New Beneficiaries on Shortened IKRC List

The Imam Khomeini Relief Committee (IKRC) has brought 47,900 applicants on the waiting list under its coverage, since the beginning of the fiscal year in March till November.

At the same time it removed 161,000 families from its monthly doles for a variety of reasons, namely death, marriage, employment of the head of household, self-reliance thanks to self-employment loans, and return of the breadwinner from prison or military service, among others.

In Bashagard County (Hormozgan Province) 3% and in Semnan (capital of Semnan Province) around 8% were dropped from the support list.

The move is aimed at focusing on empowering new households that belong to the poorer strata, said Fatemeh Rahbar, a deputy at the IKRC.

In the last economic development plan (2011-2016), the IKRC and the State Welfare Organization (SWO) were tasked with empowering 10% of the underprivileged people under their coverage and to gradually remove them from the support list after helping them achieve self-reliance.

“However, the number in the dole queues surpasses those who are empowered and leave the list,” Ali Mohammad Zolfaghari, a senior official at IKRC had earlier told salamatnews.com.

The IKRC and SWO have a mandate to uplift the poor through empowerment programs and vocational training.

  Dowries, Development Work

“Removing the empowered members from the aid list is expected to help save 900 billion rials ($23 million) and the amount will be used to provide bridal dowries, cover treatment costs of the sick, sanction loans and take up development work in deprived areas,” Rahbar was quoted as saying by IRNA.

“Around 55,000 girls have received dowries so far this year and 45,000 are on the waiting list and will be given assistance,” she said.

A dowry is the money, goods or estate that a woman brings at the time of marriage, usually provided by her parents or family. The goods legally belong to the bride and can be claimed in the event of divorce.  

In the fiscal year that ended in March, 149,000 families were removed from the doles to make way for needy families in the waiting list.

The number of beneficiaries under coverage of the IKRC has reduced by 5% over two years when 4.5 million people were under coverage, thanks to empowerment programs held for the target population, including technical and vocational training.

“We now have a little over four million to support,” Parviz Fattah, IKRC head, had said earlier.