São Paulo, 6/25/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Every year in Brazil a total of 1.5 million youths are called up for military service, but only 100,000 actually go into the Army, Navy or Air Force. Special presidential aide, Frei Betto, has drawn up a plan to create a program to use the young people, between the ages of 17 and 18, who are dispensed from military service.

According to Frei Betto, most of those youths exempted from military service are illiterate. The program would teach them to read and write and give them professional training. They could also be used in social programs.

Frei Betto also reports that the government is studying a Zero Hunger card for urban centers, a kind of debit card, that could be used directly in supermarkets. The new card, like the original one, would be for food purchases.

The presidential aide explained that criticism of the Zero Hunger program mainly stemmed from misinformation and unjustified anxiety. In fact, Frei Betto declared, "the program is doing much better than expected." The difficulty has been in registering families because of the registration records the past administration left. According to Frei Betto, around 10% of the registration records have errors, but they are being correctly. (AB)