Ilsur Metshin: “Today’s Kazan is your work and credit; we just keep it going”

Developing a website, opening a museum of patriotic education and computer literacy training – these and other topics were discussed today by the activists of the Public Veterans (Pensioners) Organisation in Kazan at the meeting with the city’s mayor Ilsur Metshin. The event was held in the Kazan City Hall on the day before the International Day of Older Persons.

Head of the city noted that more than 300,000 pensioners reside in Kazan. “It is a quarter of the city’s population, and the way Kazan looks today is your work and credit; we just keep it going”, – he addressed the attendees.

Ilsur Metshin told the meeting participants about social projects being carried out in the city, such as “Kind Kazan”.

Over than this, special attention is paid to the national projects. “It was 10 years ago, as part of the Five-Year Health Plan, that we set the task to extend the population’s life expectancy. At that time the average longevity of Kazan residents was 69 years, now it is 76. Today we take on the task to put the bar up to 80 years and above”, – the head of the city said.

He mentioned that Kazan pensioners lead an active lifestyle: they do sports, attend various clubs and even do social work even after they took well-deserved rest. “Not many cities can boast of a “golden fund”, namely silver-age volunteers who actively assist in staging large-scale international events. But the most important work is nurturing the younger generation, the youth you meet and communicate”, – Ilsur Metshin stressed out.

Chairman of the Public Veterans (Pensioners) Organisation in Kazan Guzel Strekalova thanked the head of the city for the performed work.

A museum of patriotic education to open in Kazan and a place for a monument to Mikhail Devyatayev to be selected

The topic of patriotic education was brought up by Genrikh Berdnikov, chairman of the Council of the Public Veterans (Pensioners) Organisation of the Vakhitovsky district. He pointed out that Kazan needed a museum to show the life of the city during the pre- and post-war years. “Last year Kazan acquired the status of the “City of Labour Valour”, but we do not have such a museum yet”, – noted Genrikh Berdnikov. According to him, the Victory Park would become a good site for the complex.

The Mayor of Kazan reiterated the importance of the topic raised by Genrikh Berdnikov. According to Ilsur Metshin, a similar museum is already being built in Kazan and will be located in the former building of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan on the premises of the Kazan Kremlin.

Ilsur Metshin also informed about the plan to erect a monument to the fighter pilot Mikhail Devyatayev in Kazan.

Veterans Council will move to Sechenova Street and launch its own website

The issue of insufficient awareness of pensioners was articulated by the chairman of the Council of Veterans-Pensioners of War, Labour, Law Enforcement Agencies of the Soviet district, Galina Otto. She raised the matter of the need for a website for a veterans organisation and came up with the idea of embracing as many pensioners as possible with computer literacy courses.

Ilsur Metshin endorsed the idea. “We will go deeper into this subject and commence to teach the veterans core group to work on a computer, and then you will continue this work by yourselves”, – the mayor replied.

On its part, the chairman Guzel Strekalova addressed the head of the city with the request to consider the possibility of finding a separate building to house the Public Veterans (Pensioners) Organisation in Kazan that is now located in the building of DOSAAF (Russian Army, Air Force and Navy Volunteer Society) in Tatarstan at Patrisa Lumumbe St., 4. “We have a small office that can hardly accommodate the commissions meetings”, – Mrs. Strekalova explained.

The city leader ordered to look into the option of locating the Veterans Councils of Kazan in one of the premises at Sechenova Street, 5. Major renovations are currently underway in the building.