There are nearly two million people in the country without national ID cards and if they fail to obtain the cards by next month they will be removed from the cash subsidy list, said Ali Rabiee, minister of cooperatives, labor and social welfare.
Further, figures indicate that 3% of those claiming the monthly cash “are dead and have been buried without a death certificate or burial permit,” but their ID cards are being used by family members to claim the money. Also, some Iranians living abroad are also receiving the cash subsidy, Mehr News Agency reported. Under the Subsidy Reform Plan launched in 2010 by former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, heavy subsidies on food and energy which ran into billions of dollars were removed and the cash subsidy program was introduced. The government doles out $1.4 billion per month on the cash subsidies given to an estimated 74 million Iranians. Respected economists and independent observers have repeatedly warned against the prohibitive cash subsidy scheme that many see as “poison” for the national economy. The government has often been advised to identify the small minority of poor and needy eligible for and in need of the cash payments.
