is not only hazing, but also a school of patriotism and internationalism, where a young man can learn a lot," Mr Shikhsaidov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In his opinion, hazing can be overcome through a number of measures. "Already at educational institutions every pupil or student should get knowledge about cultural, ethnic and other uniqueness of every region, not forgetting, of course, to emphasize that we are all Russians. Special attention should be given to upbringing junior officers, who should be taught international ideas, first of all" said the MP.

He was supported by his Duma colleague Adam Amirilaev. "Zhirinovsky is again acting in his role. Even if we admit that the offer of the chief liberal-democrat is accepted, our army will soon turn into a place for guys exclusively from socially-unsafe families," he has noted.

Deputy of the National Assembly of Dagestan Marina Abramkina said that every young man should take his army service. "The main thing is that he should be healthy. Commercialization of conscription will just make bribes still higher," she said.

Mutalim Mutaelumov, a resident of Makhachkala, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about the other side of conscription in his republic. "For several recent years my friends are eager to go to service. They filed applications to various instances, but nobody hurries to call them up. Finally, they were told that they can be recruited for a bribe. Tens thousands roubles are at stake. In Russia, youngsters run away from the army; here, you can get there only through a bribe," said the young man.

In his opinion, there are several reasons of this situation in Dagestan: "In certain structures you can't make a good career without a military ID. Some Dagestanians go to army because of material problems at home, while for certain guys it's a sort of entertainment, where they can show their character."

The republic's military registration and enlistment office refused from any comments saying that they are not going to comment on "every nonsense."

Let us note here that on June 9, the State Duma MPs from the LDPR (Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia) offered to consider a bill on a possibility for young men to get released from military service for one million roubles. "The right to pay and not to serve is better than to bribe the military commissar. The money will go to the society and the army, not to the commissar. That is, it's better to legalize various 'shadow schemes'," leader of the LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky has explained. He offered to make the exemption permanent and sell it irrespective of age and state of health.