The Genesis of The Public Services System in Uzbekistan During the Soviet Era and The Reflection of Problems in The Population's Life (Based on Household Services and Public Catering Institutions)

Аннотация

This article analyzes the formation of the household services and public catering system in Uzbekistan during the totalitarian Soviet regime, focusing on its functioning, government programs, the plans established in these programs, and the contradictory outcomes of their implementation. The study also compares the performance of these sectors with that of other Union republics, using scholarly literature, periodicals, and archival documents. Keywords: household services system, public catering institutions, “socialist” lifestyle, handicrafts, program, Union republics, plan, sector, indicators, kitchen, researcher, staff deficiency. Introduction: It is well known that during the Soviet era, a series of programs and plans were developed in line with the idea of creating a “socialist lifestyle” or building a “socialist city.” The main idea behind these efforts was to improve the daily living conditions and labor environment of the population. In this context, the focus was on improving the household life of the people. In fact, the household services system had a profound impact on the economic, political, and cultural aspects of life in socialist society. In 1921, the “Turkestan Handicraft Union (Turkpromsoyuz)” was established. After the dissolution Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals 25 https://eipublication.com/index.php/jsshrf Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals of the Turkestan Handicraft Cooperative in 1924, a while 53 collective farms offered one or two types of handicraft department was created under the services. “Uzbekselkredpromsoyuz” organization. This MAIN PART department later became the organizational bureau of The Soviet government, aiming to meet the material the Uzbek Handicraft Cooperative. However, this body and cultural needs of the population in their daily lives, did not operate for long. By October 1925, the “Uzbek set a number of measures, making it one of the essential Handicraft Union (Uzpromsoyuz)” was formed. This tasks of state policy to transform the sector into a large- organization engaged in activities related to the scale mechanized network. production of agricultural materials, cultural- household services, leather goods, textile-knitting- By the 1970s, efforts were made to strengthen the sewing works, recycling waste materials, system's material and technical base, but the household transportation, metal and wood processing, and selling services system could not fully meet the demands and handicraft products. wishes of the population. For example, in 1974, no collective or state farm in the Syrdarya region had a In general, after the formation of the Uzbek SSR, the centralized order reception point. In the Jizzakh region, main issues of the population’s household services 14 out of 50 state farms lacked permanent workshops, were addressed by three systems: the Uzbek and 23 had only services such as hairdressing and shoe Handicraft Cooperative Council, the People's repair. Commissariat of Local Industry, and the Uzbek Disabled Cooperative Council. By the mid-1970s, in the Kashkadarya region, 64 out of 148 collective and state farms had household service According to archival documents, by the late 1920s, institutions, while 21 farms had one type of service, and the situation of artisans and handicraftsmen in 13 had no workshops at all. The household service Uzbekistan was considerably backward compared to institutions in the region were mainly located in 2-3 neighboring republics. There were unsatisfactory farms in the Guzar and Dehkanabad districts, as well as efforts in supplying the system with qualified in five farms in the Koson, Chirakchi, and Karshi districts. personnel, and specialists who did not speak Uzbek and were deemed “useless” were sent to the republic, By the 1970s-80s, the development of the sector while local personnel training was not organized. increasingly became characterized by the administration’s bureaucratic approach, and instead of In the following years, the name of the system well-researched and scientific plans, the sector’s management underwent several changes. For expansion became driven by administrative decisions. instance, in 1932, the “Uzbek Handicraft Council,” in As a result, Uzbekistan lagged significantly behind other 1934, the “Uzbek Handicraft Union,” and in 1938, the republics in terms of economic and social indicators, “Uzbek Handicraft Council” were reorganized. In 1944, ranking among the lowest in the Union. This negative it became the “Handicraft Cooperative Directorate” trend was exacerbated by demographic factors. During under the Council of People's Commissars of this period, the growth rate of national income dropped Uzbekistan, and in 1950, it was re-established as the from 41% at the beginning of the 1970s to just 17% in “Uzbek Handicraft Cooperative Council.” In 1960, the the early 1980s. activities of the Uzbek Handicraft Cooperative were terminated. In the field