Qazvin Villages' Deprivation to Be Resolved with Roads, Water, and Infrastructure for Employment

Qazvin – The lawmaker for Qazvin, Alborz and Abyek in Parliament, pointing to infrastructure problems in the province's villages, called for funding for rural roads, compensation for farmers' losses, and a review of national administrative divisions.

According to reporter Mehr Fatemeh Mohammadbeigi, on Thursday afternoon, in the meeting of Qazvin province administrators with the vice president for rural development and deprived areas, referring to the agricultural, tourism and production capacities of the province, he said: Despite having more than a thousand villages and diverse economic and cultural capacities, Qazvin is still facing deprivations that should be taken into account in development planning.

Stating that the size of some parts of the province and the dispersion of villages have made it difficult to access services, he added: One of the most important common demands of the people in rural areas is the improvement and asphalting of roads. Because without a proper way, the development of ecotourism, rural employment, agriculture and reverse migration to the villages will face problems.

The representative of the people of Qazvin, Alborz and Abike in the parliament, referring to the state of rural roads in the province, said: Qazvin ranks 22nd in the country in this index, and the provision of free bitumen and credit required for the improvement of roads should be pursued seriously.

Weak communication coverage in Qazvin villages

Referring to the problems of mobile phone and internet coverage in areas such as Kohin, Western Alamut, Eastern Alamut, Tarem and the central part of Qazvin, Mohammad Beigi said: Despite the follow-ups carried out by the Ministry of Communications and the opening of some communication plans, many villages still do not have adequate coverage of the internet and mobile phone operators.

He also called for the return and development of rural landline telephone services and said: the cost of using mobile phones is high for some rural households and solutions should be considered for sustainable and affordable access of people to communication services.

The need to revise the list of deprived areas

Referring to the revision of the list of deprived areas of the country, this member of parliament said: There are still concerns about the situation in some areas of the province, including Tarem and Alamut, and it is necessary to carefully examine the problems of access to drinking water, agricultural water, road, internet and gas supply before making any decisions.

Mohammad Beigi also considered the promotion of country divisions as one of the demands of the province and demanded to review the cities of Tarem and Alamut, to create a division in Aghababa and to improve the divisions of Iqbaliyeh.

He emphasized: the large area of some sectors, along with the lack of infrastructure, makes it difficult to provide services and balanced development, and paying attention to the structure of the country's divisions can play a role in improving management and service delivery.

Referring to the problems faced by the farmers of the Qazvin plain following the transfer of Taleghan water to Tehran, Mohammad Beigi said: According to him, about 80,000 farmers are active in this plain, and some of them have not been able to cultivate due to limited water resources.

He added: According to the farmers, despite the consequences of this situation on their production and livelihood, proper compensation has not been done by the responsible institutions and many farmers have no job alternatives.

The representative of the people of Qazvin, Alborz and Abike in the parliament demanded the follow-up of the issue by the ministries of energy and agricultural jihad and emphasized the necessity of supporting farmers and providing water resources needed by rural areas.

Development of rural tourism with financing

Referring to the historical and tourism capacities of the province, Mohammad Beigi called for the use of the marked tax capacity for the implementation of special projects in rural areas and mentioned Alamut, historical domes and caravanserais, Lembsar Castle, Samiran Castle and historical monuments of Afshariya and Auj regions as part of the significant capacities of the province.

He listed the development of rural tourism, the creation of street markets and special markets for rural women, the completion of the employment chain and the creation of industrial areas and green transformation industries as solutions to strengthen the rural economy.

Mohammad Beigi also emphasized the need to create family and children's parks in villages and to pay more attention to sports per capita in rural areas.

Referring to the shortage of paramedics in the country, the vice-chairman of the health and treatment commission of the parliament said: According to him, the country is facing a shortage of about four thousand paramedics, and more than 200 paramedics have retired in Qazvin province.

Criticizing the lack of a clear plan to replace these forces, he warned against the weakening of health services in the villages, and pointing to the people's protest in Abdul Abad village, he emphasized the necessity of providing the required manpower for health centers.

Mohammad Beigi also demanded the allocation of a special air emergency quota for the mountainous areas of the province and said: In difficult-to-reach areas, the delay in transporting patients can endanger their lives. He considered the development of medical centers and the elimination of hospital shortages as one of the needs of the province.

The necessity of reforming rural insurance and supporting rural women

Referring to the Family and Youth Protection Law, he called for the implementation of insurance for rural women with three or more children and said: the mechanism for ensuring the share of the social insurance fund for farmers, villagers and nomads and the share of the family protection law budget should be amended according to the law.

Mohammad Beigi also warned about the limitation of health services coverage for some villagers based on the income decile and emphasized: access to health services should be checked according to the geographical conditions and the difficulty of people's access to health centers.

Emphasis on preserving rural identity in housing projects

In another part of his speech, the representative of the people of Qazvin, Alborz and Abek in the parliament called for a review of Hadi's plans and the model of rural housing and said: The model of rural house building should not be such that it destroys the possibility of preserving the lifestyle, traditional activities and livelihood of rural households.

Referring to the high population covered by the relief committee in some rural areas, he emphasized: instead of relying solely on the expansion of relief support, the empowerment of households should be provided by providing water, roads and production infrastructures and providing job creation facilities.

In the end, Mohammad Beigi called for an increase in deprivation credits for the areas of Lower Tarem, Alamut, Kohin, and parts of the central and Abike regions and said: With targeted investment in the villages, many job opportunities can be created and the villages can be prevented from being emptied and the rural ecosystem weakened.

He also demanded to follow up on the share of water in rural areas from the main branches of Shahrood and to provide drinking and agricultural water to low-income areas, including by determining the tasks of Gormanak Dam and Roud Dam projects.