Rural Development in Pakistan: Issues and

Future Strategies
Pakistan is agricultural country .agriculture contributes 21% GDP in economy of Pakistan and 70%
in the export. Agriculture sector gives employment to 17 million people who is 44% of the total labor
in country and 67% of people living in rural area. Main source of income of the people living in rural
area is agriculture and other small-scale rural enterprises which directly or indirectly affect the
agriculture.

Many poor rural people have very bad condition for the agriculture drought environment is not
proper, nor the proper fertilizer for the crops which make their crops inefficient to produce enough
outcome, they have less access to basic needs of life and to their human rights health education
clean water etc, the birth rate is very high in rural area and life expectancy is very low.

Its is debate that agriculture is the way to develop rural areas, its mean view is rural not farmers
.Value the farmer on the basis of contribution they are making in agricultural sector, manager of rural
landscape, setting culture, and most important producing quality products. Views about the
agricultural development have been changed from last 3 decades. Until the 1970s, rural
development and agricultural development was same thing. Nowadays rural development just not
only mean increase the production level, or income but improving the health, living style, giving
education all these are included under rural development.

GDP include 25% of agricultural products and agriculture have 44% of labor force from total labor
force of the country. Agriculture is solely responsible for the 67% of our foreign exchange direct or
indirect. Agriculture play the part of back bone in Pakistan economy. Agriculture cut the poverty rate
in the country, employment rate increase with the increase in the demand of non farm products, it
can also help in reducing poverty.

Polices made for the rural development mainly focuses on the farmer with large land holding and the
farmer with small lands are ignored. these small landholders are making 90% of the total farms are
ignored along with the side of the landless labor community. natural resources are decaying by
passing years, due to bad agricultural system and climate change the quality of the land has also
being reduced. almost 40% of agricultural land is useless now. high population, bad health of the
people in rural area are effecting the productive rate too. Almost 30-50% people are malnourished..
water and sanitation system are not well-managed in rural areas.87% of total population gets clean
water and 37% gets access to saltatory system.there is no activities for the youth in rural areas, this
is the main reason mostly rural people are involved in the rape, murder, drugs addiction, robbery.

Since the creation of Pakistan number of work has been done for the development of the life of
people of rural area and to increase the agricultural production level. Rural Works Programme ,
Integrated Rural Development, Local Govt. and Rural Development, Peoples Programme, Tameer-
e-Watan, Social Action Programmes, Shushan Pakistan, Tameer-e-Pakistan andKhushal Pakistan
program these programs boost in almost all parts of the country. The main goals of these program
are the agricultural development, social welfare of the rural people and improve the standard of living
of people living in the rural areas. cause these programs conflict with one another, many programs
just not only failed but cause harm to other programmes too because of the conflicting aims of the
programs. Main cause of failure of these program are the unconditional of the institutions absence of
efforts to help evolve rural leadership from the grass roots; lack of proper supervision, follow-up,
research and evaluation of projects.

 All these issues can be solved by adopting innovative and cost saving technologies.
 To overcome unemployment and rural urban migration there is a strong need that agro-based industry
should be promoted so that on one hand employment opportunities can be created and on other rural
poverty can be eliminated.
 Saving habitat must be provoked in rural areas so that the people can invest and improve the income
of whole rural community.
 All the rural developments must be monitored and evaluated on strong basis so that successful
implementation of programmes can be ensured and those persons who are not obeying the
programmes must be held accountable.

In order to overcome health and education problems of growing population we should develop
schools and public health institutions.

Conclusion:

Pakistan had a very long history of Government interference in the rural sector to improve the
economic and social conditions of the rural people. However, there is no absolute policies adopted
by the government to improve the conditions of the people living in rural areas. long-term plans
should be made to a certain the development of the people living in rural areas and forthe
development of agriculture sectors.

By Zunnurain Khan
ISCS department
B.s (hons)
University of the Punjab