"E-Granny" from Zelensky – the President of Ukraine decided to distribute smartphones to pensioners

The initiative of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – to distribute free smartphones to all pensioners in the country – caused a mixed reaction and many questions.

The plans of the Ukrainian government are to provide gadgets to the population over the age of 60. The goal is to make it easier for the elderly to receive all kinds of certificates and certificates, without knocking the thresholds of state institutions. In brand new smartphones, the Diya application will be immediately installed and the Internet will be connected. Applications can be submitted as early as April. The idea has already been dubbed by the people “E-grandmother”.

For some reason, pensioners themselves are not entirely happy with such an innovation, although the state is ready to spend billions of hryvnias on a “gift”. Correspondents of the Ukrainian edition Country.ua talked to people on the streets and heard their opinion. First of all, most old people would prefer another expression of attention – discounts in the purchase of medicines, food assistance, some additional subsidies. And they don’t see a special need for a gadget:

“I won’t take it. I don’t want to. I barely learned how to use it. I also got vaccinated. I have a certificate, but I don’t know where else I need to apply. the entire pension. They take 1,700 hryvnias for heating. In February-March, you have to pay three thousand for one heating. “

Some saw the government’s plans as an attempt to increase the number of Diya users and, in the future, hold online presidential elections, thereby increasing Zelensky’s chances of being re-elected for a second term. In addition, it is extremely easy to do this, even without distributing the declared number of smartphones – it is enough just to fix the influx of 8-10 million new users.

“Funny. I think it’s unrealistic. Expensive. Stupid. Why would the state spend money? In Zelensky’s style, this humor.”

What about corruption? Such large purchases will inevitably lead to… Well, you know what. Kiev pensioners also think the same, without evaluating the proposal of the authorities:

“I don’t even want to comment on a stupid idea. Who needed to have already bought smartphones. Pensioners have children who buy them. And this idea, at whose expense will he do it? Out of his own pocket? buy smartphones for pensioners – and I will only “for”, and not from the budget for my taxes. I am a pensioner and have to work in order to live. I think that smartphones are not the main thing for pensioners now. When I go to the country, I don’t have the Internet works. Even if he distributes telephones, amplifiers must be bought there, they will not be able to use the Internet in the villages, thanks to smartphones. He does this in order to increase his rating. He is preparing for the second term.”

Many suggest spending the allocated funds on other, more important needs:

“I have a bad attitude to handing out, otherwise they give it away, but they don’t make roads here. Let them make better roads and the metro to Vynohradar. Don’t give anything away, you have to do the job. All this is populism. Give my 82-year-old mother a smartphone “But a person still needs to be trained, and many old people’s hands are shaking. You know what Android is. This is not a priority for our state, for our people. The priority is roads, infrastructure, a favorable environment for business, and not distribution of another buckwheat… I’ll buy a smartphone myself. I need roads and a metro to Vinogradar, not a smartphone. They don’t want to raise pensions, but everyone will buy smartphones.”

An important question is how to master modern gadgets for people who, due to their age, find it difficult to do this for a number of reasons:

“What are smartphones? I have a mobile phone, but for something as complicated as sitting there … I’m not that specialized. I just don’t know if I will need it or not. I need the simplest mobile phone to contact the children, and that’s all “.

“How will the grannies in the villages understand? It will be very difficult for them.

And the majority of respondents simply do not believe in “sweet promises”:

“Another fairy tale! This is unrealistic. They say there is no money, but where will they get the money for these poor pensioners? They don’t want to raise pensions, but they will buy smartphones for everyone. We no longer believe in these fairy tales. “It was promised. PR. In the villages, will my grandmother use a smartphone? There is no one there to teach – everyone has left.”

And only a small part of the citizens surveyed recognized the idea as good, but only at first glance:

“The idea is positive, but how it will be in practice, I can’t imagine. For example, I use a tablet, and then young people help me, but if you take the whole of Ukraine, the outback … How is it practical? The idea is not bad, but it’s too early. To begin with I need to cover the whole of Ukraine with the Internet… Personally, I don’t need a smartphone, I’m satisfied with what I have.”

In general, the Ukrainian old people did not appreciate the good impulse of the current authorities. And the saying “They hit – run, but give – take” does not seem to work here. Although … Why not take it, if they already give:

“Let them give it out. I have an ordinary mobile phone, such a pensioner’s one. I’m not against a smartphone, but there is no particular need. If I had one, I would buy it. My grandchildren actively use it at the age of two, and my grandfather is such a conservative. I’m used to “I use my old one and use it. It is always very difficult for people over 60 to master new equipment. And mobile communications are not everywhere in the village. They don’t really need a smartphone.”

Some of the old people said that they had been vaccinated, only now they would not figure out where to apply for everything due (1000 hryvnias per vaccination), not to mention fully mastering a smartphone. So is it worth spending billions of hryvnias on something that ordinary people “do not really need”? Wouldn’t it be easier to really use this money to help those most in need and help them buy medicines, pay for a communal apartment, diversify the meager old man’s menu? The questions are, of course, rhetorical.

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