Svetlana Orlova, deputy chairwoman of the FederationCouncil, told the chamber that the bill is necessarybecause it will help streamline the nation's lumberingbureaucracy and now US$171 billion "will go to concretepeople." The government says the move will be a boon to many andwill make aid more accurately targeted _ arguing, forexample, that public transportation is scarce in ruralareas. But recipients, who include survivors of theLeningrad siege of World War II, are outraged at what theysee as abandonment by the state they served. A small group of protesters on Sunday carried placardsreading, "Hands off veterans' benefits!" Some regional officials have also expressed concern aboutwhere they will find the money to make the cash payments.Sergei Mironov, the speaker of the Federation Council,noted that "all regions, regardless of their economicsituation, must and are required to fulfill all the socialmandate _ and the federal center must help them,"according to remarks broadcast on Russian state television. He said the Federation Council was recommending thecreation of a reserve fund of US$30 billion to helpRussia's poorer regions fulfill their responsibilities.Mironov also said that the Federation Council wanted thefederal government to report back every three months on howthe reforms were continuing. The bill eliminates free access to urban transportation,free home phone use for local calls, free provision ofartificial limbs, job guarantees for the disabled and, formany, free medicine. In return, they'll get monthly cashpayments ranging from 1,550 rubles (US$53) down to 150rubles (US$5.10), and some will have to deduct a portion ofthose funds to participate in a so-called "socialpackage" that will restore some of the lost benefits. Putin has said a main goal of his second term is improvingliving standards for millions of impoverished Russi.--SPA1424 Local Time 1124 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/189926