I was approached by a family, including a Category II invalid, for help in getting social benefits to which they were entitled due to their dire financial situation. I put together an official deputy’s request and sent it the head of the district in which the family lives.
I got a reply saying that the family was already getting a 50% rebate on their housing and utility charges and that the invalid had been given a free stay in a sanatorium in 2001; in addition, each year from 2000 to 2007 the family had received financial assistance from the Pension Fund, the Social Security Agency, the Regional Administration and the local budget; and the paperwork was now going through to provide the family with funds to help renovate their flat. So the family had not been forgotten, and is actually receiving all the help they are entitled to. Unfortunately, the law makes no provision for any additional benefits.
Let me just add on a personal level that Duma deputies are unable to provide financial assistance over and above what is granted by law. Unfortunately, there is no special fund for this.