FIRST SECRETARY (1959 - 1964). 16TH CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF UZBEKISTAN
Sharaf Rashidov was elected the first Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan primarily for his outstanding leadership qualities – the party hoped he would carry out effective work with personnel and unite the Central Committee Bureau.
A YEAR AND A HALF LATER, IN SEPTEMBER 1961, SHARAF RASHIDOV MADE A REPORT AT THE 16TH CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF UZBEKISTAN: "OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE HAS RECEIVED 22,824 LETTERS, COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS FROM ORDINARY CITIZENS. ON THEIR BASIS, DURING 1960 AND 8 MONTHS OF 1961, THE REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE CONSIDERED 631 APPEALS AGAINST DECISIONS ON EXCLUSION FROM MEMBERSHIP IN AND CANDIDACY FOR INCLUSION IN THE CPSU. OF THESE, 119 PEOPLE WERE REINSTATED IN THE PARTY AND 400 PEOPLE WERE EXCLUDED FROM THE PARTY." AT THE SAME CONGRESS, SHARAF RASHIDOV ANNOUNCED A RESHUFFLE IN THE BUREAU OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CP OF UZBEKISTAN AND FORMED THE GOVERNING BODIES OF THE REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE.
According to his biographers, ignoring recommendations from Moscow, Sharaf Rashidov employed people only based on a personal meeting. Selecting personnel, he used the system of interchangeability already developed in the USSR, but he never considered even the most thorough specialist training a sufficient guarantee that a person would be able to perform their duties in the future.
"You know, Sadullo, we had one good employee: he served well, was honest, and one day got caught when trying to take a bribe. To test a person, you need to appoint him to a responsible position. Only this can make him show his real qualities," Sharaf Rashidov once told his commissar Sadullo Mukhammadkulov.
"You know, Sadullo, we had one good employee: he served well, was honest, and one day got caught when trying to take a bribe. To test a person, you need to appoint him to a responsible position. Only this can make him show his real qualities," Sharaf Rashidov once told his commissar Sadullo Mukhammadkulov.
Over time, Sharaf Rashidov began to be called the father of the people, and stories about his reactions to requests from both ordinary residents and managers of industrial facilities circulated as legends. So, in 1959, Sharaf Rashidov's personal intervention helped in the construction of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, located on the territory of Kazakhstan.
MILITARY BUILDER D. GALATSKY RECALLS: "BASIC CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS FOR BAIKONUR CAME FROM UZBEKISTAN. INITIALLY, EVERYTHING WAS ACCORDING TO ORDERS AND SCHEDULES. BUT OVER TIME, THE SUPPLY OF RUBBLE ALMOST STOPPED. OUR NUMEROUS APPEALS TO THE MANAGEMENT OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN RAILWAY AND THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRIAL CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS ABOUT INCREASING SUPPLIES WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL. THEN THE HEAD OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE COSMODROME, MAJOR GENERAL N. G. SHUBNIKOV, ALLOWED ME TO CONTACT SHARAF RASHIDOVICH RASHIDOV PERSONALLY. I ARRIVED AT THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE, REPORTED WHERE I CAME FROM AND WHAT WAS MY PURPOSE, AND ASKED RASHIDOV TO RECEIVE ME. I IMMEDIATELY RECEIVED THE PERMIT AND WAS ACCEPTED. AFTER TELLING HIM WHO I WAS AND WHY I CAME, I REPORTED TO HIM ABOUT THE DISRUPTION OF SUPPLIES. SHARAF RASHIDOVICH TOOK A MAP OUT OF A SAFE, FOUND BAIKONUR AND SAID: "IT'S A PITY THIS CONSTRUCTION SITE IS IN ANOTHER REPUBLIC."
THEN HE INSTRUCTED THE HEAD OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN RAILWAY, THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDING MATERIALS, AND THE DIRECTORS OF CABLE AND PAINT FACTORIES THAT EVERY DAY THEY SHOULD SEND AT LEAST ONE TRAIN OF RUBBLE AND 10 WAGONS OF BRICKS, AND TO SHIP THE REST OF THE MATERIALS STRICTLY ACCORDING TO SCHEDULE. I THANKED SHARAF RASHIDOVICH AND RETURNED TO THE COSMODROME. ON THE VERY NEXT DAY, A DISPATCHER FROM THE ARRIVAL STATION ANNOUNCED THE ARRIVAL OF A TRAIN WITH RUBBLE AND WAGONS WITH BRICKS."
