IFP - About 3,000 Iranian women are serving as rural executives across the country with Khorasan Razavi province in the northeast and Sistan and Baluchestan province in the southeast having the highest number of female local government heads.�



According to Deputy Head of Iran�s Rural Councils Department Saeid-Reza Jandaghian, over the past one hundred years, Iran has experienced at least four stages of rural management systems from headman system to rural council.

�A brief review of the systems reveals that we have gotten gradually closer to a public-oriented management system which involves people further in the rural affairs,� he was quoted as saying in a Farsi report by Khabar Online.

He went on to say that the management systems used for handing rural affairs were not appropriate because the plans were imposed from top to bottom. �When the people themselves are involved in drafting the plans, the results would be highly substantiated.�

Jandaghian also said at present there are 38,000 rural heads across the country who are serving honestly with the lowest wages.

�Today, our main standard for appointing a rural government head is not their age but their thought. We need a person who has an active mind and is full of energy to press ahead with new projects,� he noted.

He urged women to take a more active role in rural affairs and said there are currently 3,000 women serving as rural council heads across the country.

The official noted today people have more trust in women at official posts and they have proved their capabilities to accomplish complicated jobs.