MOSCOW. July 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The law "Concerning Alternative Civil Service" that was endorsed by President Vladimir Putin last weekend does not fit well into Russian legislation, Andrei Nikolayev, defense committee chairman in the State Duma lower house of parliament, has said.
"The law is absolutely necessary and pressing, but it has created no less questions than there had been before," Nikolayev said in an interview with the Novye Izvestiva newspaper published on Tuesday.
The law was supposed to list categories of citizens that are entitled to draft deferment due to their work in certain organizations or their mastering of certain professions, Nikolayev said. "These are rural teachers and doctors, as well as workers of more than 400 enterprises of the defense industry, employees of interior bodies, customs officers and tax policemen," he stressed.
"I have only mentioned the categories listed in the law. At the same time, there are presidential decrees granting more deferments. For instance, there is a decree granting deferment to graduates of primary and secondary professional educational establishments and admitted for full-time employment to research institutions of the Federal Security Service," the lawmaker said.
All these people get the deferment because they are much more needed outside the armed forces, they do not go for active- duty service because they serve the nation's interests in other spheres, Nikolayev said.
"In this case, this is a service that is alternative to the military service, i.e. alternative civil service," the lawmaker concluded.