Exactly 212,897 Greeks have submitted so far requests to be part of the Humanitarian Crisis Relief Program of the Greek government. The majority of the needy seek help with food, while a percentage seeks financial aid to pay rent and an even smaller percentage needs free electricity.
According to data from the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Social Welfare, the number of people requesting on of the Program measures or combination of them were:
requests relating to food subsidy 84,442
rent allowance 2,610
free of electricity reconnection & free electricity supply 1,569
42,893 people requested a combination of the three Program measures
59,918 people requested a combination of electricity and food aid
20,529 people requested a combination of rent allowance and food
936 requested free electricity and rent allowance
The deadline for submitting applications is Wednesday, May 20th 2015.
Τhe Program criteria aim to provide relief to Greece’s very poor with annual income between maximum €2,400 (single household) up to €6,000 (families with 4 depending members).
The Humanitarian Crisis Relief program was one of the top priorities of the SYRIZA-Independent Greeks coalition government and it was pushed forwards despite the Troika-Institutions objections. After the EU leaders Summit end of March, EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker had announced to release 2 billion euro to tackle the Greek humanitarian crisis.
PS I have no idea if Juncker sent the money or whether the Greek government tackles the problem on own resources. I also do not know if the program will be expanded to other income classes because a single household can hardly cover basic needs with an annual income of 3,000-4,000 euro (250 euro per month) or a family of four can live on 500 per month.
