Meeting of Protest Representatives with Budget Organization Managers; Disabled Individuals' Arrears Remain Unresolved

Despite a meeting between a group of disabled individuals representing last week's protesters and managers of the Budget and Planning Organization, many of their demands, including arrears, remain unresolved. Behrouz Marouti, a disability rights activist and participant in the meeting, told ILNA news agency that the topics discussed included the restoration of the budget line for the implementation of the 'Law on Support for the Disabled' in the annual budget, increasing the budget for Article 27 of the Law on the Rights of the Disabled, and resolving the arrears for the year 1402. He added that no definitive decision was made regarding the implementation of Article 27 of the Law on Support for the Disabled, and it was decided to negotiate and make decisions about how to increase the number of recipients or to increase the livelihood allowance in stages. In recent months, groups of disabled individuals have repeatedly gathered in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Budget and Planning Organization, or the Judiciary in Tehran and in other cities in front of welfare offices. These individuals are protesting the non-implementation of Article 27 of the Law on Support for the Disabled. According to Article 27, the Islamic Republic government is obligated to determine the 'livelihood allowance' for individuals with 'very severe' or 'severe' disabilities who are unemployed and without income, at the level of the annual minimum wage and to allocate the necessary credits in the annual budget laws of the country. Mohsen Najafi-Khah, the Scientific, Cultural, and Social Deputy of the Budget and Planning Organization, also promised the restoration of the budget line for the 'Law on the Rights of the Disabled' in this meeting and stated regarding the arrears for disabled individuals in 1402 that 'payment of arrears is contingent upon securing resources.' The Law on Support for the Disabled, passed in 1396, according to some experts in this field, lacks the necessary enforcement guarantees, and thus, government officials easily remove or render the budget line for it non-executable in the budget law. Mehrdad Darvishpour: Disabled individuals in Iran are under additional pressure due to the Republic's policies. Mehrdad Darvishpour: Even in authoritarian countries like China, disabled individuals have special privileges. Protests by disabled individuals were held in various cities. Neglect of the rights of disabled individuals; the government pays 273,000 tomans monthly. Summons and arrests of disabled individuals; Nasser Sargaran, a blind lawyer, was arrested in Saqqez. The Welfare Organization transferred the treasury center for the blind, which was 'endowed.'