EDUCATION, HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE CAN BEAT EXTREMISM IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 LAHORE 000123

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAGR EAID PTER PK
SUBJECT: EDUCATION, HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE CAN BEAT EXTREMISM IN
SOUTH PUNJAB


1. (SBU) Summary: Improved education, health care and economic
development can counter the rise of extremism in south Punjab,
politicians and administrators told a USAID and State delegation
that visited south Punjab June 2-8. Local leaders in Multan,
Bahawalpur, Khanewal, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur suggested
that better schools with board and lodging, along the lines of
the "Danish" schools proposed by the Punjab provincial
government, in addition to an improved curriculum and more
responsible teachers would counter the inclination by poor
families to rely on the free facilities provided by the
madrassahs. More accessible health care facilities, better
staffed basic health units and more plentiful drinking water
would also alleviate illnesses that debilitate the poor in the
south, they counseled. An upgraded agricultural sector, with
intact farm-to-market chains, enhanced livestock production and
sufficient irrigation, will put additional income in the hands
of the farmers who dominate the south, they noted. The
politicians, administrators and businessmen unanimously
encouraged the U.S. to make its assistance visible and
well-known. End summary.

- - -
Education: Better Education Could Counter Radical Madrassahs
- - -


2. (SBU) During a June 2-8 visit to Multan, Bahawalpur,
Khanewal, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts in south Punjab
by a USAID and State team, many interlocutors prioritized
education as the most effective tool to combat the spread of
extremist madrassahs in south Punjab. Multan Division
Commissioner Muhammad Ali Gardezi stated that "the number one
priority is the need to match the facilities of madrassahs with
a proper education system." Khanewal District Nazim Ahmad Yar
Hiraj complained that "education in south Punjab has been
negligent in the past," and he estimated that Khanewal needed
1700 more schools.


3. (SBU) As evidence of the poor education in south Punjab,
District Coordination Officers argued that their districts fell
far below the provincial indicators. Multan males in rural
areas were 41.6 percent literate and females 16.2 percent,
compared to the 54 percent literacy in the province. Khanewal
literacy reached 44.9 percent overall. Overall female literacy
in Dera Ghazi Khan stood at 24 percent, 20 percentage points
below the provincial average for females. Bahawalpur, with a 35
percent literacy rate, had a 49:1 student-teacher ratio.
Khanewal also faced a 16 percent vacancy rate in teaching staff.
The discrepancy between the north and south has compelled
Islamia University (one of only two universities in the entire
southern region) to begin a tutoring program for freshman
students from the south who face a disadvantage in comparison to
the better educated students from north Punjab, Vice-Chancellor
Dr. Bilal A. Khan confided June 3.


4. (SBU) In order to match the growth of madrassahs, many
leaders pointed to the provincial government's initiative to
establish "Danish" schools, which would provide board and
lodging to the poorest of the poor. Punjab Chief Secretary
Javed Mahmood described June 2 that the effort will establish up
to 90 schools in the southern districts, each governed by its
own Board of Governors. "This is an effort to win away students
from the madaris," he explained. Bahawalpur Commissioner
Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmad noted June 3 that the data collected
under the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) will identify
which "poorest of the poor" students qualify for the Danish
program. He confirmed that the province has transferred land
for eight schools in Bahawalpur, while tehsil nazims in Multan
related that Khanewal and Muzaffargarh has also set aside land
for the Danish program.


5. (SBU) Several interlocutors stressed that curriculum,
teaching practices and maintenance of schools mattered more than
the provision of education facilities. Faisal Imam, a
politician and agriculturalist based in Khanewal, complained
that the curriculum offered in public schools has little
applicability after graduation. Former Deputy District Nazim
Syed Irfan Ahmad Gardezi from Bahawalpur highlighted the absence
of "grooming" in the schools because at the moment, "we're not
teaching people to love Pakistan and not to get involved in
terrorism." Rajanpur District Nazim Raza Khan Dreshak
criticized the lack of accountability for teachers, who
frequently acquired their positions thanks to political

LAHORE 00000123 002 OF 004


connections. He claimed that he found several teachers who had
received remuneration while vacationing in Dubai or languishing
in prison. Multan District Nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar complained
that schools lacked boundary walls and furniture, and suffered
from general neglect.

- - -
Health: More Accessible Health Care Needed
- - -


6. (SBU) Lack of health care plagues the southern districts,
DCOs detailed. Compared with the provincial under 5 mortality
rate of 112 per 1000, Rajanpur had 128, Bahawalpur 142, and Dera
Ghazi Khan 147. Forty-five percent of children in Dera Ghazi
Khan were underweight (34 percent in the province),and
professional attendants delivered only 22 percent of births in
Rajanpur (32 percent in Punjab). The Bahawalpur DCO contended
that the district had 8,207 patients for every doctor.
Compounding the lack of facilities, those that existed attracted
people from outside the province, producing even more severe
overcrowding. Thus, residents of Baluchistan and Dera Ismail
Khan traveled to Multan for treatment, while Baluchistan and
Sindh residents packed the wards of Dera Ghazi Khan's three
hospitals, the DCOs related.


7. (SBU) In order to fix the overstretched health care
infrastructure, officials and politicians suggested adding
health facilities. Because the Bahawalpur District Hospital now
served twice its capacity, the DCO advised construction of a new
hospital. The Multan Commissioner listed cancer, eye and
teaching hospitals at the top of his needs. Member of the
National Assembly (MNA) Sardar Saif-ud-Din Khosa noted that
while every tehsil in Dera Ghazi Khan has a hospital, the
district headquarters hospital in the city and the Taunsa tehsil
hospital are 90 kilometers apart, requiring a long trip for
anyone who lived between them.


8. (SBU) Accessibility remained a problem, particularly in south
Punjab's more remote areas, contacts related. Ikram Ullah Khan
of the Cholistan Development Authority noted that while the
Cholistan desert area had sufficient Basic Health Units (BHU),
the units lacked doctors. He saw mobile units as a potential
solution. Sardar Fateh Muhammad Khan Buzdar, chief of the
Buzdar tribe, reported that his tribe had no road access to the
closest BHU. In a separate meeting, Acting Dera Ghazi Khan
District Nazim Asim Zubair Khosa described how the Provincially
Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) deal with emergencies: "When
someone has a temperature, he is wrapped in goatskin to bring
the temperature down." He also noted that frequent power
failures in remote areas prevent BHUs from storing medicine and
antidotes, without they cannot address their two most frequent
health problems: (1) treating snakebites and (2) providing safe
deliveries for women.


9. (SBU) Because many observers pointed to the large size of
families as a constant source for new religious students, a few
suggested implementing better family planning programs.
Bahawalpur's Gardezi pointed out that "a husband and wife are
unable to feed ten children," and as a result, they send a few
boys to the local madrassah. The Acting Nazim in Dera Ghazi
Khan echoed, "uncontrolled population growth is the root cause
of all problems." "They only become aware of planning tools
after they have a huge family," he said. Dera Ghazi Khan MNA
Khosa surmised that bringing mobile units to the countryside
would make discreet family planning services available to women,
who must now go to the city, with their husbands, to obtain
advice.


10. (SBU) Several contacts addressed the lack of drinking water
as the underlying cause of poor health. Multan Commissioner
Gardezi observed that the provision of clean water would
eradicate waterborne diseases such as Hepatitis. Multan tehsil
nazims counseled that canals must bring sweetwater to rural
areas, where brackish water remains prevalent. Acting Dera
Ghazi Khan District Nazim Asim Zubair Khosa described the acute
water shortage problem in the PATA, where water pipes have
degraded. Buzdar tribe chief Sardar Fateh Muhammad Khan stated
that his sparsely populated, arid area requires more handpumps
to provide drinking water. MNA Khosa recalled that the
government had attempted to introduce drinking water schemes
managed by "user committees," but "all the money went to waste."


LAHORE 00000123 003 OF 004


- - -
Agriculture: Improve Horticulture and Livestock
- - -


11. (SBU) Most people in South Punjab rely on agriculture for
their livelihood, officials underlined. According to
Commissioner Muhammad Ali Gardezi, 60 percent of the people in
Multan district, the most urban district in the south, depend on
farms for their income. But degraded canals, brackish
groundwater, nonexistent processing centers and fragmented land
have hampered development of the sector.


12. (SBU) Irrigation management would help sustain the farms
that exist and allow more cultivation of land, officials
suggested. Every DCO and Commissioner recommended brick-lining
the extensive canal network that reaches across south Punjab,
which they believed would stop seepage and pilferage. A
Community Organization leader in Khanewal told the delegation
that 20 farmers had decided to pool funds and take out a loan to
restore a nearby water channel under the Provincial Rural
Support Program. The Bahawalpur Commissioner, among others,
also advised that drip irrigation would conserve water and
enable farmers to cultivate more land, especially in the Lesser
Cholistan. DCO Amin Chaudhry reported that Rajanpur contained
82 drip irrigation schemes ongoing.


13. (SBU) Leaders in Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts
pressed for management of the annual hill torrents, which caused
two devastating flash floods in 2008. According to MNA Khosa,
channeling the hill torrent water could irrigate up to 70,000
acres in the PATA area and capture the rich silt that had
previously disappeared into the floods. Former MPA Farhat
Mazari in Rajanpur promoted the construction of small dams to
harness the flash floods, which would provide an "independent
irrigation system."


14. (SBU) Farmers and academics criticized the disconnect
between research and the field. Mango Growers Association
President Zahid Hussain Gardezi lamented that Pakistan has "no
horticulture extension service, which makes growers ignorant of
proper practices or equipment." Khanewal's Faisal Imam proposed
modeling land grant colleges after those in the U.S.
Vice-Chancellor Khan noted that he started an agriculture degree
three years earlier at Islamia University, but only associate
professors have joined the program so far. A representative
from the Bahawalpur Chamber of Commerce complained about the
absence of hybrid seeds developed domestically.


15. (SBU) Business representatives also called for better
infrastructure to bring the produce to market. Ehsan Rashid of
the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry pointed out the lack
of processing facilities, particularly a halal meat
manufacturing center. Gardezi of the Mango Growers pointed out
that farmers throw out 40 percent of B and C grade mangoes
because they lack a facility that can turn the fruit into pulp,
dried fruit, jam or pickles.


16. (SBU) South Punjab's reliance on livestock also presents an
opportunity for job growth. According to the DCO, Dera Ghazi
Khan ranks first in numbers of sheep (1.12 million) and goats
(1.53 million) in the province. Cholistan Authority Ikhram
Ullah Khan related that the 1.6 million cattle far outnumber the
157,000 people who populate desert. He noted that the herders
face lower profit margins in livestock than interest rates on
loans, which could potentially create circular debt for the
already poor area. Islamia University had initiated an animal
health project to develop milk collection centers with chillers,
wool shearing facilities, a cattle market and livestock
production. Dera Ghazi Khan Commissioner Iftikar Ali Sahoo also
proposed mobile veterinary units to serve the PATA residents who
depend more on livestock than produce. He also pointed out that
only 4 percent of milk production in his district is processed.

- - -
Infrastructure: Better Integration and Energy
- - -


17. (SBU) As shown by the sturdy highways on which the
delegation traveled throughout the south, several contacts
criticized the attention paid to the road network. "There is
overinvestment in roads, but the roads are not helping the poor
people," observed Cholistan Development Authority's (CDA) Khan.

LAHORE 00000123 004 OF 004


However, the Buzdar chief in PATA prioritized a paved road,
which would link his 70-kilometer-long area with the cities
better than the dirt lane over which the delegation traversed.
Former MPA Farhat Aziz Mazari advised that a bridge over the
Indus to connect Rajanpur with its Punjab neighbors (as opposed
to Kashmore district in Sindh, where Rajanpur's only bridge over
the Indus leads) would provide a "visible sign of U.S.-Pakistan
friendship." Khanewal's Faisal Imam also suggested that a large
airport in south Punjab would enable farmers to ship their
produce by overseas cargo more quickly.


18. (SBU) Other infrastructure improvements would also better
south Punjab's livelihoods, local leaders said. While energy
shortages plague most of Pakistan, the sun-drenched, rural areas
in the south could benefit from solar projects. Three villages
in Cholistan currently operate on solar energy, related CDA's
Khan, while the Buzdar chief asked that electrification reach
his tribe in the PATA. The Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur
Chambers of Commerce both suggested in separate meetings that an
industrial estate could promote business in the most deprived
areas by providing a reliable infrastructure. However, Faisal
Imam recounted that an industrial estate established by the
government in Khanewal went unused because it lacked buildings,
gas and road accessibility.

- - -
Comment: Needs Are Many, the How is the Question
- - -


19. (SBU) While the administrators, businessmen, politicians and
local leaders cataloged a long list of ways to fight extremism
through poverty alleviation, they unanimously made clear that
they welcomed U.S. assistance. Contacts reiterated a constant
refrain that the U.S. must make its aid activities visible and
well known. While the numerous police protection provided to
the delegation reflected an uncertain security environment, the
delegation experienced warm hospitality in every district. With
education, health and agriculture at the clearly top of the
list, the question now becomes how.
HUNT