MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax-AVN) - A working group set up to finalize the bill "Concerning Alternative Civil Service" will round up its activities on Friday to submit the bill to the government on February 15, Nikolai Bezborodov, deputy chairman of the defense committee in the State Duma lower house of parliament, told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The group comprises members of the Duma defense committee, officials of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and representatives of the Russian government.
Bezborodov said the bill granted the right to alternative civil service to citizens, whose convictions or confession run contrary to bearing arms, as well as the people who are entitled to draft deferments at present, these being teachers of rural schools, students of several state-run higher educational establishments and people of some other categories.
"The law on alternative civil service must set up a reliable barrier in the way of draft dodgers of all kinds," the lawmaker stressed.
Under the bill, the term of alternative service will be twice longer than the term of military service, he went on. "Our calculations are based on the fact that active-duty servicemen are accomplishing their duties 16 hours a day and have eight hours for sleep, while those who opt for alternative service are working only eight hours a day," Bezborodov noted.
Speaking about the principle of recruitment for alternative service, the lawmaker said it might be mixed. Duma members believe that persons can undergo alternative service both in their home locality and in a different region of the country, while the General Staff insists on sending everybody who opts for alternative service far away from home.
As it was earlier reported, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov will hold a conference on Saturday to finalize the bill.