MOSCOW, July 22 (RAPSI) – A bill on youth policies envisaging that persons up to 35 years old are to be put in this category has been submitted to the State Duma, according to a document published on the database of the lower house of Russia’s Parliament.

The authors of the bill are State Duma MPs and members of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s Parliament.

The bill introduces and defines such terms and the youth, young family, youth policies, youth NGO, and so on to be used when defining the status of citizens in the youth category.

The document formulates a consistent approach to the definition of the age group to be categorized as the youth, that is persons in the age from 14 to 35. The higher cap on the age, according to the authors of the bill, is to permit more young people to enjoy state support measures; at the same time it is envisaged that federal laws, Presidential decrees, governmental orders may set forth other age caps for certain groups of young citizens, youth NGOs, and young families.

The definitions of subjects of youth policies, as well as the aims, principles, and priorities of the youth policies are also contained in the bill. The implementation of the said aims, principles, and priorities is to take into account social needs of the youth and national traditions of respective regions; they are to be coordinated with the state and local programs envisaging support of young persons, young families, and youth associations.

The bill, according to MPs, is to create a system of state agencies empowered to put the youth policies into effect and to define the respective powers to be mandated to these agencies at all levels of authority. For instance, the federal authorities are to develop and implement uniform nationwide youth policies, whereas regional authorities are to be responsible for the implementation of these youth policies across their respective territories; among other tasks they are to train personnel and monitor the progress of implementation of the youth policies. Local governments are to develop measures aimed to ensure and protect the rights and lawful interests of young people and to organize respective work in their territories.

The authors of the bill believe that its provisions are to ensure early detection of needs and problems encountered by the youth and timely reaction to crises in the lives of young people.