PAVLODAR, Kazakhstan -- Construction work is in full swing in the Kazakh village of Pogranichnik, where the rural community will soon get a modern health clinic and a fitness and recreation center.
The village of about 1,000 inhabitants in the northern Pavlodar region also boasts freshly paved roads with bright yellow school buses taking children to school. The local government says it bought 16 such buses for the students.
"Over the summer, all roads throughout the village were paved and the construction of a big outpatient clinic has also begun," an employee at the village Culture Center told RFE/RL. "For years we had been asking for a place where both children and adults could work out or play sports. Finally, that facility is being completed too."
The woman, who did not want to give her name, said the villagers had been waiting for such projects for more than 50 years.
The refurbishment of Pogranichnik is a part of the government's ambitious, nationwide plan to improve the infrastructure and living standards in rural areas to try to slow down the migration to cities.
Tens of thousands of people continue to move to big cities such as Almaty and the capital, Astana, every year, straining social and economic systems in the already overcrowded urban areas.
The oil-rich country is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into these rural development projects to renovate or build new roads, schools, medical facilities, sports and cultural centers, modern water and sewage systems, as well as homes and office buildings.
The government says it is also investing in job-creation projects in villages, including in the agriculture sector. It is also bringing high-speed Internet to the countryside.
The government's funding of rural development projects, such as Village -- Cradle of the Nation, increase significantly every year. Astana allocated about $61.1 million to the project when it was first launched in 2019. The funding reached a staggering $415.6 million in 2023.
Joblessness and bad infrastructure have been a driving force behind migration to the cities among both the young and old.
"Everyone who could leave has left the village," said Anatoly, an elderly resident of Sputnik village. Only those who have no financial means or nowhere to go have been left behind, he adds.
Sputnik is located next to Pogranichnik, but the two neighboring settlements couldn't be more different. Abandoned homes, bumpy dirt roads, and empty streets in Sputnik present a stark contrast to its bustling neighbor.
"The authorities had promised to build roads long ago, but we don't expect it will happen," Anatoly said. "Who will they build it for? The population of the village is barely 300 people now. There are only a few houses [that still have occupants] and a school."
There was a local government office and hospital in Sputnik, but it closed down and the buildings were "dismantled for bricks and firewood," the retired electrician said.
People continue to leave, as there are no jobs and no future in Sputnik, he adds. Villagers used to rear livestock -- a source of dairy and meat products -- in the past. But it has become "too expensive" in recent years due to a drought, says Anatoly, who has lived all his life in Sputnik.
Some Kazakh lawmakers have complained about what they describe as the slow pace of renovation work.
Reluctant Migrants
Kazakhs don't expect the government's rural modernization projects to stop people from migrating to the cities, which is a global phenomenon.
"But among those who are resettling from villages to cities in Kazakhstan, there are many people who would prefer to stay in their own home regions [if they could]," said Aiman Zhusupova, a project manager for the Eurasian Center for People Management.
"So, [the government] needs to make these locations more desirable for people to live in...by developing infrastructure, improving the transport system and roads, constructing affordable housing, and creating employment opportunities," the Astana-based political analyst said.
Between 50,000 and 70,000 people have been moving from the regions to Astana annually in recent years, causing a shortage of schools, kindergartens, and even water in the capital.
The trend prompted some city officials this summer to call for a restriction in the resettlement of people from other regions to Astana.
