ITALIAN OPPOSITION figure Antonio Di Pietro and senior trade unionist Guglielmo Epifani yesterday condemned the centre-right government's introduction of a so-called "social card" for the needy, one of the government's first responses to the global economic crisis.
Presented by Italian finance minister Giulio Tremonti this week, the social card is a sort of credit card. It will be available to about 1.3 million Italians, namely pensioners with an annual income of less than €8,000, and families with children under three years of age and an annual income of less than €6,000. Those who qualify for the card can avail of €40 worth of credit and a 5 per cent discount in a range of supermarkets.
The card looks like a regular credit card, complete with the trademark MasterCard name. The big difference, however, is that it guarantees no more than €40 credit a month and it is the Italian state and not the cardholder who picks up the tab.
Mr Di Pietro, leader of the Italy of Values party, described the card as a "humiliation" that reminded him of the tessera del pane(a type of bread card) introduced by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini during his 20 years in power.
"They want us to believe that this social card will be the solution to all sorts of problems . . . but I think it is a humiliation best avoided," he said.
"You will have people in the queue at supermarkets trying to pull out their cards trying to make sure that nobody sees them."
Mr Epifani, leader of the CGIL confederated union, was equally critical of the measure, saying it was similar to the food stamp programme introduced by the Roosevelt government in the US in 1939. "In the 21st century you can't go back to a measure introduced nearly 70 years ago . . . You cannot propose remedies in which the rich look after themselves while you extend a bit of charity to the poor."
The Italian government is expected to consider a further package of measures, including tax cuts for businesses and incentives to banks to make more credit available to businesses, at a cabinet meeting today.