The Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture did not support the proposal to amend the Law on Agriculture, by which the members of the Socialist People's Party (SNP) Srđan Milić, Neven Gošović and Velizar Kaluđerović tried to increase the amount of the old age allowance.
Deputies of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) were restrained, although they assessed that it was a noble intention to increase the old-age pension from 40 euros to 63,50 euros.
Committee President Predrag Sekulić (DPS) said that it should be left to the Ministry of Finance to consider whether there is an additional million and a half euros, how much the increase would burden the budget, and that this benefit should be moved from the agricultural budget to the sphere of social benefits.
Gošović said that the total figure is large, but that it is divided among 5.131 beneficiaries and that their incomes would not be at a decent level even after the increase was approved.
"The amount has not been increased since 2009. Now they are working on the Law on the budget for the next year, so it is an opportunity to include the increase in the law and to start with a new calculation from January. Also, it is not rare that the proposal is changed through minor changes, and we believe that this money could be provided", said Gošović.
SNP MPs pointed out in the explanation of the proposed changes that old age allowances should be harmonized with the amount of material security which, according to the Law on Social and Child Protection, belongs to an individual who has no income and now amounts to 63,50 euros per month.
The secretary of the ministry, Branimir Vujacic, said that 2,65 million euros are allocated annually on this basis, and that he does not support the SNP MP's proposal only because there is not enough money. He said that, nevertheless, that increase should be included in the Law on Agriculture, which will be amended next year.
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