DUSHANBE, March 1, 2011, Asia-Plus — The Dushanbe mayor’s office will provide extraordinary grants to 4,000 vulnerable residents of the Tajik capital on the occasion of the Navrouz holiday, Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe, mayor said.
According to him, Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev signed an appropriate decree on this subject on March 1. “1.3475 million somoni have been allocated from the mayor’s reserve fund for these purposes,” the spokesman said.
222 World War II veterans living in Dushanbe will receive 500 somoni each, 451 home front veterans, three citizens of the Leningrad Blockade, 115 invalids of the Soviet-Afghan War, and 160 Chernobyl disaster cleanup operation participants will receive 350 somoni each. Besides, seven families of those who died in World War II and 769 families with two and more disabled persons will also receive 350 somoni each.
Besides, 1,871 female street cleaners will receive 300 somoni each on occasion of Mother Day, which is marked on March 8, Saidov added.
Navrouz, which literary means New Day in Persian, Dari and Tajik languages, is the traditional Iranian new year holiday, celebrated by Iranian and many other peoples. It marks the first day of spring and is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (the start of spring in the northern hemisphere), which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. Today, the festival of Navrouz is celebrated in many countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, as well as Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. Many peoples in West and South Asia, Northeast China, the Crimea, as well as Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia also celebrate this holiday.
In September 2009, the UN”s cultural agency, UNESCO, included Nowruz in its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. On February 23, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the International Day of Nowruz.
