Russian Premier Says Computer Illiterate Officials Should Be Dismissed

(RIA Novosti – November 19, 2012) Civil servants who are not computer literate should be dismissed, Russian Prime Minister has said, state news agency RIA Novosti reported on 19 November.

“A civil servant who is unable to create a document in electronic form, who is afraid to turn on a computer, should be dismissed from state service,” Medvedev said at a meeting with employees of the Federal Tax Service

“We do not take illiterate people for state service; this is part of modern literacy,” he added.

Asked by tax service employees whether he considers the departure from paper documentation to be excessive, Medvedev answered in the negative.

“No, it’s not excessive. I fully support it, 100 per cent,” Medvedev said, commenting on a remark by a tax service employee who complained that the service, which was one of the first to switch to electronic documentation, encounters difficulty when cooperating with other departments which require paper documentation.

“Yes, 20 years ago it was exotic, but 15 years ago I understood that it is impossible without it,” Medvedev added.