Lula calls for strict inspection of new Bolsa Família welfare program

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva demanded, this Thursday (2), a strict inspection by the whole of society on who is receiving Bolsa Família welfare program. He signed, in a ceremony at the Planalto Palace, the provisional measure that recreates the income transfer program and the public inspection and social control network of the Cadastro Único (CadÚnico).

“This is not the program of a government, of a president, this is the program of Brazilian society and that will only work if society assumes the responsibility of inspecting the Cadastro Único. The program will only work if the registration allows the benefit to reach exactly the women, men and children who need this money”, said Lula, during the event.

He cited, among other inspection agents, the federal and state public ministries, the press, churches, unions and city halls. “If there is someone who does not deserve it, they will not receive it. The program is for people in conditions of poverty”, he highlighted.

CadÚnico is a tool that works as a gateway to more than 30 federal government programs, including Bolsa Família.

For the president, the program is an important public policy to help families in vulnerable situations, but he stated that the solution for social transformation is economic growth.

“This is the first plate of soup, beans, the first glass of milk, the first bread, the first piece of meat. Along with this, there must be a policy of economic growth, job creation and income transfer through wages, which is what matters to the worker”, he said.

The new Bolsa Família resumes the parameters designed during President Lula's first government, when it was created in 2003. The main one is the requirement of counterparts from beneficiary families, such as the obligation of prenatal care for pregnant women. The payment based on the new rules already starts in this month's calendar, on March 20th.

The maintenance of school attendance of children and adolescents and the updating of the vaccination booklet with all the immunizers foreseen in the Ministry of Health's National Vaccination Program will also be required. During Jair Bolsonaro's government, Bolsa Família was replaced by Auxílio Brasil, which did not require these conditions.

In addition, pregnant women will be entitled to a complementary benefit in the amount of R$50. All beneficiary families will receive a minimum value of R$ 600 and two complementary benefits have been created. According to the government, they were designed to meet the size and characteristics of each family in a more appropriate way.