On the “Dedicated to you” social card
It will be called “Dedicated to you”. This is the name chosen for the card with a single contribution of 382.50 euros for the purchase of basic foodstuffs, intended for people with ISEE up to 15 thousand euros. The card, presented today at Palazzo Chigi, will be distributed by the Italian Post Office and will be available to around one million and 300 thousand households to purchase basic food products: from bread to pasta. In a video message, Prime Minister Meloni said “it will have a wider value thanks to all the discounts made available by large-scale retailers”. While Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti explained that the experiment of the Card Dedicated to you «can certainly be replicated by recalling that the government has decided to intervene on the two factors of energy and foodstuffs.
But let’s see how the social card works.
The 500 million fund
This is a measure that was included in the 2023 Budget Law, thanks to the allocation of a specific fund of 500 million euros. Resources that cover the one-off aid intended for those with an ISEE of up to 15,000 euros per year and which will be disbursed through the post offices.
Social card: starting from 18 July, activation by 15 September
Starting from 18 July, the Municipalities will send communications to the beneficiaries (estimated at around 1.3 million) of the card containing the instructions for collecting the cards at the post offices. The deadline was initially scheduled for the end of June, but was postponed, as communicated by INPS on 26 June, because “on the basis of some reports received from the Municipalities, the need emerged to make the methods of management of the lists of potential beneficiaries of the contribution by the Municipalities, in order to guarantee the full implementation of the purposes of supporting the Food Fund». During the presentation of the measure, Prime Minister Meloni added: «The card must be activated by 15 September and it is a sign of attention to those in difficulty. We are here and we try to do our best to lend a hand».
Coldiretti satisfied
The measure was appreciated by Coldiretti. “The highest food inflation for 40 years – underlines Coldiretti – has in fact forced families to reduce the amount of food purchased by 4.7% with direct effects on national agri-food production”. The aid to households on spending will also help support national food production, which is down by 1.8% in the first five months of the year.