Congress of Councils of the Pishpek District
During the land and water reform, representatives of the head of the Soviet government V. I. Lenin, specifically the representative of the Council of People's Commissars A. A. Ioffe, arrived from Moscow to Pishpek. The former chairman of the Pishpek urban revolutionary committee M. A. Yangulatov wrote in his memoirs that the chairman of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) and the SNK of the RSFSR A. A. Ioffe held a meeting in mid-September 1921 in the Pishpek district with a group of leading officials to discuss the results of the land reform. He personally dealt with the review of incoming applications and complaints from the citizens of the district, explained the party's policy regarding the food tax in connection with the introduction of the New Economic Policy, and called for a fight against kulakism and the "equal rights to land and water" for the Kyrgyz and Russian populations. This firm line of the Communist Party is not subject to any revisions.
In a report addressed to V. I. Lenin, A. A. Ioffe stated: "Regarding the unprecedented, unheard-of rise of the Kyrgyz masses — I have never seen anything like the mood observed among the Kyrgyz poor in Semirechye. I have visited the ails of nomads and the kystaks of settled Kyrgyz.
Everywhere, as the news of the arrival of the 'Representative of Lenin' spread with magical speed, I was met with enthusiasm by the crowd of the most genuine Kyrgyz people, who accompanied me everywhere with the same mood of admiration, I would say, bordering on ecstasy, reverence for Soviet power and, in particular, for Comrade Lenin, with whom they were meeting.
As of May 31, 1921, in the Pishpek district, 16 settlements and 13 homesteads of squatters were evicted, totaling 1,522 households, and 1,619 families of Kyrgyz poor were settled in their places. Additionally, 10 mills and 195 plots, occupying 1,131 desyatinas of land, were confiscated. In their place, 284 families of refugees were settled. Land development work began everywhere by allocating household plots to returning refugees for housing construction and transitioning to a settled lifestyle.
From October 29 to 31, the Congress of Councils of the Pishpek District took place, with 325 delegates participating.
Opening the congress, the chairman of the district urban revolutionary committee, Imanaly Aydarbekov, stated that as a result of the land and water reform, a peaceful and stable life had been established in the district, allowing for the transition to elections for local authorities. The delegates elected the head of the Soviet state V. I. Lenin as the honorary chairman of the congress.
The land and water reform of 1921-1922 was carried out in two stages. In 1921, in the Pishpek district, 29 illegal settlements, 295 non-working plots and homesteads were eliminated, 1,593 families of settlers from illegal settlements and homesteads were resettled, and 991 families of Kyrgyz poor were settled, with a total of 78,802 desyatinas of land transferred to the Kyrgyz poor. In 1922, 2,356 households of squatters were evicted, and 1,549 families of Kyrgyz poor were settled.
The reform of 1921-1922 was successful mainly because it was directed against the legacy of the colonial policy of tsarism in national-land relations. During the land and water reform, more than 150,000 Kyrgyz people who had previously fled from the persecution of the tsarist government for participating in the national liberation movements of 1916 were organized in terms of economic and land relations throughout Kyrgyzstan. The reform contributed to strengthening the alliance between the Kyrgyz and Russian working people and their economic and cultural revival. Upon completion of the land and water reform, normal conditions were created for the transition from the system of appointed revolutionary committees to an elected system. Elections for the Pishpek City Council and the Pishpek District Council were held.
An important step in increasing the role of city councils in the country was the adoption by the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on January 26, 1922, of the "Regulations on Provincial, District, City, and Settlement Councils." It defined the tasks of city and settlement councils, their relationships with other bodies, the rights and duties of members of city councils, and the tasks and rights of sections and their members.
In the district center of Pishpek, an independent city council was formed in November during the regular elections of councils in 1923. The council consisted of 47 members. In April 1924, the Pishpek City Council established sections for: improvement, public education, and others, approved the project for the construction of a brick factory, decided to begin drafting a plan for the construction of residential quarters, and to clean the streets. The most productive were the communal and trade-industrial sections of the council. The city budget for 1924-25 amounted to 155,000 rubles.
A significant event in the development of the city was the establishment of a railway connection between Pishpek and the center of the country. On August 8, 1924, "Pravda" reported: "The solemn opening of traffic on the first section of the Semirechenskaya railway to Bishkek took place. Representatives of the USSR People's Commissariat, the Central Executive Committee of the Council of People's Commissars, and party and trade union organizations participated in the celebrations." A year later, the residents of Pishpek welcomed the arrival of the first steam locomotive.
Provision of Economic Assistance to Kyrgyz and Russian Poor