Shaukat Hayat Buneri
THIS fact is known to us that over 70% of our population lives in the rural areas. They have to face a lot of problems due to the lack of proper infrastructural and other provisions of the civilized existence. The people of these areas have no access to proper education, health, communication etc. That is why most of the affluent people of the rural and backward areas prefer living in the urban or advanced areas to seek proper health educational and other viable facilities of modern life.
But it is also an irony that the government is also least bothered to develop and improve the living standard of the people of the rural areas and provides mere lip-service to them. Not only is this but the trend of migration toward the urban areas has also created inconvenience for the people of the urban areas and their living standard is falling down to an alarming proportion. Therefore the government must take some concrete measures to overcome this menace once and for all.
Alongside it may be added here that due to the unabated flow of migration toward the urban areas has also caused many problems of poor law and order for us. The frequent acts of violence and terror in urban and populous areas of our country may be linked to this alarming increase of population expansion of our urban areas which is indeed a failure and apathy of our rulers sitting at the helm of the affairs of our state. Nevertheless the following steps must be taken to overcome the overflow of migration toward the urban areas to minimize the hardships of the people living in both the urban and rural areas.
First of all the outdated educational system of rural and backward areas must be developed and overhauled. Due to the poor educational system in the rural areas the people of these areas have remained far behind in the march of progress as compared to the people of more advanced and developed areas. In most of the areas although schools buildings have been erected but no proper provisions of education have been ensured there. No provision drinking water accommodation, proper lighting electricity etc have been ensured in these schools. Even the deficient and incompetent staff to teach the students is an added problem of schools in rural areas. That is why most of the Students of these areas say goodbye to their study at their early stage of life and deprive themselves to get knowledge which is their basic right. This trend of the students of the rural and backward areas is also one of the main causes of the lower literacy and educational ratio of these areas.
Second, the health sector of the rural areas also depicts a very gloomy picture of the backwardness of the people of these areas. Due to the lack of proper and viable health facilities in the rural areas, the people dwelling here face a very tough time to get their patients treated. Although in many places heath faculties can be found but they are running short of health facilities. The medical staff deployed here are almost quack and unqualified, causing many health hazards for the poor patients of these areas. According to a rough estimate most of the people of the backward areas have fallen prey to these quacks and there is no proper system of check and balance to stop this menace. So, the government must launch a full-fledged campaign to get the quack on the right track otherwise the people of these areas will continue to be the victims of the catastrophic diseases. Similarly the lack of proper medical facilities is also an extra financial blow to the already poor and suffering class of rural areas. Often they have to rush their patients to advanced areas to get them properly treated which entail a lot of expenditure. Experts say, the economical and financial status of people of the rural areas have even been shaken by the lack of proper health facilities.
Therefore the government should take drastic steps to overcome the health problems of the people of the backward areas. Additionally, there is lack of awareness among the people of these areas. For example, recently in some rural and backward areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the number of polio cases have increased due to the lack of awareness among the people about the impending menace of polio virus. That is why in most parts including the tribal belt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the number of polio related cases have been registered by the polio teams thus causing a great threat to the people of those areas which have been already declared polio free. Therefore the government as well as the civil society must initiate health awareness campaigns in these areas.
Thirdly there is no proper infrastructure of roads and communication in the rural areas .The existing infrastructural and communication system is also one of the main causes of the backwardness o f these areas. It is due to this very reason that the tourists from other areas find it difficult to visit these areas for tourism, business or other purposes. Thus the tourism industry of these areas has been badly affected due to the lack of a proper communication system. Unless and until we do overhaul and improve the communication system of these areas the other problems will persist to witness an upward trend. In this context it also merits mentioning here that the rural and backward areas basically are the tourist zones but only little attention of the government can change the destiny of the people of these areas. Thus it will play an important role to boost up the economic stature of our country. The government and other donor agencies are earnestly requested to come forward and play their role for the improvement and devolvement of the living standard of people living in the backward areas.
—The writer is freelancer, based in Buner, KP
