President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday one of the priorities of his government is to support the vulnerable and underprivileged strata of society.
He emphasized the need for an "efficient and comprehensive database on social welfare to assist policy and decision makers, and monitor executive operations related to public welfare." The president instructed the ministry of cooperatives to launch the database in the current Iranian year (ends March 2015), ILNA reported.
Speaking in a meeting of the Supreme Council of Social Welfare and Security, which was held after 8 years, he said expansion of social security services depends largely on authentic and reliable facts and figures.
"The government, with the help of this information, will be able fight poverty effectively and succeed in supporting the underprivileged, namely children without guardians (or those with bad guardians), single mothers, widows, retirees, and the aged." Those in need must not be neglected, and for this precise reason the nation is in dire need of "timely and reliable proper information", the news agency quoted him as saying.
As head of the key body, the president asserted that in areas of health and medical care the government has made significant progress and is moving toward long-term and "sustainable healthcare."
In line with the declared food security program, the distribution of food baskets launched last year for the needy and unprivileged will continue, he said. Other measures are being implemented to check social ills such as drug addiction and improve rehabilitation. Rouhani who took office in the summer of last year, added that his government is "moving towards balanced and sustainable development" at the national level and "culture as a primary pillar of social development" should be promoted.
At the meeting the minister of cooperatives said as a rule of law the performance of governments is assessed by "the level of their services in the fields social security and welfare."
Ali Rabiee said the government remains committed to optimize the services through proper and targeted planning and the effective use of experts in order "to alleviate poverty and social inequality."
The meeting was addressed later by the ministers of interior, education, and economy. The vice-president for strategic planning and supervision outlined government strategy on the much-needed database and social security issues.
