All heating aid should go out in one lump sum to everyone who qualifies, not split into two payments, ombudsman Velislava Delcheva told reporters in Pavlikeni.
Last week the government decided that only families with no income at all would get the money in one payment. Delcheva called this a small step, but an important one — those people need wood and coal at the start of the season, not in January, when the second payment comes through.
She said she now expects the government to "take the second step" and turn the aid into a one-off payment for everyone, whether they're pensioners, have an income, or are people with disabilities. Suppliers give discounts on larger loads of wood and coal, she pointed out, and by January supplies may already have run out. Older people also rely on relatives to cut, carry and stack the wood for them.
Public money has to be looked after, Delcheva said, but not at the expense of the most vulnerable.
The second issue the ombudsman raised was the disability assessment boards, known as TELK. She is urging the labour minister and the health minister to overhaul the whole system. Changes brought in to fight corruption mean the boards can now sit in different towns, forcing people into travel, extra paperwork and extra costs. As an example, Delcheva pointed to a trip from Pavlikeni to Blagoevgrad.
"To me all this is pointless — it just causes people unnecessary trouble," she said, adding: "If you're a person with a disability, this does nothing to make getting around any easier for you."
The hardest part for people, the ombudsman explained, is not knowing why their disability percentage was cut — they need to be told clearly why. When the percentage drops, the social pension shrinks, welfare payments are cut, and other rights are restricted too. Delcheva described a case in Varna where a patient with a heart condition was assessed by a board made up of an orthopedist, a neurologist and an eye doctor.
In Pavlikeni, the ombudsman and staff from her office met residents from the Veliko Tarnovo region. Complaints ranged over property rights, social, pension, insurance and health rights, as well as disputes with electricity and water suppliers, mobile operators and financial institutions.
Sukhindol mayor Plamen Chernev also came to the meeting. He raised a case involving 700 decares of land registered as pastures and meadows inside forest land, without the municipal council's knowledge.
The ombudsman also met Pavlikeni mayor Emanuil Manolov and the local commission on juvenile delinquency, and gave an open lesson to fifth-graders at the "St. Kliment Ohridski" school in the town.