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Gorbachev, Man of the People, Visits School and Truck Plant

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Times Staff Writer

New Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev was shown on television Wednesday visiting Moscow’s factory district and stopping at a truck plant, a school, a hospital and the apartment of a young working couple.

Gorbachev’s man-of-the-people tour to the Proletarsky neighborhood in southeastern Moscow on Monday and Tuesday was seen on the evening television news and reported by Tass, the official news agency.

He gave a pep talk, on the need for harder work and increased productivity, that Tass reported in Marxist jargon.

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“When tackling the problems of intensification, one should see to it that enterprises function more rhythmically and that technological planning and labor discipline is observed more strictly,” Tass quoted Gorbachev as telling a group of auto workers.

Economy a Major Goal

The 54-year-old Gorbachev has made improvements in the economy one of his major goals since he succeeded the late Konstantin U. Chernenko as the Soviet Union’s top leader last March 11.

Tass said Gorbachev visited the Likhachov truck plant and showed detailed interest in workers’ living and working conditions. “The participants in the conversations exchanged views on questions of production management and perfecting the economic mechanism,” Tass said.

Addressing workers in the factory, Gorbachev told them that the Communist Party, “true to the Leninist tradition, constantly takes counsel with the people.”

Tass said he proposed providing cash bonuses for industrial workers with long service at the same enterprise, saying, “This would result in a stabilization of work collectives, encourage personnel to stay and facilitate a noticeable growth of their qualification.”

Visits Neighborhood School

Gorbachev also visited the Nagatino residential area and School No. 514, which serves the area, and spoke with teachers and their pupils about new courses to prepare them for the future.

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He heard suggestions from shoppers on how to improve a self-service food store and also visited City Hospital No. 53.

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