GOVERNMENT PROMISES TO AMEND LAW ON SOCIAL SECURITY CARDS
ArmenPress
July 15 2005
YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian government bowed to
the pressure of a group of Armenians who refuse to receive social
security cards and decided yesterday to amend the law on social
security cards that would state clearly that the social security
number is a document number, not the number of a person and that
`there is no link between the social security card system and the
religious beliefs or creeds of citizens’. The government said new
social cards will not bear bar-codes.
Social security cards were passed into law in September, 2003.
Each card contains a ten-digit code composed of numbers denoting a
citizen’s sex, date of birth – which remains valid for life. More than
two million Armenians are set to receive their pensions, benefits,
and government salaries through the card system, which came into force
on January 1, 2005. Supporters of the scheme say it will streamline
the country’s financial dealings, reduce bureaucracy and eliminate
confusion. People refusing to receive social cards say they are
worried that her social security number might contain the figure
666. They also say that any system assigning individual numbers to
citizens was a violation of their rights and religious beliefs.