Kazakh government mulls changing status of big villages to towns

The need for reviewing the status of densely populated villages was noted by Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov during the government session, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.

People are resettling to larger settlements. It is necessary to review the status of densely populated villages. How many of such are out there? What work is being carried out in this direction? asked Bektenov from the national economy minister Nurlan Baibazarov.

Answering to this question, Baibazarov said the there are 112 villages with a population over 10 thousand people in the country, of these 18 have a population exceeding 30 thousand people.

The legislation provides to mechanisms for changing their status. For instance, it the population exceeds 10 thousand people in three years, then the regional maslikhat has the right to change the status of these villages, that is, turn them into towns. The corresponding law took effect in 2021. Currently, the regional administrations are considering the maslikhats’ requests, however there is no concrete decision yet, working in ongoing, he said.