The Vazrazhdane (Revival) party urges the government to withdraw a bill that amends the Personal Assistance Act, party member Georgi Georgiev said in the parliament lobby. He said scrapping the pay coefficient affects 88,000 people in Bulgaria.
Georgiev told reporters the party is firmly against the bill. He said it abolishes the coefficient that links pay under personal assistants' employment contracts, and with it goes the so-called employment contract of the assistants.
The third change is about address. Under it, a personal assistant must live no more than 40 kilometres from where the person with a disability lives. Georgiev gave the example of an assistant with a permanent address in Sofia and a person with a disability in the Haskovo area. He said such an assistant would have no right to care for that person.
Vazrazhdane calls the proposals unacceptable and inhumane. Georgiev believes the ruling parties are making the changes to "balance their budget".
He asked whether the people who care for people with disabilities should be the ones to bear the burden.