The Public Call for an energy package of European Union assistance to households in the Federation has been closed. Pensioners with the lowest and guaranteed pension, recipients of child benefit and permanent financial assistance, and single parents were eligible to apply. The planned assistance is in the amount of 300 to 600 marks. But it seems that there could be some changes here, given that there are many applicants. More than 422 thousand persons were included in more than 213 thousand applications.
Colder days are following. The needs of the socially vulnerable are increasing, and the planned EU aid is limited. According to available data for energy assistance, more than 422 thousand people applied.
“Depending on the number of applications, pensioners will have the opportunity to receive up to the amount of 300 thousand marks, and the other 3 categories up to the amount of 600 BAM – if there is a much larger number of applicants than planned and the number based on which the analysis was done, these funds will be reduced if there is a smaller number of applicants for invitations, the funds will be greater”, explained Adnan Delić, Minister of Labor and Social Policy of the FBiH.
“It’s a mild injection to fix the household budget and plug the holes that have been created, but it won’t have a real effect, it will somehow help for one month, certainly not in the long term unless the EU recognizes the needs with a new arrangement”, according to economic analyst Željko Rička.
After registering the applicants for assistance, the Tax Administration will carry out the verification. Most of the applicants for help are pensioners. Although the Government increased their pensions by about 20 percent on two occasions this year, at the time of rising inflation, it was insufficient.
“Regarding the amount of assistance, it is never enough, but in any case for people, especially with these minimum pensions, the lowest pension is 538 marks, you know that, but if I tell you that the average is 584 marks, it best tells you that the largest part, around 65 percent of pensioners live in the zone of social need – that is, the zone of poverty,” said Redžo Mehić, president of the Federation of Associations of Pensioners in FBiH.
The Sarajevo municipality of Novi Grad, with more than 12,500 applications, is one of the most numerous. Apart from the former beneficiaries of social assistance, there are many who do not meet the criteria. And there are many who do not know that they have this right.
“Our estimate for all categories was over 19 thousand and maybe even 20 thousand, because we were not familiar with the 4th category, which was supposed to be realized through the center for social work – so the pensioners themselves are close to 12 thousand, which is the number that we entered in application – accordingly, not everyone who has the right and ability submitted the application, that is already clear now”, said Nejra Smajić Šahić, secretary of the civil service body of the Municipality of Novi Grad.
The EU’s help is welcome, but it is a drop in the sea of ever-increasing needs of the vulnerable.
“We have prepared a strategy for the development of the system of social protection and protection of families with children, in which the first and basic goal is to reduce poverty in the Federation and all the negative effects of that poverty, and the main prerequisite for this is the social card, which will be the blood picture of socio – the economic condition and status of the household in the territory of the Federation”, Delić added.
“If we had social maps or records of people in need of help, software could be created that would extract from the existing data people who could have access to those funds that have been provided – our tradition is that we will not know what we have made of it is whether there was an effect or not”, believes Rička.
Given that, according to official data, every sixth citizen is poor, their standard is decreasing, while the size of the monthly consumer basket is increasing. Dissatisfied population expects government representatives to reduce spending from the budget and increase support for the socially vulnerable.
