‘Poor schools causing rural-urban migration’
Rural population must be provided better facilities to reduce the rising trend of migration to cities
FAISALABAD:
The rural population must be provided better education and health facilities to reduce the rising trend of migration to cities, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said on Thursday.
He was talking to a delegation of the National Institute of Management, Karachi, led by Lt Col (r) Ijaz Ahmad.
“An unprecedented wave of migration to cities is being witnessed in the country. Villagers are leaving their homes and moving to cities to get better education and health facilities and benefit from better economic opportunities,” he said.
“Fertile agricultural land is being converted into residential colonies and plots. Existing cities are expanding at an alarming rate,” he said.
“A century ago, three markets were established in Sargodha (the then Shahpur), Faisalabad (Lyallpur) and Sahiwal (Montgomery).
These market towns have now become large cities. Similar markets should be set up in rural areas to arrest the trend of urbanisation,” he said.
Khan said that 92 percent of the farming community consisted of small farmers. “More efforts are needed to spread modern agriculture practices and to address their problems. Village aid programmes are needed for rural development. Such projects will help retain the rural population in their areas,” he said.
The vice chancellor said that water scarcity was another major issue facing the country. “New social and engineering solutions are needed to deal with water scarcity. New water reservoirs are needed to deal with floods and droughts,” he said.
“The UAF is focusing on polishing the skills of students as a step towards curbing unemployment. We are preparing the skilled manpower for the industry,” Khan said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2014.
The rural population must be provided better education and health facilities to reduce the rising trend of migration to cities, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said on Thursday.
He was talking to a delegation of the National Institute of Management, Karachi, led by Lt Col (r) Ijaz Ahmad.
“An unprecedented wave of migration to cities is being witnessed in the country. Villagers are leaving their homes and moving to cities to get better education and health facilities and benefit from better economic opportunities,” he said.
“Fertile agricultural land is being converted into residential colonies and plots. Existing cities are expanding at an alarming rate,” he said.
“A century ago, three markets were established in Sargodha (the then Shahpur), Faisalabad (Lyallpur) and Sahiwal (Montgomery).
These market towns have now become large cities. Similar markets should be set up in rural areas to arrest the trend of urbanisation,” he said.
Khan said that 92 percent of the farming community consisted of small farmers. “More efforts are needed to spread modern agriculture practices and to address their problems. Village aid programmes are needed for rural development. Such projects will help retain the rural population in their areas,” he said.
The vice chancellor said that water scarcity was another major issue facing the country. “New social and engineering solutions are needed to deal with water scarcity. New water reservoirs are needed to deal with floods and droughts,” he said.
“The UAF is focusing on polishing the skills of students as a step towards curbing unemployment. We are preparing the skilled manpower for the industry,” Khan said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2014.