Under the new program, a competition will be held in government institutions where employees who read the most books will be awarded cash bonuses equivalent to their monthly salary.
Additionally, the president has instructed the creation of special reading corners in every government institution by April 1, as well as the implementation of monthly "reading hours" for employees. An internal system for ranking the reading activity of workers will be developed in the future.
Incentives will also apply to schoolchildren and students who make it to the list of the top one hundred readers. They will receive cash awards amounting to 25 times the basic calculation amount, which is 10.3 million sums (about $856).
The president's decree also mentions the establishment of a Fund for the Development of Reading Culture under the Youth Affairs Agency, which will finance up to 50% of the costs for publishing books by local authors. The fund will also cover 80% of the expenses for copyright fees for translating significant foreign works into Uzbek and vice versa.
Additionally, the law signed by the president allows prisoners to reduce their prison sentences for reading books from a special list. The only exception is those serving life sentences.
According to the new rules, for each book read that contributes to the formation of "correct spiritual and moral values," the sentence can be reduced by 3 days, but no more than 30 days per year.
A special commission, consisting of correctional facility staff and community representatives, will verify the fact of reading based on the prisoner’s statement. The commission will hold meetings at least twice a year and will issue a conclusion based on the exam results.
A copy of the positive conclusion will be sent to the prosecutor, as well as to the prisoner for acknowledgment and to their defense attorney. After that, the facility administration will submit a petition to the court for a sentence reduction based on the fact that the prisoner has "taken the path of correction."
