Propiska Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A propiska (Russian: пропи́ска; the full term is Прописка по месту жительства, "The record of place of residence") was a Soviet system designed to control internal population movement by binding a person to his or her permament place of residence.The noun derives from the Russian verb "propisat" ("to write into"). The propiska was to be recorded both in the internal passport of the citizens of the Soviet Union and at the local governmental office. In cities it was "Raionny otdel vnutrennikh del" (ROVD), or "District office of internal affairs", subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). In rural areas it was selsovet, or "rural soviet", a governing body of a rural territory. The propiska played the roles of both residency permit and residential registration of a person.
The propiska system was similar to the Tsarist internal passport system, which had been viewed as a tyrannical means of controlling population movements in the Russian Empire. The Bolsheviks abolished the internal passport system in 1917, but Joseph Stalin reinstated it in December 1932.
Under the Soviet regime, a valid propiska was required to apply for jobs, to get married, to receive medical treatment, and in many other situations. At the same time, it was almost impossible to get a local propiska in a major city without having a job, constituting a sort of catch 22.
Upon renewal, the MVD would do a check on the person's activities in the five years since the last renewal. Any dissent or other activity deemed "anti-Soviet" would result in the revoking of the person's propiska, an undesirable scenario.
Often residents of rural areas had their passports taken away (officially "for safekeeping") which prevented them from leaving.
Residency permits were extremely difficult to obtain for large cities, especially Moscow, and were a matter of prestige.
Certain "risk groups", such as dissidents, Roma and former Gulag inmates, were often barred to get permits in Moscow.
However, many people used subterfuge to get Moscow residency permits, including fake marriages and bribery. Another way of obtaining Moscow residency was to become a limitchik, i.e., to enter Moscow to take certain understaffed job positions, e.g., at strategic plants.
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Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the propiska system was officially abolished. However, some of the former Soviet republics, such as Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, chose to keep their propiska systems, or at least a scaled down version of them. Most, on the other hand, have done away with residence permits, but still require registration of a person's place of residence.
Georgia and Moldova have completely outlawed registration and any form of internal passport. Ukraine has tied all social benefits to a person's place of residence, meaning that a person can lose all these benefits upon moving. Russia replaced propiska with registration primarily used for economic and law enforcement reasons such as accounting social benefits, housing and utility payments, taxes, conscription, etc.
Even today, the process of obtaining the registration is usually not as simple as just notifying the authorities of one's residence. There is still much corruption and abuse related to getting a propiska. For instance, Moscow authorities are known to demand "fines" from anyone who does not have a passport with Moscow registration, particularly those who do not look Slavic. At some point Moscow authorities tried to demand an unreasonable fee (as high as US$5,000) for registraton. It was later repealed through court action.
This is an Article on Propiska. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Propiska Propiska after 1991
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