Employees of disbanded ministries protesting in front of government  building

ArmInfo. Employees of the disbanded Ministries of Culture and the Diaspora are holding a protest action outside the offices of these departments, they  declared an ongoing strike to protest the government's decision to  join these ministries to other government agencies, as a result of  which significant part of their employees will lose jobs.

Participants in the rally point out that if the state apparatus is  inflated, then let them try to resolve this issue by optimizing,  rather than liquidating entire ministries. "If Mr. Prime Minister  does not want to come to meet with us, then we will go to meet him in  an atmosphere of ' love and solidarity', "the organizers said.  The  staff of the ministries considers the decision on the reform of  departments to be erroneous, emphasizing that when making such a  decision no one took into account their opinions. Moreover, employees  of the Ministry of Diaspora notice that the Armenian authorities, in  making such a decision, did not consult with representatives of the  Diaspora itself either. ''We worked day and night to create this  structure. And how can the entire ministry be liquidated with a  single signature, "the participants in the action said.

To note, the Government of Armenia plans to liquidate the Ministry of  Culture, and attach one part of its departments to the Ministry of  Education and Science, and the other to the City Planning Committee.  It is not known yet what agencies will perform functions of the  Diaspora Ministry, but the acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  noted recently, that in the functions of almost all Armenian  ministries there is a component of working with the Diaspora.

To note, months earlier one of Pashinyan's advisers declared the  government's intention to reduce about 110 thousand public sector  employees, against the background that in general about 160 thousand  employees work in the state field. To recall, as a result of  reforming the structure of the Government in Armenia, instead of 17  ministries, it is planned to leave 12.