19 Million Live in Deprived Neighborhoods; 13,000 Villages Are Underprivileged

Sari – The Deputy for Deprived Neighborhoods at the Ministry of Interior announced that 19.7 million people across the country live in deprived neighborhoods.

According to Mehr reporter, Ali Aghamohammadi explained the national empowerment programs of underprivileged areas on Thursday morning at the meeting of Mazandaran Governorate and said: The organization of these areas will be pursued in seven main areas, including housing, employment, food, clothing, health, education and recreational, sports, cultural and religious areas.

Pointing to the identification of 2,200 low-income neighborhoods in the country, he added: the population living in these neighborhoods is about 19,700,000 people, and one of the main approaches in organizing them is to provide the opportunity for direct participation of people in identifying problems and pursuing local demands.

Stating that the "alley mayor" structure was formed to strengthen public participation and facilitate residents' communication with executive bodies, Aghamohammadi said: Currently, 47,000 people are working as alley mayors in this program and are responsible for following up neighborhood issues.

55 low-income neighborhoods of Mazandaran in the organizing program

Referring to the implementation of this project in Mazandaran, the secretary of low-income neighborhoods of the Ministry of Interior said: 55 neighborhoods in this province have been included in the program of organizing low-income neighborhoods, among which five neighborhoods have been introduced as flagship neighborhoods.

He continued: Four of these neighborhoods, centered on welfare homes, have performed significantly in organizing and following up on the services needed by the people.

Identification of more than 13 thousand low-income villages in the country

In another part of his speech, Agha Mohammadi mentioned the development program of low-income villages and said: Out of the total of 39,500 villages in the country, 13,542 villages with a population of about 6,300,000 people have been identified so far.

He added: These villages have been organized in the form of 440 rural systems in cooperation with the Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation and the Presidential Rural Vice-Chancellor, so that planning to meet needs and develop services in them can be pursued more coherently.

Referring to the review of the process of implementation of this program in Mazandaran, the member of the Council of Expediency said: In the meeting held, the issue of activating the rural systems of the province and establishing executive teams to follow up the programs was discussed and exchanged.

He pointed out: Based on the planning, the activities of the executive teams in this department are going to be developed with the support of the governor's office from next week.

"Plum Blossom"; Integrated system of services for neighborhoods and villages

Aghamohammadi also informed about the program of launching an integrated system of localities and villages services under the name "Plum Blossom" and said: "By combining four smaller systems, this system provides a platform for accessing information of localities, banking and communication services, local capacities, free education and other services needed by citizens."

Referring to the program for the unveiling of this system, he added: According to the announced plan, "Plum Blossom" is going to be unveiled next Wednesday, and the introduction and start of information about it will also take place in Mazandaran province.