Date: 1922
Source: ru:PSS/v45

PROPOSALS REGARDING THE WORK SCHEDULE OF DEPUTIES AND THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE’S COMMISSARS
Work Schedule for Deputies and the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars

1. Working Hours: 11:00–14:00, 18:00–21:00; together with the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars on Mondays and Tuesdays, as well as Thursdays and Fridays.

2. Special meetings of all deputies and the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars shall be convened at these times and days (excluding the Politburo, the Council of People’s Commissars, and the Council of Labor and Defense) whenever necessary—generally no less than twice a week, each lasting one hour. The specific time for such meetings shall be determined in advance, but no later than 9:00 p.m. the preceding evening.

3. The work of the deputies is divided into the following categories:
(a) Close oversight of the activities of the Small Council of People’s Commissars; (b) the same oversight applied to the proceedings of the Executive Sessions of the Council of Labor and Defense—(it is imperative to restore the Executive Sessions of the Council of Labor and Defense, thereby freeing the deputies for other, more critical tasks. In these Executive Sessions, it is not the deputies who preside, but their signatures alone render the decisions of these sessions final);
(c) Presiding over those segments of Council of People’s Commissars and Council of Labor and Defense meetings where the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars does not himself preside;
(d) Participation in the Finance Committee (together with Sokolnikov, his deputy, and the Chairman of the Small Council of People’s Commissars; the latter does not attend every meeting of the Finance Committee).
(It might be advisable to schedule weekly meetings of the Finance Committee, lasting one hour and chaired by the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars—this requires careful consideration.)

PROPOSALS REGARDING THE WORK SCHEDULE OF DEPUTIES AND THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE’S COMMISSARS
(e) Formulating the agendas of all institutions, including the Small Council of People’s Commissars, and establishing the order of business, while identifying the most crucial issues among them, under the chairmanship of the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars; (f) Close monitoring of individual People’s Commissariats and their respective apparatuses—both through direct instructions issued to the People’s Commissars and their deputies, and through systematic study of the apparatus from top to bottom; (g) For this purpose (point f), the People’s Commissariats are allocated among the deputies, subject to the approval of the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars.

4. All of the above-mentioned tasks are distributed among the deputies in such a way that each of the three deputies—and, when necessary, their assistants from among the administrative departments—“specializes” in a particular area of work for a period of two months, after which their responsibilities are rotated.
(This arrangement is essential both to ensure that all deputies become thoroughly familiar with the entire apparatus as a whole and to foster genuine unity in governance.)

5. A draft of this distribution among the three deputies is prepared immediately by the deputies themselves and then approved unanimously by all four members.

6. Since the task of improving and rectifying the entire apparatus is far more important than the previous work of merely presiding over meetings and engaging in casual consultations with deputy People’s Commissars and People’s Commissars—which until now had occupied the deputies almost exclusively—it is imperative to establish and rigorously enforce the rule that each deputy must “dive deep” at least two hours per week, dedicating that time to the personal study of the most diverse aspects of the apparatus, from its upper echelons down to its lower levels—and, in doing so, to explore even the most unexpected corners. The minutes of such studies, duly recorded, approved, and disseminated (in appropriate cases) throughout all relevant departments, will serve to streamline the apparatus and to bring all elements within our state apparatus into closer alignment and greater coherence.
Lenin
Written on December 9, 1922.
First published in 1943.

In Lenin Collection XXXV

Printed from manuscript