Gateway to social benefits such as Auxílio Brasil, the service network for the vulnerable population in the municipalities may suffer a blackout in 2023 in the face of a 95% cut in maintenance funds proposed by the Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) in the Budget project for 2023
The Single Social Assistance System (Suas), which includes the service centers that manage the Single Registry, should receive an amount of R$ 48.3 million in 2023.
The amount is lower than the BRL 967.3 million indicated in the initial proposal for 2022, which was later increased by the National Congress and the government itself during the execution of the Budget. Even with the modifications, the values have been shown to be insufficient for the full operation of the assistance centers.
Sought since Thursday (1st), the Ministry of Citizenship did not say how it intends to raise the budget for Suas. The folder did not respond to questions from the Sheet about the cuts, which were far-reaching and also affected other social and sports programs, nor about the impact on Auxílio Brasil.
Throughout 2022, the delay in getting service at the Cras (Social Assistance Reference Center) and Creas (Social Assistance Specialized Reference Center) units —which are part of Suas— generated a damming in requests for Auxílio Brasil.
The so-called “queue of the queue” is formed by Brazilians who meet the criteria to receive the benefit, but are unable to register or even update the registration in CadÚnico.
Citizens can pre-register through the website or application, but must confirm the data in person at one of the centers. Only after this stage do they formally enter the queue to receive government aid.
In several cities across the country, images of citizens sleeping in front of Cras units to get care became more common. In an early morning in August, a 44-year-old woman died while waiting for care in the Federal District.
Experts in public policies to combat poverty say that, with the Budget proposed by Bolsonaro, these care centers are at risk of being closed in 2023.
These centers are like an arm of the Ministry of Citizenship, as they operate Auxílio Brasil in the municipalities. The cost of running them is shared between the federal government and the municipalities.
Part of the resources of the social assistance system can also be used to pay the salaries of public servants who work in the service of the low-income population.
In the Basic Social Protection action, which supplies the Cras, there is in the 2023 Budget proposal a forecast of BRL 31.9 million to serve 5,530 units — an average of BRL 5,800 for each center to use throughout the year .
As for the Special Social Protection action, which finances the Creas, R$ 16.4 million was reserved, or an average of R$ 5,800, for the 2,824 units with this type of service.
Tereza Campello, former minister of Social Development and Fight against Hunger and the PT’s main reference in the social area, says that the amount set aside in the Budget sent by Bolsonaro declares the end of the social assistance system.
“The planned budget is the extinction of Suas, a tombstone on which will be written: ‘Here lies the single system of social assistance”, said the former minister.
CadÚnico is not only used to map who needs Auxílio Brasil. The register is used as a gateway to other social programs, such as the social tariff of the electricity bill. Today, there are 35 million low-income families in Brazil. At the beginning of Bolsonaro’s term, there were 27.3 million.
In addition to leaving the assistance network without resources to provide assistance, the government also submitted the Budget proposal with an insufficient amount to maintain the minimum benefit of R$ 600 from Auxílio Brasil – despite this being an electoral promise by Bolsonaro.
BRL 105.7 billion was reserved for the income transfer program, just enough to fund an average benefit of BRL 405.21 to 21.6 million families, according to the Ministry of Economy.
The 2023 Budget project was presented on August 31 and will still be debated by Congress, which may amend the proposal.
Other actions and projects of the Ministry of Citizenship suffered cuts in the 2023 Budget forecast.
The ministry received a forecast of R$ 4.8 billion in discretionary spending for 2023, which cover maintenance expenses, purchase of materials and investments. However, BRL 1.38 billion are amendments by the rapporteur (used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Congress and which may have their destination changed by parliamentarians), and another BRL 2.2 billion will finance the Auxílio Gás program.
Discounting these amounts, Citizenship will effectively control BRL 1.1 billion — a 55.6% drop compared to the initial proposal for 2022.
Social actions launched or reformulated under Bolsonaro’s administration, such as the food acquisition program and the so-called Rural Productive Inclusion, also had almost zero funds.
In the action aimed at the acquisition and distribution of food from family farming, the initial reserve of resources fell from BRL 101.7 million in the 2022 proposal to BRL 2.7 million (a 97.4% decrease) in the 2023 project.
The program also uses the Cras network to select beneficiaries. The free distribution of food is aimed at people who do not have access to adequate and healthy food and those served by the social assistance network.
On the other hand, Rural Productive Inclusion received a forecast of R$ 1.3 million, enough to serve 527 families. The initiative pays a monthly allowance of R$ 200 to beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil who live in rural areas, with the aim of encouraging them to “invest in their own rural production”.
The amount, however, is insufficient to meet the program’s target audience — 660,000 farming families who receive Auxílio Brasil, according to the Ministry of Citizenship itself. The figure is also lower than the BRL 25.3 million initially reserved in 2022.
The Criança Feliz program, the banner of former first lady Marcela Temer and which was embraced by the current first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, also suffered a significant cut of 50%. Resources fell from R$451 million in the 2022 Budget proposal to R$225.5 million in the schedule for next year.
Criança Feliz is aimed at families with children up to three years old who are beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil (successor to Bolsa Família) or up to six years old who are beneficiaries of the BPC (Continued Provision Benefit, paid to the elderly and low-income people with disabilities, or who fit into other situations of social support). Families receive technical visits for medical, pedagogical and psychological follow-up.
In the first year of Bolsonaro’s government, Michelle attended some events of the program with the then Minister of Citizenship Osmar Terra, but since then the ministry has given less focus to the actions of the Happy Child.
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