Kolkhoz Council

in the USSR, an elective organ of a kolkhoz. The Union Kolkhoz Council and the individual kolkhoz councils of the various raions, oblasts, krais, and republics were formed in 1969 by a decree of the Third All-Union Congress of Kolkhoz Workers. The decree entrusted the kolkhoz councils with the following responsibilities: further development of kolkhoz democracy, discussion of the most important issues of kolkhoz life and activity, and generalization of kolkhoz experience. The kolkhoz councils act in accordance with statutes drafted on the basis of the Model Statutes ratified by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on June 16, 1971 (Collected Decrees of the USSR, 1971, no. 12, art. 90).

The Union Kolkhoz Council has the right to interpret the Model Kolkhoz Regulations, to convoke all-Union meetings of representatives of the kolkhoz councils of the Union republics every five years, and, when necessary, to convoke an all-Union congress of kolkhoz workers.

The Union Kolkhoz Council has enacted important measures regarding social insurance for kolkhoz workers, elucidated certain statutes of the Model Kolkhoz Regulations, approved the Model Rules of Internal Kolkhoz Organization, established the qualifications for the honorary titles of Honored Kolkhoz Worker and Honorary Kolkhoz Worker, and formulated the model rules for brigade councils.