The distribution of food to people in need through the social card, which replaces the food basket, will not cover all beneficiaries of the program.
The distribution of food to people in need through the social card, replacing the basket, will not cover all the beneficiaries of the program, revealed the Government, which explains that the two modalities will coexist in the first phase.
Responding to questions from the Lusa agency, the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS) said that the distribution of the social card, which began to be delivered in the last quarter, It is still “in the final phase of definition”since it is the first time it has been implemented.
“The indirect distribution of food through “electronic social cards” (…) will not cover all beneficiaries of the program, coexisting with the direct distribution of food, a modality that has been developed“says the MTSSS.
Data from the Social Security Institute (ISS) sent to the Lusa agency report that between January and August 2024, food baskets were delivered to 49,196 households, corresponding to 131,388 people.
However, for the delivery of the social card – which should progressively replace the food basket – the Government estimates that it will cover 120,000 people, which will allow “flexibility to be able to cover up to 10% more in each territory.”
According to the MTSSS, this possibility “explains the reach of recipients for a higher value.”
In this first phase of distribution of the social card, the Government estimates that around 55 thousand people will begin to purchase food with the social card, while another 65 thousand will continue to receive the basket, both modalities having “the aforementioned flexibility of exceeding even more 10% in each territory.”
According to ISS data, last year 57,937 families received a food basket, corresponding to 155,874 people, a measure supported by the Operational Program to Support the Most Needy People (POAPMC) and which cost around 30 million euros.
This program is financed with European funds and aims to be an instrument to fight poverty and social exclusion in Portugal.
HE ISS predicts that the total amount spent in 2024 will be higher, “as a consequence of the general increase in food prices”but also because “restrictions on the supply of products that make up the basket have been reduced.”
According to the ISS, “all products have been distributed”, but there have been “limitations in public procurement procedures, as well as drops in production that have an impact on the supply of food goods and that have sometimes led to a reduction in the price of sale”. number of products in the basket”.
This basket is distributed to families. It guarantees 50% of energy and nutritional needs in the four main meals of the day and is made up of 25 foods.including vegetables, legumes, preserves, dairy products, olive oil, cereals, fish and other food products.
The social card began to be considered in the previous socialist government of António Costa, when Ana Mendes Godinho was at the head of the MTSSS, the ordinance that created and regulated the measure was published in January 2022, but it was successively postponed, namely due to challenges judicial in public tenders.
More than two years later, the measure comes into force that allows the most needy families to choose and buy the foods that “best adapt to their preferences and habits”, giving them “greater freedom and dignity”, argues the current Government.
The card will be loaded with 50.95 euros assigned to the person responsible for the household, plus 70% of that amount (35.67 euros) for each of the remaining items. A family of two adults with two children, for example, receives 157.96 euros.
Source: Observadora
