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LAKE SELIGER, Tver region, August 1 (Itar-Tass) —— Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said students and post-graduates should be allowed to finish their studies before being drafted to the army.
“Those who study in higher educational institutions and post-graduate students should have a right to finish education,” Putin said at a meeting with the participants in the Seliger-2011 youth forum on Monday, August 1.
One of the participants complained that post-graduate students were often drafted into the army before they finished their studies.
Putin said this problem was associated with a controversial interpretation of laws. It arose when the decision was made to reduce the length of military service from two years to one year. This resulted in a shortage of young men in the army, and post-graduates were affected.
Putin promised that the Defence Ministry and the State Duma would adopt necessary amendments to legislation in order to solve this problem.
“We will respond to these questions,” the prime minister said.