Prague, July 28 (CTK) – The head of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion, Radek Jiranek, will leave the post as of the end of September, Human Rights Minister Jan Chvojka (Social Democrats, CSSD) confirmed to CTK on Friday.
Jiranek will leave for the commercial sector, the Romea.cz server reported.
The agency is one of the Government Office’s sections and it falls under the human rights and equal opportunities minister. Jiranek has headed it since 2015.
A competition for his successor will be announced soon.
Jiranek told the server that he was leaving for personal reasons and that he would like to start “another part of his professional career” in the commercial sector.
He said he would focus on drawing subsidies for the agency and excluded localities or “ghettos” during the remaining time in office.
Thanks to cooperation with the agency, some 70 towns and villages are to receive billions of crowns for social inclusion from the EU funds.
An analysis, ordered by the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry, shows that the situation in the Czech Republic has worsened in the past few years and the number of shanty towns as well as excluded streets and houses has increased.
In 2006, some 300 were reported, while in 2015 it was more than 600. Up to 115,000 people lived in them compared to 80,000 ten years ago.
The analysis authors define an excluded locality as a place where at least 20 people in need live who are jobless and dependent on welfare, have debts, low education and other social problems.
Jiranek, who studied social work at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, worked at the Interior Ministry for 19 years. He was appointed head of the Government Agency for Social Inclusion in June 2015, replacing Martin Simacek whom human right minister Jiri Dienstbier (CSSD) dismissed.
This stirred up a conflict between the minister and the agency’s employees about the work of the institution and the use of European subsidies for the integration of the Roma people.
Most employees went on strike, but they failed with their demands. One-third of the agency employees gave notices then.
