Five hundred Tehran workers and retirees insured under the Social Security Fund gathered in front of the Parliament building on Wednesday March 12 to protest plans to hand over the health insurance branch of the fund to the Ministry of Health.
ILNA reports that protesters in front of Parliament have requested to meet with the members of the Social Security and Health Commissions of Parliament.
The protesters say government interference in the Fund has led to a reduction in the health services it provides and they maintain that the proposal being examined by Parliament is meant to legitimize these interferences.
Protesters claim that the new proposal will lead to even more corruption in the handling of the Social Security Fund.
They add that according to President Hassan Rohani’s statements on national television, the government owes the Social Security Fund 500 trillion rials. The workers maintain than rather than paying its debt, the government is planning to take over the Fund.
