INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TEHRAN – The Majlis (the Iranian Parliament) has approved a total of 31 trillion rials (nearly $103 million) for rural development in the
budget bill for the current Iranian calendar year (March 2022-March 2023), IRIB reported on Sunday.By allocating this amount of budget, the
whole credit of comprehensive development plans will reach 42 trillion rials (about $140 million), Akbar Nikzad, head of the Housing
Foundation, said.The comprehensive development plans aim to develop rural areas in line with cultural, economic, and social conditions, as
well as housing provision for the rural residents and improving environmental services.“There are around 40,000 villages in the country
with more than 20 households, for all of which comprehensive development plans have been approved every 10 years, and after this period, the
village comprehensive development plans need to be reviewed.There are around 40,000 villages in the country with more than 20 households,
for all of which comprehensive development plans have been approved. The plans have so far been reviewed and re-implemented for 4,000
villages with more than 20 households in the country,” he stated.Rural development, migration reverseCurrently, 26 percent of the
country's population lives in villages, around 39,000 villages have more than 20 households and 23,000 villages have less than 20
households.Thus, more than 97 percent of the country's rural population lives in villages with over 20,000 households.In Iran, where
villages account for generating 20-23 percent of the value-added in the country, the development of rural areas has been always a top agenda
of the government’s activities.Many efforts have been made over the past couple of years by the government to support villagers and slow
down the trend of migration from rural areas to cities.Rural tourism, agritourism, religious tourism, and ecotourism are alternatives or
complementary economic activities that could further stimulate rural development while decreasing rural community dependency on one main
economic sector (agriculture, forestry, energy, or mining).Mohammad Omid, the then vice president for rural development, said in November
2020 that for the first time in the country, the migration of people from rural areas to cities has reached zero.Since 2003, some 37,919
village administration offices have been established nationwide, offering services to about 95 percent of the country's rural
