Coupons for the poor c. Who will receive food cards in Russia: a new social support program

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has carried out preliminary calculations of the program of targeted food assistance to low-income citizens. It will amount to approximately 10 thousand rubles. per year per person, the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis told reporters during the events of the Russian Retail Week.

“There are preliminary calculations that we carried out with colleagues, for a year it is about 10 thousand rubles,” said Manturov.

Earlier, the minister noted that the program of targeted assistance to the population through food certificates, which will be monthly charged to the Mir card, could be launched in the second half of 2018.

The minister explained that "the whole principle of the program is a monthly charge using these funds for one month."

That is, the program participant will receive about 850 rubles on the card every month, which he can spend only on the purchase of food and only during a calendar month.

After this period expires, the balance of funds under the program burns out, and the amount for the next month is credited to the card. “This will motivate people to spend money on the purchase of food,” the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is sure.

There is no unequivocal support for Manturov's proposal in the government's financial and economic bloc, a government official told Gazeta.Ru. First of all, I don’t like the fact that the issue of the existing benefits is not being resolved and new small benefits are being added for each separate address card proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade for issue.

A possible solution would be to abolish all benefits for categories of citizens and replace them a single benefit out of poverty. “But politically no one is ready for this,” says the source of Gazeta.Ru.

For low-income citizens back in February 2015, however, the implementation of the program was postponed several times. They started talking about this initiative again quite recently, when the head of the department Denis Manturov promised to implement the plan this year.

Izvestia discussed how the food aid will be provided, which citizens can be considered poor and how similar programs function abroad.

Meat and no alcohol

The program has a number of strict restrictions. Electronic card applies exclusively to domestically produced products, especially perishable food. With the help of benefits, it will be possible to purchase meat, bread, potatoes, fresh fruit, sugar, drinking water, vegetable oil, fish and milk. You cannot pay for alcohol, cigarettes and other products that are harmful to health.

Who is the program for

The cards will be available to low-income citizens. This category includes Russians whose average income does not exceed the subsistence level. The amount differs depending on the region: in Moscow, for example, it is 10,965 rubles. However, in order to receive benefits, it is necessary, among other things, to prove that you are in a difficult financial situation due to external circumstances.

Last year alone, the number of Russians living below the poverty line exceeded 22 million. At the same time, the list included only Russians who submitted the relevant papers to the local department of the Ministry of Social Security, so the total figure could be much higher.

It is possible to determine whether a family is considered poor as follows. Initially, the total family income received in the previous three months. In this case, not only salaries are taken into account, but also pensions, scholarships and other types of payments. Then this indicator is divided first by three, and then by the number of all family members. If the average income is below the subsistence level, then citizens have the right to apply for food card and other benefits provided to socially vulnerable groups of the population.

Points system

Every month, points will be credited to the card in the amount of approximately 1.4 thousand rubles. They can be used in all stores participating in the program, and from 2018 it will be possible to pay with them in canteens and cafes. Points cannot be cashed or accumulated: if they are not used before the deadline, they will burn. But the Ministry of Industry and Trade allows you to replenish cards. Moreover, a citizen will be able to receive 30-50% of the deposited amount as a state bonus.

Russians are in favor

According to the VTsIOM poll, Russians assess the introduction of food ration cards positively. The initiative was supported by 78% of respondents. They believe that this program will not only help low-income citizens, but also contribute to the development of domestic agricultural production. However, the quality of the goods that will be available with the cards raises doubts among Russians. At this point, the opinion of the respondents was divided: 52% believe that beneficiaries will get "second-rate" food, and only 43% believe that the quality of food will not differ.

Food cards abroad

Unlike the coupon system of the USSR, which extended to scarce consumer goods, modern grocery cards are designed not only to help low-income citizens, but also to facilitate the process of import substitution. This practice is used all over the world, and it has existed for a long time.

In the United States, such benefits have been available to citizens for over 50 years. Every month, low-income citizens of the country are given coupons worth $ 126, which they are free to spend on any food they need. In 2016 alone, more than 44 million people participated in the program.

On the territory of Cuba preferential cards they have been working on food for about half a century. Thanks to food subsidies, on which the government spends over $ 1 billion a year, residents of the country pay only 12% of the real cost of food. However, not all Cubans like this program, so they suggest gradually replacing the cards with benefits. This initiative is already being implemented, and now the list of concessional goods no longer includes cigarettes, soap and toothpaste.

Residents of the UK can also pay with grocery cards. After the Second World War, there was a shortage of food in the country: coupons were supposed to mitigate this problem. They extended not only to food, but also to clothing, gasoline and other goods. The program was closed in 1954, and now, almost 60 years later, the British government returned food cards for poor citizens, replacing them with cash payments.

Since 2015 the Government Russian Federation develops a state program to provide assistance to poor citizens of the country. Its essence lies in the issuance of special cards to this category of persons, according to which they will be able to receive a certain set of vital products free of charge.

Due to the difficult economic situation in the country, the deadline for the introduction of the food aid program is postponed. It has not yet been introduced. According to the latest data received from the Minister of Industry and Trade D. Manturov, state aid will be available from January 2019.

Every indigent person will receive a certain amount of money on a social card every month. Money, which he can spend on the purchase of goods from a Russian manufacturer. The food set for the poor is composed of the following list:

• of bread;
• pasta;
• vegetables;
• fruit;
• meat;
• fishes;
• milk and dairy products.

The specific amount of assistance that will be provided by the state, as well as the sources of funding for this program are being worked out by specialists. According to preliminary estimates, the government needs to allocate over 200 billion rubles annually. These funds should be provided in the country's budget for people whose income is below the subsistence level. And there are about 19 million of them.

The main task of issuing cards to low-income citizens is to improve their diet with fresh and healthy products, the prices of which are much more expensive than surrogate ones. Due to low income, a certain part of the country's population is forced to lead the wrong, and sometimes unhealthy food. To rectify the situation, the state decided to provide all possible assistance.

The funds credited to the social card cannot be used for the purchase of culinary products, canned food, tobacco, cigarettes and alcohol. The authorized list of goods can be bought at any outlet that is equipped with a terminal for using bank cards. In this case, such a device must be connected to the program for processing data of social cards.

Preferential categories of citizens

According to statistics, grocery cards the poor will need 15 percent of the country's population. However, they will not be issued to everyone who considers themselves poor, but only to those citizens who provide evidence that their income does not exceed living wage... Therefore, it can be assumed that persons who are not engaged in socially useful work or who hide their income will not be able to count on state assistance. So that the person concerned can find out whether they can apply for social card for low-income citizens, he should make a few simple calculations:

1. The incomes of all family members for the last three months are summed up. This also includes all benefits and scholarships for students of higher education educational institutions and colleges.
2. The result should be divided by three to determine the average monthly income for the whole family.
3. Divide the result by the number of family members, which include children and retirees living in the same living space.

The final number will be the indicator that should be compared with the officially established subsistence minimum. If it is lower, then all family members are eligible for social cards. If it is higher, no help is allowed. Single pensioners who receive a pension in minimum size are low-income, and can count on food benefits.

Legal framework

Government program on social cards for the poor is prepared by specialists from the Ministry of Industry and Trade in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 588 dated 02.08.2010. This document approved the procedure for the development, implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of government programs.

After its public discussion, it is subject to approval at a meeting of the Government. This takes into account:

• Forecast parameters of socio-economic development, including the consumer market;
• the amount of relevant funding sources, including budgets;
• off-budget sources of funds;
• other instruments public policy aimed at achieving the goal.

The coordination of all the necessary issues will be reflected in the bill, which will be submitted by the Government to the State Duma this year.

After the allocation of funds in the state budget for 2019, food assistance to the poor on social cards will come into effect in all regions of the country.

Allocated amount

According to the information that is available from the specialists involved in the development regulatory framework to provide social assistance to the needy citizens of the country, each of such persons will receive a food card for the poor. It is assumed that from 850 to 1200 rubles will be credited monthly.

The final amount has not yet been determined. You will not be able to cash out the money. They will need to be spent on the purchase of a specific category of products, they must be produced Russian companies on the territory of the country.

Thus, for the whole year, each poor person will receive additional social assistance from the state in the amount of at least 10 thousand rubles. It should be borne in mind that the rest of the money that will not be used in the period when it is credited to the card cannot be spent next month. It burns out and cannot be restored. According to a similar method in the Perm region, there is a social card for travel in public transport. Unused trips are not carried over to the next month.

This is done to encourage citizens to spend the funds allocated by the state only on the purchase of essential products. It will not work to save them in order to acquire something expensive later.

How to get food coupons: step by step instructions

Authorities will be in charge of issuing ration cards social protection population at the place of registration of citizens. The state program is not yet working, but today many are wondering how to get a food card for the poor: step-by-step instruction is as follows:

1. make a preliminary calculation about the state of your income;
2. prepare the necessary package of documents;
3. contact the department of social protection at your place of residence.

How it is necessary to analyze the well-being of the family is indicated in the article above. As for the approximate list of official papers that will need to be submitted to receive the card, these should include:

• passport of a citizen of the country, with a registration mark;
• pensioner's ID;
• birth certificate for minors;
• certificate of form 2-NDFL, which indicates earnings for the last three months;
• document with data on the amount of pension.

The specified list is not exhaustive, and in each specific case it can be supplemented by the requirement to provide other documents. The main condition for obtaining a social card is that the average monthly income for each family member, including children and persons of retirement age, must not exceed the minimum subsistence level. For the calculation, data are taken for the last 3 months preceding the appeal to the social protection authorities. A non-Russian cannot count on such a privilege.

Upon receipt of the grocery card, its user will be issued a memo indicating the list of supermarkets or other retail outlets of a specific settlement at the place of residence, where you can shop. In addition, it provides for a statement of the rules for the use of the allocated funds, the main of which is that the amount credited to the card is not carried over to the next period. For every first number, the remainder will be zeroed out. For the current month, money will be replenished within a day after the unused finance has been written off.

To avoid misunderstandings when applying for a food card for the poor, applicants can confirm their condition in advance by submitting to social protection required list documents. Moreover, this status allows you to take advantage of a number of other state and municipal benefits.

Basic concepts of the assistance program

What needs to be done for low-income citizens to receive government assistance

Where to go to get a low-income food card