Disabled People’s Rally in Front of Budget Organization
On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a group of thirty people with disabilities gathered in front of the Organization for Planning and Budget in protest against the non-implementation of disability law and the failure to allocate the corresponding budget. Main demands: funding for the current year, budget increase for 1399.
December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities; a day when government officials are called upon to comply with the provisions of the international convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and to provide and ensure the needs of the disabled community. On this day, a group of disabled citizens gathered in front of the Organization for Planning and Budget to protest the non-implementation of the comprehensive disability law and delays in budget disbursement.
According to information received by Deutsche Welle, the social welfare deputy of the Planning and Budget Organization and one of the organization’s general managers took note of the protesters’ demands and promised follow-up.
These demands included full payment of the budget for the law on support for the disabled, a serious increase in funding in the 1399 budget bill, and a meeting with Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, head of the Planning and Budget Organization, so that he would be informed of the problems and needs of the disabled before the next budget bill is presented to parliament.
The protesters also called through a telephone contact with the health minister’s advisor for the allocation of budget for Article 6 of the law. According to this article, individuals under the guardianship of persons with disabilities should, through the introduction of the Organization for Welfare, be covered by health insurance services, and the disabled should also be covered by health insurance services and supplementary insurance.
The comprehensive law on support for persons with disabilities was approved in Esfand 1396 and was communicated to the relevant authorities on the 8th of Ordibehesht 1397. This law includes matters such as adaptation, accessibility and mobility, health, medical and rehabilitation services, sports, cultural, artistic and educational affairs, entrepreneurship and employment, housing, cultural promotion and public awareness, legal support and tax facilities, livelihoods, and administrative and employment support and planning, supervision and financial resources.
Eighteen months after the announcement of this law, the bodies responsible for its implementation have not fulfilled their commitments due to lack of budget allocation. The actual budget required for the realization of this law was 20,000 billion tomans, which finally reached 1,100 billion tomans, but after nine months of the year, only one-sixth of it has been paid.
The provision of the corresponding budget is the responsibility of the Planning and Budget Organization, and the Organization for Welfare, Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, Ministry of Labor, Cooperation and Welfare, and Ministry of Science are the implementers and responsible parties for enforcing the law.
There is no official statistic of the population of persons with disabilities in Iran, but 1.5 million people are registered with the Organization for Welfare under this title. The organization says that of this number, 39 percent are physically disabled. The blind make up 11 percent and the deaf make up 13 percent of this population.
Source: DW
