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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