INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
(Iranian Parliament) in the budget bill for the current Iranian calendar year (March 2022-March 2023).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.Rural developmentCurrently, 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.More than 97 percent of
lives in villages with over 20,000 households.In Iran, where villages account for generating 20-23 percent of the value-added in 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 population.FB/MG
