Protests Against 'Hundreds of Millions' Salary Slips in the Ministry of Health

Following widespread reactions to the salaries of several tens of millions for managers at Iran's Central Insurance, this time the Deputy of the Nursing System Organization criticized the distribution of incomes in the Ministry of Health, claiming that some individuals in this ministry receive monthly salaries ranging from 200 to 400 million tomans. Mohammad Sharif Moghadam, the deputy of this organization, stated in an interview with ILNA on Friday, May 31, that salary slips of several tens of millions of tomans are essentially an 'ordinary' occurrence in the Ministry of Health, and this issue is a major reason for the financial resource shortages in this ministry. He continued, saying: 'Surgical groups [in the Ministry of Health] including all specialties such as orthopedics, neurology, cardiology, and urology often have salary slips of 70 to 90 million tomans, and of course, there are also salary slips of several hundreds of millions, like 200 to 400 million tomans, which, although not numerous, do exist.' The issue of several tens of millions salary slips in the Central Insurance has so far led to the resignation of Mohammad Ebrahim Amin, the head of this organization. These salary slips, which were first published on social media, show that three senior managers of Iran's Central Insurance received a total of 180 million tomans in salaries and benefits last March, with one of them alone receiving 87 million tomans. In response to this issue, however, the management of the Central Insurance announced that a significant portion of these amounts includes arrears that have not been paid since 2008 and were paid based on a ruling from the Administrative Justice Court. Meanwhile, the Deputy of the Nursing System Organization states that supervisory bodies should also pay attention to the way salaries are paid in the Ministry of Health and examine it. He stated: 'Currently, the Ministry of Health is facing a shortage of resources, and for this reason, it is also seeking to consolidate insurance, as in the first year of implementing the Health Transformation Plan, substantial resources were injected into specific medical groups, and currently, a significant portion of the Ministry of Health's resource shortages is due to the payment of several tens of millions of tomans salary slips.' Mohammad Sharif Moghadam ultimately said: 'Million toman payments in the Ministry of Health have no justification, as in some cases, the doctor is not even present in the hospital, and the assistant and resident perform their duties, and only because of the use of the doctor's stamp, the money goes into the doctor's pocket, which is against the law.'