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HomeEditorial - National Council of Resistance of IranPublic unrest over Hassan Rouhani’s food baskets continues

Public unrest over Hassan Rouhani’s food baskets continues

Hassan Rouhani’s program for replacing cash subsidies with the distribution of free food baskets has sparked chaos and unrest in Iran since its launch on February 2.

Long lines formed at distribution centers in freezing weather on its first day in Tehran, with some people who successfully received the food basket after hours of waiting describing it as low quality Indian rice and stinking chickens.

This month’s food basket contained 10kg of rice, 24 eggs, two frozen chickens, 800 gram of cheese and two bottles of vegetable oil.

On the eve of the implementation of the food basket plan, the regime’s Ministry of Industry said in a statement that workers with wages above 500,000 tomans ($180) would not not eligible to receive the basket.

The Iranian regime’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade had announced that only 4,500,000 people would qualify to receive the basket, whereas the authorities had said earlier that 17 million people would be eligible to receive it.

Large segments of the population have protested their elimination from the program, including workers and their families in the cities of Qom, Kermanshah and Khorramabad.

The people of Qom organized a protest rally on February 2 in front of the regime’s Labour department, where demonstrators said that about 70 percent of workers were being denied the food baskets.

A group of poor workers in Kermanshah gathered in a protest on February 3 in front of the Ma’edeh store in Taq Bostan Boulevard, the distribution centre for the basket of goods.

A similar demonstration was held in Khorramabad, where the police arrested a number of demonstrators.

A group of household heads gathered in front of the Ministry of Industry’s commercial directorate to protest the elimination of their names from the list of recipients of the basket.

Regarding the quality of the goods, many people who have received the basket expressed disappointment over its quality, and said Indian rice, Brazilian chicken and low quality oils were distributed to people who do not consume these products.

Members of the Iranian regime’s parliament also launched a plan to investigate the food basket situation, while the state media has reported the disappointment of those who have received it.

Many of those given the baskets told state-run Sharq newspaper, close to Rouhani, that they had accepted the goods out of despair.

Sharq wrote: “While those who were eligible stood for long hours in front of the distribution warehouses in a cold snowy weather of -5 degrees, they also faced inappropriate behavior from officials.”

The regime’s deputy from Ghaemshahr said that the Minister of Industry, Mines and Commerce must now explain why Iranian rice was not used in the basket.

And the regime’s deputy from Babak Shahr said: “Procedures were not followed during distribution of the baskets and chaos ensued.”

Hossein Fattahi MP said that the basket of goods has been given to some MPs who are also university professors, while it has not been given to drivers who worked at the Parliament.

Following widespread protests, the media closest to the Rafsanjani-Rouhani faction announced “Delivery of the goods has been extended till the year-end, with a new list of those who qualify for the food basket.”

Rouhani said on February 6 that he regretted any problems over the distribution of food rations to the poor, following reports by the local media that a number of people had died waiting for the goods in subzero temperatures.

Rouhani told state TV that he, ‘expresses regret if people have faced problems receiving the commodity basket’.

There are various opinions regarding the aims of Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet with its food basket plan.

Some believe it is a test for the public’s reaction to it, so that if it is positive, they can gradually remove the subsidies. Others believe it is a pain reliever plan to prevent a rebellion by millions living in hunger and poverty. And others have explicitly said it is substitution plan for the subsidies.

The state-run Javan newspaper wrote on December 31: “The government plans to replace cash subsidies with the basket of goods.”
Regardless of which one of the above hypotheses are true, one fact that is certain: with every day that passes, more people are protesting the quality of the food in the basket and the long lines at distribution centers.

In the cities of Naghde and Ashnaviyeh, protests also took place on February 8 outside the governate offices in anger at the distribution and quality of food baskets, claiming they had been given old and rotten food.

More angry protests over food baskets took place in the city of Ahwaz, where only three stores with three employees each were allocated to distribution, creating 1km long queues.

On Monday people of Nasim Shahr gathered outside city’s governate office in protest at food basket distribution issues.

And on Tuesday in the city of Soosangerd, protesters were injured in huge queues for food, sparking even more anger at the regime.

The protests are continuing as one social security official stated that the purchasing power of the lower classes has reduced by 80 percent in the last year, and prices of the basic items have increased by 480 percent more than the increase in wages.