A number of people in this remote province consider unpaved roads, non-availability of health facilities and electricity as their main problems. Eager to take part in the elections, they want the next president to address the problems.
Badakhsan is located around 560 kilometres north-east of the central capital Kabul and consisting of 28 district. The number of seats in its provincial council is 12 with four of those reserved for women.
The province is known for its diamonds. Besides, the Kharoshan and Kokcha rivers are also flowing in the same province. People are also searching gold in the flowing water of the two rivers.
Roads leading to 12 districts of the province remain closed during winter. Those districts remain covered with snow from six to nine months of the year. Even the provincial capital of Faizabad does not have proper roads.
The report is prepared on the basis of interviews with 12 people from eight districts and the provincial capital. Three of them are women.
Student: Narcotics should be finished
Fifty-year-old Faiz Muhammad is resident of Shaghnan district and serving as teacher in the same district. He has two sons and both of them using drugs. He says smugglers are passing through his district to Tajikistan.
He wants to participate in the next elections to elect his favourite candidate. He wants the next president to stop smuggling and punish smugglers.
Housewife: wants health clinic
Thirty-year-old Naseema, who is resident of Arghistan district and came to Faizabad for treatment, says people can not come out of houses in the district in winter. They travel miles of distance on the back of donkeys in summer to reach the city.
Mother of two children, Naseema says she is here in maternity case. “There is no clinic in our district. I lost one child last year. Now I came here with great difficulty this time.”
She wants the next president to construct a health clinic in Arghistan to save lives of mothers and their newborn.
Businessman: Road to China should be opened
Haji Abdul Rauf, 55, is resident of Faizabad. He is important food items from Tajikistan. He said security was in place, but no work was done for the welfare of traders and businessmen. He demanded of the government to open the road to China so that they may import items to Badakhshan.
Livestock owner: We reach to the provincial capital in two weeks
Sixty-year-old Ghulam Muhammad is resident of Darwaz district. He had never come to Faizabad in a car. He said they reach Faizabad in 15 days.
He said five other districts in their neighbourhood also did not have roads and all those districts remained covered with snow from six to nine months in a year.
He said patients usually die while on way to the centre of the province. In the same token, people are often faced with scarcity of food items. He is participating in the elections. He wants the next president to construct roads in the province.
Member of the provincial council: Mother and children mortality rate is alarming
Zabeehullah Ateeq is resident of Yawan district. He says people of the district are participating in the elections. He said children death rate during mortality is very high in Yawan, Raghistan and Kohistan districts.
The death rate is high because there is no health clinic in those districts, said the elected member.
Young man: Fed up with unemployment
Ahmadullah, 25, is resident of Argo district and he has completed education up to 12th class. He twice visited Iran for job but returned to the country without any success. He said joblessness, smuggling and other crimes are the reasons for people disappointment with the government.
Having a seven-member family, Ahmadullah is taking part in the elections in the hope that the next president would focus on unemployment among youth which is his first demand.
Malaka: Women are scared
Malaka, 65, resident of Kishm district, says women want the next president to ensure security in the country.
She is sewing clothes as her husband is disabled. She wants to participate in the polls, but says women fear there may not be fighting on the polling day. She says they used the right to vote previously, but the elected people are working for their friends and relatives and pay no attention to the rest of the people.
Elder: Votes have no role in election of the president
Qurban Muhammad, 80, is resident of Karan and Manjan district and an elder of that area. He is ready to poll vote but not sure that his vote is of any value as he believes it has little role in election of the president.
He believes the president is elected by the foreigners. He says all people say so. Secondly, he says, the president always makes promises to serve the people but never act on it.
Flood affectee: Not taking part in election
Samiullah, 37, resident of Kishm district, says he is not taking part in the elections. His house was washed away in floods last year.
He said the president and members of the provincial council promised compensation, but nothing has been done so far.
He is living in a tent with his six children. He fears hard times if his house was not constructed till the coming winter season.
Resident of Jram district: Armed men should be controlled
Muhammad Nasir, 65, is resident of Jram district. He is taking part in the elections and wants the president to appoint efficient people on key posts.
He said authority was still in the hands of people who were previously warlords. He said armed men were still doing excesses in the area. “Our demand from the next president is to get us rid of the armed men.”
Elder: There is no electricity
Haji Muhammad Haneef, 50, is resident of the Faizabad city. He says: “We’re deprived of electricity despite having huge water resources.”
According to him, every one is making promises but there is no practical work. He is taking part in the elections. “We want the next president to generate electricity by using the country’s own water resources.”
Women affairs director: Women should be given jobs
Zofnoon Natiq, director of the women affairs department, is taking part in the election and confident of the process.
She expressed concern over the condition of women and added that many of them were widows and earn for their families. However, they are facing problems because of not having jobs.
She wants the next president to pay attention to the basic problems of women.