Activist for the rights of persons with disabilities (PWD) and member of the New Serbian Democracy Miloš Spaić submitted an initiative to amend the Law on Social and Child Protection, in order to increase benefits for the disabled.
"Due to the Government's decision, the amounts of social benefits remained at almost the same level as before, more precisely, they increased by several euros. The most important social benefits for persons with disabilities, personal disability allowance and allowance for care and assistance of another person, in accordance with the mentioned decision, amount from 87 to 297 euros", stated Spaić.
He said that the personal disability allowance and allowance for the care and assistance of another person are among the lowest incomes, even though they refer to a group that should be paid special attention to both in the Montenegrin and European Union systems.
"An allowance for the care and assistance of another person is a grant, the essence of which is that the person receiving it can pay, as the name suggests, for the assistance of another person. With the current 87 euros, you can pay practically nothing. On the other hand, the personal disability allowance and with it, who is entitled by law, compensation for the guardian/parent, which are now 297 and 254 euros, are again a third and more or less than the minimum wages and pensions in Montenegro, and it must be stated that even this benefits do not fulfill their essence, which is state compensation to persons with severe disabilities in order to facilitate their functioning, i.e. to create conditions for a normal life", said Spaić.
He states that on average, EU countries allocate 1,8 percent of their GDP for social benefits, while Montenegro allocates only 1,3 percent, which is why the EU is lagging behind.
"States are left with the right to arrange social benefits at their own discretion, i.e. in accordance with real needs, and we found that the current amounts, considering the amounts of minimum wages and pensions, as well as the increased prices of all aspects of life in Montenegro, are not even close to satisfactory level. In that name, I submitted the initiative to amend the Law on Social and Child Protection to the deputies of the New Serbian Democracy, where I proposed that the amount of compensation for someone else's care and assistance be increased to 200 euros, that personal disability allowance and compensation for parents/guardians be combined into one compensation , i.e. personal disability allowance, because disabled persons would have the right to it for the rest of their lives, and not as it is now when they live with their parents/guardians and it amounts to 600 euros. These amounts that I proposed are still not at the required level, especially for persons with psycho-social disabilities, but I took into account the economic and financial reality of Montenegro. The mentioned changes would cost the Montenegrin budget an additional 40 million euros, which is realistically not that much if we take into account that this is a group that needs to be paid special attention to," said Spaić.
He expects that in agreement with the other MPs and the Government, a solution will be found in order to increase social benefits related to persons with disabilities to a satisfactory level.
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