The President said he was the first to abolish the residence registration system that prevented him from getting a home

During a sincere meeting with filmmakers and intellectuals, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke about one of the most painful obstacles he faced in his youth — the "propiska" (residence registration) system that existed during the Soviet era and the early years of independence.

The head of state recalled with deep emotion how, after successfully defending his scientific thesis in Moscow and working at a university in the capital as a candidate of sciences, he could not receive the warrant for an allocated apartment simply because he was not born in Tashkent, despite having two children at the time.

"I defended my thesis in Moscow, but not being born in Tashkent was my 'fault'"

The head of state openly recalled the bureaucratic injustice of that period:

• Scientific degree and allocated housing: In his youth, the President returned after successfully defending his candidate dissertation at the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Agricultural Mechanization (VIM) in Moscow. After that, the institute where he worked allocated an apartment to the young scientist;

• Registration barrier and denied warrant: "I had two children and had returned as a candidate of sciences. The apartment was allocated, but there was no registration to receive the warrant. My biggest 'fault' was that I was not born in Tashkent, even though I am a citizen of Uzbekistan! For this reason, they did not give me the warrant," Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized;

• Family hardships: For a young family living in the capital with two young children and engaged in scientific work, facing such an artificial restriction in their own homeland was a major moral and domestic trial.

"It was one of the first decrees I signed"

This bitter personal experience from the past became the basis for the historical decisions the head of state later adopted:

• Ending artificial barriers: The system that prevented citizens of Uzbekistan from moving freely within their own country and owning property had been the cause of justified complaints from thousands of families and young specialists for years;

• Historical decree: Upon taking office as President, he said that one of the first and most important documents he adopted was to fundamentally change this system: "One of the first decisions I made was to introduce the principle that 'a citizen of Uzbekistan can obtain registration in Uzbekistan'";

• Human dignity is the highest value: Today, the fact that the country's citizens are fully guaranteed the right to purchase housing and register permanently in the capital without obstacles is the elimination of the injustice of those years.

Historical comparison: Yesterday and today